Takedown Report

D-II Mid-Season Highlights

Campbell named RMAC Wrestler of the Week
CHADRON, Neb. — Quen Campbell, a redshirt senior from Tifton, Georgia, was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday after placing second at the 44^th Annual Midwest Classic.
Campbell suffered a 9-2 decision in the finals of the classic to #7 Gabe Hixenbaugh of Montevallo. Hixenbaugh transferred from West Virginia this season and defeated #1 Gavin Quiocho of Glenville State in the tournament’s quarterfinals. The loss against Hixenbaugh made Campbell’s record 4-1 for the tournament
Campbell’s first round victory was an 8-3 decision over Tyler Masters of Ashland. He then defeated Dale Van Matre of Adams State by fall in 5:00 before having a 4-2 decision over #15 Matthew Chi in the quarterfinals.
A semifinal matchup against #9 Tommy Frezza of Central Missouri was Campbell’s fourth victory of the classic. … story at … Chadroneagles.com/Campbell-named-rmac-wrestler-of-the-week

Hixenbaugh Named Conference Carolinas Wrestler of the Week
GREENVILLE, S.C. – University of Montevallo Wrestling’s Gabe Hixenbaugh has been named the Conference Carolinas Wrestler of the Week as the league office announced Tuesday.
Hixenbaugh earns the program’s first Player of the Week award this week after going 5-0 in the UIndy Midwest Classic to win the 133 bracket.
The redshirt junior from Alabaster, Alabama improved to 17-0 on the year this week when he defeated the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 ranked wrestlers in NCAA Division II in route to his third open tournament Championship Title of the year.
Hixenbaugh earned a bye in the first round and defeated Collin Creach from Newman by major decision 13-0. In round three, Hixenbaugh won by tech fall over Ryan Ripplinger from McKendree.
In the quarterfinals, the 133-pounder topped defending national champion and No.1 Gavin Quiocho from Glenville State, 4-2 – marking the highest-ranked win for Hixenbaugh in his career and in UM’s program history.
Hixenbaugh faced No. 5 Elijah Lusk of Lander in the semifinals and earned a win 11-4 … story at … Montevallofalcons.com/Hixenbaugh-named-conference-carolinas-wrestler-of-the-week

Coach Rock Earns Dual Meet Win 100 as Eagles Start Strong in Reno
Embry-Riddle went 2-0 in their duals Tournament of Champions held at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada on Friday as five Eagles won both their matches and with the Eagles win over Wayland Baptist, coach KC Rock picked up his 100th career dual meet win.  
Match 1 vs. Wayland Baptist 
In the 125lb match, Jaren Kimura (Mililani, Hawaii) won by forfeit to score six team points for ERAU.  Landon Smith (Bethel, Alaska) dropped a tough match at 133lbs, but the Eagles got team points right back when Adam Stanley (Costa Mesa, Calif.) won with a 17-4 major decision at 141lbs.  Jonah Chew (Pearl City, Hawaii) won 17-0 in his match at 149lbs to earn a tech fall for Embry-Riddle.  Peyton Proper (Marana, Ariz.) lost a close match in the 157lb weight class and then Sheldon Cole (Anthem, Ariz.) and Keller Rock (Chino Valley, Ariz.) both won by fall in their matches.  Cole wrestled at 165lbs and Rock at 174lbs.  In the 184lb weight class, … story at … ERaueagles.com/sports/2023-24/releases

Defending national champion Bronchos trek to Indianapolis, Ind. for the 44th Midwest Classic
No. 4-ranked Central Oklahoma concludes its first-semester schedule this weekend when the defending national champion Bronchos trek to Indianapolis, Ind. for the 44th Midwest Classic. 
UCO will be gunning for its third straight title in the prestigious two-day tournament hosted by Indianapolis, with 51 teams – including 21 ranked in Division II’s top 25 — set to attend. 
First-round action begins at 9 a.m. (Oklahoma time) Saturday at Nicoson Hall and Ruth Lilly Gymnasium and runs all day. The largest regular-season tournament in Division II resumes at 9 a.m. Sunday and concludes with the finals at 2 p.m.
Seven top-10 teams highlight the huge field, led by No. 1 Lander, No. 3 Indy, No. 4 UCO, T-No. 5 Mary, No. 7 Wisconsin-Parkside, No. 8 Lake Erie and No. 9 Upper Iowa. … story at … Owrestle.com/Champion-bronchos-trek-to-indianapolis-ind-for-the-44th-midwest-classic

These three wrestling coaches showed their brotherhood
By Tristan Warner
The Friday evening quarterfinal session was getting underway at the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championships at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This was the round that separated the All-Americans from the non. The round where a career’s worth of work is put to the test, and some dreams are realized while others are dashed. Avery Shay, a Division I transfer from Clarion who found a new home at Shippensburg University for his final collegiate campaign, was preparing for his quarterfinal bout in the 157-pound weight class. As the minutes quickly approached the biggest match of his life, Raiders head coach Seth Bloomquist had his sight set on guiding his seventh student-athlete to All-American honors.

This column appeared in the December issue of WIN Magazine. Click on the cover or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe.

The problem was, however, that Bloomquist quite literally was progressively losing his eyesight as the night wore on. “It’s called an ocular migraine,” he recalled. “I couldn’t see out of my left eye. I was not feeling well at all, but I was the only Shippensburg coach present, so I was just trying to get through it to coach Avery.”
Legendary Pitt-Johnstown coach Pat Pecora and Mercyhurst front man Mike Wehler, both highly-esteemed leaders of fellow Super Region I programs and personal friends of Bloomquist, were alarmed when he accosted them. “When I first saw Seth, he looked kind of different,” Wehler remembered. “I could tell something serious was going on. He never complains, so when he told me he was not feeling right, I knew he needed to seek medical attention right away.”
Determined to stay on the floor and coach his athlete, convincing Bloomquist to head to the medical tent was among the toughest coaching obstacles Pecora and Wehler faced that night. Reluctantly, the 15-year veteran head coach obliged and was urged by the NCAA medical personnel to go to the hospital immediately. However, he only managed to stay on his feet momentarily, as Bloomquist collapsed and started convulsing on the arena floor. “We were really worried about him when he went down,” Pecora commented. “It got realistic very quickly. He was going in and out and having a serious medical episode but was still more worried about who was going to coach his athlete.”
While Pecora had a 157-pound Mountain Cat still alive in the tournament, without hesitation, Wehler assured Bloomquist as he was being wheeled into the ambulance that he would coach his Raider in the NCAA quarterfinals. 
Yes, you read that correctly.
Wehler would coach an athlete from an opposing school with whom he had virtually zero prior interaction during the most important match of his career.

Mike Wehler (left) of Mercyhurst congratulated Avery Shay of Shippensberg after he helped the 157-pound wrestler earn a NCAA Division II All-American honor last March in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“It was actually a really cool moment,” Wehler said. “I just told him, ‘You don’t know me and I don’t know you, but just tell me how you want me to coach you.’” “I really just wanted to stay out of the way and not overstep my role, but most importantly, I just wanted Avery to know someone was there to support him. Somebody was there for him in this huge moment.”
Meanwhile, yet another Super Region I coach, Rich Hasenfus, who led the American International College (AIC) program and considers the longtime Shippensburg coach a close friend, grabbed the keys from Bloomquist’s panicked wife, Shellee, and drove her to the hospital. There, Hasenfus sat next to him in the hospital bed, at times holding his hand, and at one point had to use his coaching voice to advocate for urgent medical attention when his friend’s blood pressure dropped to 75/40. … story at … WIN-magazine.com/These-three-men-showed-there-is-a-brotherhood-of-coaches

December 31, 2023 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment