Division Ii Wrestling Championships Records Book
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DIVISION II WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORDS BOOK 2016 Championships 2 History 9 Team Finishes 17 All-Time Team Results 22 2016 CHAMPIONSHIPS St. Cloud State wins second consecutive title; Davis wins fourth NCAA title: Collegiate wrestling has its one-of-a-kinds. Cael Sanderson won four NCAA Division I championships and never lost a match during his four seasons of varsity competition at Iowa State. At the Division III level, Augsburg’s Marcus Levesseur never lost a match in four seasons; he was a four-time national champion. Kyle Dake won four NCAA titles at four different weight classes while at Cornell. On March 12 inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center, Joey Davis added his name to the list of legends. The senior 184-pounder for Notre Dame (Ohio) won a strategic bout with Pittsburgh-Johnstown’s Travis McKillop. After a scoreless five minutes, McKillop opened the third period with an escape, but the Compton, California, product quickly scored off a low-level attack and rode out the rest of the match for his date with history. It completed a 131-0 career and gave him his fourth NCAA title. Four other Division II wrestlers have won four championships. None, however, did so without losing a match. “I was stressed out this whole process. I’m really at a loss for words,” Davis said. “I worked tremendously hard. The coaches worked me so hard, but it has all been worth it. “It was a tough process (going from California to Ohio). I know a lot of guys get homesick, but for me I was trying to get the hell out of Compton. I have fam- ily in Cleveland that I hadn’t met. My brother lives in Dayton (Ohio), just two hours away in the Air Force. It was kind of meant to be, going to (Notre Dame).” Davis never intended to go undefeated for four years and win four national titles. “I never thought about something like this, about going undefeated in college,” Davis said. “To be able to have my name mentioned with some of the greats, it’s an amazing accomplishment for me. I have some options, but for me it’s about graduating first.” McKillop finishes as a four-time All-American and with a senior campaign. Davis’s win highlighted a night that saw St. Cloud State win its second consecutive team title, outdistancing second place Notre Dame (Ohio) by eight points, 90-82. Nebraska-Kearney finished third, 4.5 points behind the Falcons. Pittsburgh-Johnstown was fourth, crowing two champions, with Maryville (Missouri) rounding out the top five. California Baptist was sixth and Wisconsin-Parkside, after finishing well outside the top 20 in 2015, was seventh. St. Cloud State redshirt-freshman 125-pounder Brent Velasquez used a second-period reversal and a decisive third-period takedown to beat Mercyhurst’s Willie Bohince, 4-0, to open the evening. The victory for Velasquez (25-2), who won a late-season wrestle-off against 2015 NCAA champ Tim Prescott, a senior for St. Cloud State in 2015-16, gave the Huskies at least a share of the 2016 team title. Nebraska-Kearney’s Destin McCauley has won a lot of wrestling matches. But March 12 might have topped them all. Down in the final 10 seconds, the junior went double-overhook and tripped Notre Dame (Ohio) freshman Isaac Dulgarian to his back for six and a dramatic win in the 149-pound final. His victory also wrapped up the team title for St. Cloud State. McCauley’s teammate, senior Romero Cotton, ended his career with a third national title, beating Northern State’s Joe Gomez, 3-1, at 197 pounds. The two- sport athlete for Nebraska-Kearney – Cotton (24-2) played football for the Lopers for four seasons – had perhaps the best post-match interview and may have been the happiest of the 10 champions. Pittsburgh-Johnstown sophomore Tyler Reinhart had a dramatic finish similar to McCauley, although Reinhart’s win was in the opening three minutes. Reinhart (28-6) went winless at the 2015 NCAAs, but on Saturday night, after nearly finishing off Wisconsin-Parkside’s Nick Fishback with a cradle, saw the official slap the mat during a scramble to give the Mountain Cats their second title of the night. Fishback finishes his senior campaign and with a second All-America medal. A riding time point was the difference for Pittsburgh-Johnstown’s Nick Roberts, who beat UIndy’s Nick Crume, 4-3, for the 133-pound title. Crume (23-7) scored a takedown in the final seconds, but Roberts (18-1), a junior transfer from Ohio State who qualified for the Division I championships in 2014, had built over a minute of riding time. Roberts beat Nebraska-Kearney’s Daniel DeShazer, winner of the 2013 and 2015 NCAA titles at 133 pounds, in the semifinals earlier in the day. After watching his teammate’s season end, Wisconsin-Parkside sophomore Nick Becker completed an undefeated campaign with a solid win over UNC Pembroke’s Blaze Shade at 174 pounds. Becker, who started his career at Division I Central Michigan, used a big second period takedown and near-fall to pull away. Brothers Brad Becker was a national champion in 2006 and Craig Becker in 2010, both suiting up for the Rangers. Shade finished a solid junior season at 40-5. McKendree’s Darren Wynn was a little too quick for Seton Hill redshirt-freshman Joseph Alessandro in the 141-pound final, scoring two first-period takedowns to go with a reversal and a four-point near-fall to lead after three minutes. The sophomore, who finishes 37-10, won and becomes the first national champion for the Bearcats since joining Division II. Lindenwood’s (Missouri) Terrel Wilbourn finished a senior season with a victory over California Baptist senior Brady Bersano in the 157-pound finale. Wilbourn lost in the 2015 NCAA final and became the program’s first Division II national champion. Minnesota State senior Malcolm Allen, a native of New Rochelle, New York, outweighed California Baptist’s Joe Fagiano by some 60 pounds, a throwback to the old days of the unlimited weight class where a few 300-pounders roamed the mats. Fagiano, at around 225 pounds, tossed Allen to his back for a lead in the second period and went on to win to give the Lancers and head coach Lennie Zalesky a first NCAA title in Division II. 2016 Championships 2 2016 TEAM STANDINGS 2016 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 1. St. Cloud St. 90 2. Notre Dame (OH) 82 125-Pound Class 3. Neb.-Kearney 78½ Round Results 4. Pitt.-Johnstown 71½ 5. Maryville (MO) 65½ First round Evan Link (Pitt.-Johnstown) won by decision over Danny 6. California Baptist 63½ Swan (Lindenwood (MO)) (Dec 9-2); Ronzel Darling 7. Wis.-Parkside 59½ (Wis.-Parkside) won by decision over Connor Bolling 8. McKendree 42½ (Neb.-Kearney) (Dec 7-6); Brett Velasquez (St. Cloud 9. Mercyhurst 42 St.) won by major decision over Zach Brown (West Minnesota St. 42 Liberty) (MD 14-1); Lawson Ludwin (Fort Hays St.) 11. Western St. 33 won by fall over Giuseppe Penzone (Tiffin) (Fall 2:01); Ronald Wardleigh (Western St.) won by decision over 12. Colorado St.-Pueblo 26 Trung Duong (Newberry) (Dec 7-3); Willie Bohince 13. UIndy 22 (Mercyhurst) won by decision over Jaret Singh (Maryville 14. Ashland 21½ (MO)) (Dec 2-1); Joshua Kieffer (UIndy) won by decision 15. Fort Hays St. 20 over Dustin Reed (Newman) (Dec 5-4); Jacob Goodwin 16. Upper Iowa 19½ (Notre Dame (OH)) won by major decision over Maleek 17. Lindenwood (MO) 19 Williams (Upper Iowa) (MD 13-4) 18. Newberry 17 Quarterfinals Ronzel Darling (Wis.-Parkside) won by decision over 19. Seton Hill 16½ Evan Link (Pitt.-Johnstown) (Dec 6-3); Brett Velasquez 20. MSU Moorhead 15 (St. Cloud St.) won by decision over Lawson Ludwin Northern St. 15 (Fort Hays St.) (Dec 8-4); Willie Bohince (Mercyhurst) UNC Pembroke 15 won by decision over Ronald Wardleigh (Western St.) 23. Findlay 13½ (Dec 9-4); Jacob Goodwin (Notre Dame (OH)) won by Simon Fraser 13½ decision over Joshua Kieffer (UIndy) (Dec 11-4) 25. Ouachita Baptist 12½ Semifinals Brett Velasquez (St. Cloud St.) won by decision over 26. Tiffin 12 Ronzel Darling (Wis.-Parkside) (Dec 2-0); Willie Bohince 27. Coker 11 (Mercyhurst) won in sudden victory over Jacob Goodwin Kutztown 11 (Notre Dame (OH)) (SV-1 3-1) 29. Lake Erie 10 Final Brett Velasquez (St. Cloud St.) won by decision over 30. Colorado Mesa 9½ Willie Bohince (Mercyhurst) (Dec 5-0) 31. Newman 8½ 32. Shorter 8 Wrestlebacks 33. Adams St. 5½ 34. Southwest Minn. St. 4½ Round Results 35. Central Okla. 3½ First round Connor Bolling (Neb.-Kearney) won by decision over 36. Gannon 2½ Danny Swan (Lindenwood (MO)) (Dec 3-2); Giuseppe 37. LIU Post 1½ Penzone (Tiffin) won by major decision over Zach Brown 38. Augustana (SD) 1 (West Liberty) (MD 12-3); Trung Duong (Newberry) Chadron St. 1 won by decision over Jaret Singh (Maryville (MO)) (Dec Shippensburg 1 11-5); Dustin Reed (Newman) won by decision over 41. San Fran. St. ½ Maleek Williams (Upper Iowa) (Dec 9-5) Second round Joshua Kieffer (UIndy) won by major decision over Connor Bolling (Neb.-Kearney) (MD 13-3); Ronald Wardleigh (Western St.) won by fall over Giuseppe Penzone (Tiffin) (Fall 2:55); Trung Duong (Newberry) won by decision over Lawson Ludwin (Fort Hays St.) (Dec 11-5); Dustin Reed (Newman) won by decision over Evan Link (Pitt.-Johnstown) (Dec 4-3) Third round Ronald Wardleigh (Western St.) won by decision over Joshua Kieffer (UIndy) (Dec 12-11); Dustin Reed (Newman) won by decision over Trung Duong (Newberry) (Dec 5-4) Semifinals Ronzel Darling (Wis.-Parkside) won by decision over Ronald Wardleigh (Western St.) (Dec 6-2); Jacob Goodwin (Notre Dame (OH)) won in sudden victory over Dustin Reed (Newman) (SV-1 3-1) Third place Jacob Goodwin (Notre Dame (OH)) won by decision over Ronzel Darling (Wis.-Parkside) (Dec 7-3) Fifth place Dustin Reed (Newman) won by decision over Ronald Wardleigh (Western St.) (Dec 7-4) Seventh place Joshua Kieffer (UIndy) won by decision over Trung Duong (Newberry) (Dec 10-4) 2016 Championships 3 133-Pound Class 141-Pound Class Round Results Round Results First round Nick Roberts (Pitt.-Johnstown) won by decision First round Cobey Fehr (Notre Dame (OH)) won by decision over over Fern Giron (San Fran.