The Vikings had nine of their 12 qualifiers advance to the quarterfinals.
Great Falls (Mont.) is second in the team standings with 25 points, while Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and Southern Oregon are third with 22.5 each, respectively. The Blue Raiders have eight wrestlers in the quarterfinals, while Southern Oregon has seven and Great Falls six.
Lindsey Wilson and Southern Oregon both had seven individuals reach the quarterfinals, while Great Falls had six advance.
Missouri Valley’s 285 pounder Dan Mueller, who finished fourth at the Central Qualifier, claimed one of the largest upsets of the tournament so far, downing top-ranked Toby Cheff of Montana State-Northern, 6-3. The loss is Cheff’s first of the season, as the junior was 14-0 coming into the championships. Cheff was the only top-ranked grappler not to advance.
With an 18-2 technical fall against Joseph Murillo of Jamestown (N.D.) and a pin of Sage Ornelas of Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), Ryak Finch of Grand View continued his dominance. The defending national title winner improved to 52-0 in two seasons with the Vikings.
In addition to Finch, four of the remaining five defending national champions kept their hopes for another title alive. Most notable out of the quartet is three-time national champion Brock Gutches. Gutches, who with a banner this year will be the first individual to win four in-a-row since Turk Lords of Montana State-Northern (1998-2001), pinned his only opening session opponent in 4:27.
The senior from Central Point, Ore., now owns eight career pins at the championships.
Baker’s (Kan.) Bryce Shoemaker was the lone defending champion to lose, as he was upended by fellow All-American Mitch Pawlak of Indiana Tech, 5-3. The two split two regular season meetings with Pawlak winning 1-0 on Dec. 13, before Shoemaker avenged the loss at the Missouri Valley College Invite on Jan. 17, 2-0.
Five unranked wrestlers kept their national title hopes alive by advancing to the quarterfinals.
Two schools in their inaugural season – Ottawa (Kan.) and Williams Baptist (Ark.) – earned its first-ever championship win today. The Eagles – Jonathan Drendel (157) and Isaiah Johnson (125) – have two grapplers one win away from All-America status, while the Braves have one – Kasey Crump (197).
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now