UIndy Wins Super Regional 2

[JasonWarthan]

http://athletics.uindy.edu/news/2014/3/1/WREST_0301141355.aspx?path=wrest

 

TIFFIN, Ohio- The #14 UIndy Wrestling team won its program-first NCAA Division II Regional championship Saturday, behind three individual Regional titles and eight total placers.

 

In addition to the three Regional winners, seven total Greyhounds punched their tickets to the NCAA Division II National Championships, matching the most ever to make the national meet by a UIndy wrestling team. In recognition of his team's accomplishments, Head Coach Jason Warthan was named Super Region #2 Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the meet.

 

Representing UIndy at the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championships will be Alex Johns (125), Josh Kieffer (133), Justin Kieffer (141), Cameryn Brady (149), Sheldon Struble (157), Jeff Weiss (165) and Evan Wooding (285).

 

Of these wrestlers, Justin, Brady and Weiss earned Regional Championships in their brackets, with the three titles marking the most ever won by UIndy at the Regional meet. In addition, Josh took home a runner-up finish at 133, with Johns and Wooding winning third-place titles. Struble took fifth place at 157, while Taylor Scott finished just outside of the National qualification in sixth place at 197.

 

Justin Kieffer (24-4) took home his first career Regional Championship at 141 behind a 2-0 day. He will make his second Nationals apppearance, after also qualifying a year ago. In his semifinal match, Justin pinned Newberry's #3 BJ Young in 4:23, and followed with a 4-1 decision over #6 Daniel Owenby of North Carolina-Pembroke in the 141 final match.

 

No. 7 Cameryn Brady (33-1) will also make his second NCAA Division II National Championship appearance, after finishing seventh as an All-American at 149 a season ago. Brady defeated Maryville's Joey Moorhouse 7-1 in his semifinal match, and bested #8 Kyle Williams of McKendree 7-1 in the finals to take his first NCAA Regional title.

 

At 165, #6 Jeff Weiss (29-6) defeated Maryville's #8 Dimitri Willis for the second time in two weeks, taking an 8-2 decision in his semifinal match. He then defeated #7 Nick Haferkamp of McKendree in the finals, 8-7, to take his first NCAA Regional title and make his first trip to Nationals. The senior won his 100th career match with the victory over Haferkamp, becoming just the 12th Greyhound in program history to reach the 100-win milestone.

 

Josh Kieffer (15-5) opened the day with a 5-4 win over Anderson's Zak Hale in the semifinals, but fell to #2 Michael Labry of Ashland in the final, 9-3 to take second place in the 133 bracket. With the finish, Josh will make his second appearance at the national meet, where he was an All-American at 125 two seasons ago with a sixth place finish.

 

At 125, #4 Johns (27-3) lost a hard-fought overtime battle to Findlay's Ben Sergent in the semifinals, 7-4, but rebounded with a 2-0 win over Belmont Abbey's Patrick Mestrez in the consolation semifinals to earn a place in the third place match. Johns closed out his tournament with a 5-1 win over Maryville's Brandon Oshiro to take third and make his third trip to the national meet, where he was an All-American with a fifth place finish at 125 a season ago.

 

Wooding (27-8) won three matches on day two en route to the third place title at 285. He opened the day with an 8-0 major decision over Limestone's Devin Pommerenke, and followed with a 6-2 victory in the consolation semifinals over UNC-Pembroke's #6 Chris Giddens, avenging a regular-season loss. The senior then avenged another regular-season loss with a 3-2 win over #7 Matt Wade of Newberry, with the victory also good for his 100th in a Greyhound singlet, becoming the 13th to the win total after Weiss. Wooding will make his second trip to nationals for UIndy, after also making the NCAA meet a season ago.

 

Freshman Sheldon Struble (15-16) will make his first nationals appearance, after taking fifth at 157. Struble pinned Limestone's Norman Manning in 3:45 to open his day two, but followed with a loss to Taylor Knapp of newberry in the consolation semis, 4-1. He punched his ticket to his first nationals with an injury default win in the fifth place match.

 

Taylor Scott (16-10) took sixth at the meet in the 197 bracket, closing out his UIndy career. Seniors Shelby Mappes (19-12) and George Lopez (10-16) also closed out their Greyhound careers at the meet.

 

The seven national qualifiers will face off with the nation's best at the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championships March 14-15 in Cleveland. 

 

[MattM]

Nice showing for the Greyhounds.  Good luck to you guys at Nationals.