Takedown Report

Bel­larmine Wins NCWA Title Past Lib­er­ty; Allen Earns Fourth Title

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Bellarmine’s four national champions along with a runner-up and three third-place finishers secured its first team title at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships at the Puerto Rico Convention Center. Devan Hendricks, the Knights’ senior 174-pounder who won his bracket with a third-period pin over Grand Valley State’s Josh Kenny, was named Most Outstanding Wrestler.

The Knights’ 206.5 team points outlasted Liberty’s 189.5 total with the finalists as the difference. Liberty won all three of its finals matches at 197, 235 and 285 but didn’t have the second- and third-place finishes to counter Bellarmine. The Apprentice School won a tight battle for third place with 135 points, edging Springfield Tech Community College (fourth, 133.5) and Grand Valley State (fifth, 131).

Jack Parker opened the finals session with a pin in the 125 title match, taking down Bruno Alves of Apprentice in 4:17. Zac Cowan scored a 22-7 tech fall over Thomas McCane of Central Florida in the 149 bout. McCane was the 2022 national champion at 141 pounds while wrestling for Florida. Bellarmine then won back-to-back titles at 165 and 174. Cole Nance won his 165 bracket by fall over Talon Pisarchuk of the Williamson School of the Trades before Hendricks claimed his national title.

One of the evening’s highlights came in the 235 bracket when Jeff Allen of Liberty became the most decorated male wrestler in association history with a fourth consecutive national title. Allen is the first NCWA male wrestler to win four individual national titles, this one by taking a narrow 5-4 win over Zeke Alleman of Utah Tech. Allen scored a takedown with 36 seconds left in the match to take a 5-3 lead before yielding an escape before time ran out. Allen, a senior from Monroe, Va., also won national titles in 2022, 2020 and 2019. There was not an NCWA national tournament in 2021 due to COVID protocols. Four (4) women have accomplished the 4-peat but in much smaller brackets with the most successful of the four being Samantha Frank of the University of Maine, who also won 4 MOW awards. … rest of story at NCWA.net/news/2023/bellarmine-wins-ncwa-title-past-liberty-allen-earns-fourth-title

Wrestling wins NCWA National Championship, claims four individual titles
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –  A historic season for Bellarmine wrestling finished in a fitting way on Saturday in Puerto Rico.  The Knights claimed a NCWA National Championship as a team, and four Bellarmine wrestlers earned individual titles in their respective weight classes.

Competing against 73 opponents from the United States and Puerto Rico, Bellarmine topped the charts with 206.5 team points.  Liberty, after claiming last year’s NCWA Championship, finished second.

Jack Parker (125), Zac Cowan (149), Cole Nance (165), and Devan Hendricks (174) all won their weight classes at the Great Lakes Championships, and all did so once again on the national stage.  Hendricks was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

“What a cool way to cap off our third season in transitioning into Division I,” Knights Head Coach Ned Shuck said.  “So thankful the NCWA provided us with an opportunity to have a National Championship as we wait for our first opportunity to compete in the Division 1 postseason.”
Parker went 5-0 at 125 in dominant fashion, earning four pins and a tech fall.  He topped Bruno Alves of Apprentice with a pin at the 4:17 mark of the championship bout.
 
Cowan put up similar results, totaling a 5-0 record with two pins and three tech falls at 149.  The SoCon All-Freshman Team honoree defeated Thomas McCane of UCF by tech fall 22-7 (7:00) in the final match.
 
Nance tallied a 6-0 record at 165, racking up four pins and two major decision victories.  In the championship match, he pinned Talon Pisarchuk of Williamson College of the Trades (3:57).
 
Hendricks went 5-0 with two pins, two tech falls, and a major decision win at 174.  The senior pinned last year’s JUCO champion, Josh Kenny of Grand Valley State, at the 6:48 mark of the championship match. 
 
Thadd Huff earned second place at 285, going 4-1 with a pair of pins.  Huff fell in the title match to Frederick Weaver of Liberty.
 
Michael Schiffhauer nabbed third place, wrestling eight times at 133, posted a 7-1 record with a major decision, tech fall, and pin.  Schiffhauer defeated Blake Schmitt of Liberty in the third place match. … rest of story at Bellarmine.edu/news/2023/3/11/wrestling-wins-ncwa-national-championship-claims-four-individual-titles

OTTAWA-ARIZONA TAKES NCWA WOMEN’S CROWN WITH FOUR CHAMPIONS; BELLARMINE CLAIMS MEN’S TITLE WITH FOUR CHAMPIONS

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Bellarmine, the NCAA team in the Southern Conference which is going through its transition to Div. I, earned four champions and eight total All-Americans to capture the men’s title at the NCWA Nationals on Saturday. Bellarmine scored 206 points, followed by Liberty, with three champions and 12 All-Americans and 189.5 points.The Apprentice School was third with 135 points, with Springfield Tech in fouth with 133.5 points and Grand Valley State in fifth with 131 points.

Ottawa-Arizona claimed the women’s team title, scoring 120 points, ahead of runner-up Grays Harbor with 80 points. The top five including third-place Big Bend CC with 41 points, fourth-place Washington State with 36.5 points and fifth-place M.I.T. with 34 points.

In the women’s finals, Ottawa-Arizona had four champions in Jennifer Alcott (101), Hermelinda Mendoza (109), Lyqualah Kinsey (116) and Julia Mata (155), two runners-up and two fourth-place finishers.

All four Ottawa-Arizona champions scored pins in the finals. Mendoza repeated as national champion with her pin of Daniela Suttles of Grand Canyon in 2:23. Alcott pinned Caley Kling of Colorado State in 48 seconds. Kinsey pinned Mia Armstron of Texas-Arlington in 1:36. Mata put away Leilani Frazier of Santa Rosa JC in 1:26.

Runner-up Grays Harbor had an individual champion, Renaeh Ureste (191), one runner-up, four third-place finishers and a fourth-place athlete. … rest of story at Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/March/11/NCWA-wrap

April 11, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized