Burgey to Quarterfinals After Day One of Nationals
William Penn University Athletics
Des Moines–Eric Burgey (So., Easton, Pa., Easton HS) made it known that just because he is no longer the top-ranked wrestler at his weight, that does not mean he should not be considered one of the favorites after an impressive first day at the NAIA Wrestling National Championships Thursday.
The 149-pound sophomore, who is ranked #8 in the division, pulled off a pair of “upsets” to advance to Friday morning’s quarterfinal round.
He opened with a convincing fall over #2 Mike Vassar of Great Falls (Mont.) in a time of 5:41. Burgey then concluded his day with a tougher 6-4 decision over #7 Nick Haugen of Baker (Kan.).
His Friday morning session will begin with a meeting against #10 Anthonie Linares of Cumberlands (Ky.). One more victory will assure Burgey of another All-America honor after placing fifth last season.
125-pounder Isaiah Mayorquin (Fr., Yuma, Ariz., Cibola HS) and fellow 149-pounder Carey Cloud (Fr., Havelock, N.C., Tucker HS) will join Burgey on Friday, doing so in completely opposite ways.
Mayorquin battled hard, but lost his first match to #6 Aspen Kmiec of Midland (Neb.) 8-6. He remained alive, however, by rallying past Riley Miller of Montana State-Northern by a 6-3 score. The freshman will start Friday against Albert Tapia of Wayland Baptist (Texas).
Cloud, on the other hand, matched Burgey with a first-round win, dropping Matt Milton of Campbellsville (Ky.) by major decision, 12-4. Unfortunately, despite holding an early lead, he could not close out #6 Bradley Steele of Dickinson State (N.D.), losing 3-2 in overtime. He will next meet #12 Cody Green of Midland (Neb.).
Both Mayorquin and Cloud must win their next three matches to earn All-America status.
Ishmael Rempson (Fr., Olympia Fields, Ill., Rich Central HS) had his hand raised as well, but was defeated twice in ending his first national tourney at 1-2. His first match was by far his toughest, being pinned in 4:53 by #3 Charlie Pingleton of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.).
The 157-pounder rebounded with a pin of his own, defeating Harrison Johnson of Morningside in 4:02. He failed to keep the momentum going as he lost 12-10 to Jaykob Miller of Jamestown (N.D.).
141-pounder Charlton Benjamin (Fr., Atlanta, Ga., Miller Grove HS), 165-pounder Anthony Martinez (Fr., Phoenix, Ariz., Desert Vista HS), and 285-pounder Kory Morrow (So., Oskaloosa, Wartburg) also competed, but were eliminated with 0-2 records.
Benjamin lost a 19-1 technical fall to Josiah Simburger of Northwestern before being pinned by Colby Rinehart of Shorter (Ga.) in 5:25.
Martinez was pinned in his first match against #11 Ethan Hinebauch of Montana State-Northern in 1:11. The freshman nearly stayed alive Thursday night, but was sent packing with a 3-2 setback to Ben Taylor of Briar Cliff.
Morrow was in both of his matches, but as many heavyweight matches go, he got caught in a pair of moves and lost both by fall. The first was to #12 Scott Brasil of Menlo (Calif.) in 1:50 and the latter was to Colton Hill of Dickinson State in 3:29.
As a team, William Penn is 24th out of 35 teams with 8.5 points. #1 Grand View had a great second session to claim the top spot with 45 points. #3 Southern Oregon is second with 38.5 points.
