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    Long becomes first NAIA wrestler to win Midlands since 2003, earns OW

    Viking junior Andrew Long (Creston, Iowa) made program history on Wednesday, becoming the first Grand View wrestler to win a title at The Midlands Championships held in Evanston, Ill. He is also the first NAIA champion to win a title at the Midlands since 2003 and the first non-NCAA Div I wrestler to win a championship since 2006.

    Long won the 141 pound championship, competing in a bracket that included four NCAA Div I All-Americans. Seeded fourth, Long dominated the 141 bracket with a fall over Will Clark of North Carolina (6:32) in his first match, followed by a 14-4 major decision over Tyler Scotten of American University. He collected another fall over Danny Sabatello of Purdue (6:09) to advance to the semifinals where he recorded a tech fall (25-8) over Ronnie Perry of Lock Haven.

    In the championship bout, Long matched up against Northern Illinois' Steve Bleise. Long nearly pinned Bleise on two occasions, but settled for another tech fall (23-6) to claim the title.

    At the conclusion of the tournament, Long was named the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler as well as the Art Kraft Champion of Champions, an award voted upon by the other first place finishers in the tournament.

    As a team, Grand View tallied 38 points and finished 16th of the 43 mostly NCAA Div I teams in the tournament. In addition to Long, five more Vikings competed at the prestigious Midlands Tourney - Tristan Bundy (125), Jacob Colon (133), Godwin Cutler (133), Elijah Sullivan (149), and Dean Broghammer (285).


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