Jason Bryant’s College Wrestling Wrap Sheet is a look at five topics from the world of college wrestling with highlights, things you know and things you don’t. Here’s the five for December 2, 2021.
Loras takes down Augsburg
Coach T.J. Miller has elevated the Loras wrestling program to new heights. The pandemic cut off the opportunity to unseat Augsburg and Wartburg at the Division III championships in 2020 and 2021. Miller’s Duhawks at least got a chance to knock off Augsburg in dual competition as top-ranked Loras beat fourth-ranked Augsburg in Minneapolis on Thursday night.
Loras set the tone early, winning four in a row to jump out to a 19-0 lead, highlighted by falls from No. 15 Jared Hensley at 125 pounds and No. 3 Daniel Ruiz at 149. The Auggies chipped away, with three straight wins by Tyler Shilson, Matt Rogge and Solomon Nielsen from 157-174. Rogge upended fourth-ranked Gabe Fiser, scoring nearfall points in the third. Nielsen knocked off third-ranked Jacob Krakow in one of the dual’s four matchups between ranked wrestlers. Loras countered with top-ranked Shane Liegel beating fourth-ranked Nick Rogge at 184, which put the dual out of reach. That didn’t stop Augsburg from picking off one more ranked wrestler, as fourth ranked Tyler Kim upended top-ranked Wyatt Wriedt 7-3 at 285 pounds. Wriedt won last year’s NWCA Division III championship.
Negative creep
My favorite track from Nirvana’s first album was called Negative Creep. Did you know Dave Grohl was NOT the drummer on that album? Yup. Was a guy named Chad Channing. Speaking of negatives …
Sixth-ranked NC State improved to 2-0 on the season with a 45-(-1) win over the SoCon’s Gardner-Webb at Reynolds Coliseum on Tuesday. First off, it’s completely stupid to dock teams actual points for penalties. Match points, sure. What if it’s over? Then hit the coach with something. There’s got to be something that doesn’t penalize the entire team for something as trivial as a singlet strap or not shanking hands – which we do too much of anyway. I mean, in this case, you’re taking a point away from a team that didn’t score any actual wins, which is also a flaw in the dual meet scoring system. Now, if dual scoring was by how many points you scored, then I can see taking away something from THAT match. But to have a negative one on the board isn’t just embarrassing, it shows how stupid the rule actually is. As far as the match goes, NC State dominated. The Pack got falls from 125-pounder Jakob Camacho and 149-pounder Kai Orine.
Upperweight Spartans pluck Bald Eagles
Yes, it’s time for old school headlines that involve a verb playing off the defeated’s nickname. Today’s victim is a bald eagle, which I believe is normally illegal in this country.
In what turned out to be one of the most thrilling duals of the season thus far, Michigan State won the last three bouts to rally past host Lock Haven at Thomas Fieldhouse and claim a 20-17 victory. Trailing 17-5 with three bouts left, Layne Malczewski’s fall with one second left in the bout ended up providing pivotal bonus points and set the table for the comeback. Cameron Caffey’s major decision at 197 pounds then set the stage for Brad Wilton’s heroic major decision at heavyweight to push the Spartans to victory. Wilton fell behind early to the athletic Colby Whitehill, but went ahead for good after a big head-and-arm on the edge of the mat to nearly pin the Bald Eagle heavyweight. Michigan State fell behind early after Lock Haven won three of the first four weights, including Connor Eck’s victory at 149 pounds over Greco-Roman world teamer Peyton Omania. The Spartans were docked what was a crucial team point after the bout. Yes, it’s stupid to dock team points, at least in the current dual meet format.
First win for Newberry’s Brown
After returning to his alma mater to serve as the program’s third-ever head coach Newberry’s Deral Brown finally got that elusive first head coaching win. It wasn’t his first overall, as Brown was previous the men’s head coach at King University, but with Newberry’s 23-10 win on Thursday, Brown could finally head back to campus with a dub. Earlier this season, Newberry had dropped a 20-16 dual to Belmont Abbey and a 26-21 dual to King. Three Wolves earned falls, Matthew Bagwell at 133, Stevie Chopek at 149 and Devon Rice at heavyweight.
Big Blue tied with Scarlet Knights
Holding off on the color puns for the moment, but did you know that Millikin and Rutgers have something in common? Yup. Millikin tied Rutgers for the lead in dual meet wins this season. The Division III Big Blue blasted start-up Aurora 50-4 to improve to 8-0.
Bonus Points: Other notables
Keeping it D3, but heading to Wisconsin, UW-Stevens Point edged UW-Platteville 19-16 in the WIAC. Noah Wiezcorek’s 10-4 win at heavyweight broke the tie and gave the Pointers the win. UW-Stevens Point head coach Johnny Johnson, the one who wrestled at Oklahoma, is in his 24th season at the helm. … North Central’s men’s and women’s teams swept Carthage. The men won 40-3, while the women were victorious 38-0. … In the NAIA, Montana State-Northern got the bonus point advantage in a 10-bout split with Southern Oregon to come away with a 26-21 win at home. Wayland Baptist’s women beat Oklahoma City 27-14, while OCU’s men returned the favor, picking up a 29-15 in a pair of matinee duals.
