Statesmen Place Fourth at Heart Championships, Stanley Qualifies
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s wrestling team enjoyed a significant bump in the standings, but will hope for a couple more national qualifiers as it competed at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Saturday.
WPU was fourth out of 11 teams with 76.5 points, but gained just one automatic national qualifier in Makail Stanley (Fr., Oreana, Ill., Biology), although a few of his teammates could also earn wild cards to the NAIA National Championship next month.
Stanley was not William Penn’s highest finisher, but placed high enough in a very competitive 174-pound weight class to secure one of the four allocations for nationals. The number of allocations are determined by how many wrestlers the Heart has ranked in the top 20 at that given weight class entering the conference tournament.
The freshman was 3-2 with a fall and a technical fall to finish in fourth place. It will be his first trip to nationals. The NAIA National Championship is March 4-5 in Wichita, Kan.
Cameron Hargrove (Fr., Bolingbrook, Ill., Undecided) entered as the top seed at 149 pounds. He started strong with two falls and a technical fall, but unfortunately could not get past Jovon Mitchell in the championship bout, falling 8-6. Unfortunately, 149 pounds had just one allocation, so Hargrove will have to wait to see if he earned an at-large bid.
Steven Skewes (Fr., Duchesne, Utah, Exercise Science), who entered unranked, nearly stole a bid as he finished third at 157 pounds. The freshman was 3-1 with one fall and one major decision. He earned a matchup with Jalon Strong of Waldorf in a ‘true second’ bout, which also served as a national qualifier (157 had two allocations), but could not come away victorious.
125-pounder Nadhelo Charles-Pierre (Sr., Miramar, Fla., Sports Management), 184-pounder Jesse Schwery (Fr., Panama, Iowa), and 197-pounder Branson Bottorff (So., Mackinaw, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) also placed in the top six for the Statesmen. Bottorff finished fifth with a 2-2 record, while Schwery took sixth at 2-3 (two falls). Charles-Pierre earned one victory to take sixth as well.
Mason Walters (Fr., Independence, Mo., Exercise Science) pinned one foe at 174 pounds, while the trio of 133-pounder Brise Bennett (So., Morgantown, W.Va., Business Management), 149-pounder Troy Mita (Fr., San Jose, Calif., Nursing), and 165-pounder Michael Baker (So., Underwood, Iowa, Elementary Education) also had their hands raised once Saturday.
Matheson Meade (Fr., Knoxville, Tenn., Exercise Science) had been ranked for much of the season at 165 pounds, but had a tough two matches and will now hope to gain a wild card for nationals.
Grand View won the team title with 223.5 points, while Matt Robertson of St. Ambrose was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler as he won the 133-pound title.
