DANA SAVORED SPOTLIGHT
Nebraska school upset field for NAIA Nationals Duals
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — It was a marvelous sign for NAIA wrestling as a full contingent of programs gathered in the UNI-Dome for the NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals.
Sixteen teams, eight of which were ranked in the top ten of the first ranking of the new year, competed with focus and purpose, Jan. 14-15, compared to 2005 when only four NAIA squads participated in the Duals with Lindenwood compiling a 3-0 record.
There were many great moments for the programs involved in the Duals, but the real story this time around was the outstanding performance given by third-seeded Dana College, which defeated Cumberlands, 22-13, in the finals.
The Vikings got a big win out of the gates in the finals as Craig Trampe edged Delrico Choates, 3-2, in a battle between two top-tier competitors at 125. The Patriots took three straight from there, including a 12-3 victory from Brad Cooper over Terrence Almond at 141. Dana rebounded, however, and won every match from 157 through 184.
At
174, Marshall Marquardt came through in a big way when he pinned Cumberland’s Todd Allen in the first period. Parks went up to 197 for a feature match against No. 1 Eric Flinchum, who won the bout, 12-6, to make the team score 19-13. But Dana’s Blair Alderman, up from 197, ended the show with a 5-3 decision over Matt Bishop at heavyweight.“This is a great win for our team and our institution,’’ Dana head coach Steve Costanzo said. “We got a great effort from everyone up and down the line-up. The coaching staff did a great job of getting our guys prepared. We were gunning for something like this. We know that we have a good team, sometimes you just never know how good they are.
“This is the greatest moment that I’ve had coaching personally and for our program as well. The program has been around since 1960, but this is only the second national team trophy that our school has received.’’
Medders, a first-year coach, also liked what he saw from his crew in Cedar Falls.
“The last dual didn’t go the way we had planned,’’ Medders said. “We’ve been working real hard and just making it to the finals was an accomplishment. No one would have seen us doing that.’’
In getting to the finals, Dana went through Montana State-Northern and Southern Oregon just to reach the final four in the championship bracket.
Once there, they were met with a stiff challenge from No. 7 seed Missouri Valley, a squad that dealt No. 2-seed Dickinson State a 24-18 defeat in the quarters.
Dana had enough firepower to earn a 19-15 triumph that placed them in the championship dual. Each squad won five bouts and bonus points were key for Dana against MVC as Willie Parks pinned Josh Johnston at 184 pounds and Blair Alderman majored Kyle Riley at 197.
Cumberlands turned in an impressive two-day performance. The Patriots were seeded fifth and had a difficult road to the finals.
After getting through McKendree College (27-13) in the first round, the Patriots faced fourth-seeded Embry-Riddle in an interesting quarterfinal-round encounter. The Patriots were not to be denied as they handed the No. 4 seeded Eagles a 26-13 loss that set them up for a memorable semifinal round match against top-seeded and top-ranked Lindenwood.
Cumberlands captured wins in three of the first four weight classes, including a major decision by Delrico Choates at 125 and a 6-5 victory from Dustin Center over Lindenwood’s Mark Dickman at 149. From 157 to 197, every match was a major. Three of those went in favor of the Lions. Alex Becerra closed out the contest with a decision at heavyweight for the Lions, which forced an 18-18 tie. The match was then decided by criteria No. 7 (nearfall points) in favor of the Patriots.
“When you go down to No. 7 criteria to decide a victory, that’s just how it goes,’’ Lindenwood head coach Joe Parisi said. “That’s why you always press your team to go for bonus points. One of the people who has impressed that upon my mind the most is (Olympic champ) Doug Blubaugh. He has been a friend of the program for many years. His ideology is that wrestling is all about getting somebody to their back and looking for the pin.’’
Lindenwood, which competed without three starters, recovered from the semifinal defeat to earn third place with a victory over Missouri Valley.
“This National Duals competition is awesome,’’ Parisi said. “This is one of the most impressive tournaments that I’ve ever been a part of.’’
Meanwhile, Menlo College, a top-ten program, hosted second-ranked Great Falls and other squads at the Menlo Duals and Invitational in Atherton, Calif., also Jan. 14-15.
Great Falls went 3-0 with triumphs over Montclair State (34-10), Menlo (25-16) and Indianapolis (24-18) and several wrestlers came through for Great Falls against the host squad. Mike Kummer (174) and Marcus Andy (197) both won by fall and Jonathan Muri earned a major decision at 149. Ryan Smith (165) and Kummer finished with 3-0 marks individually for the Argos.
In other action, Pablo Sanchez won by pin at 133 for Menlo. Kyle Bickford went 3-0 for the host Oaks, who had a 2-1 record as a team.
At the Pacific University Boxer Duals, held Jan. 6, in Forest Grove, Ore., Menlo collected a 2-1 record as the Oaks upended host Pacific (28-12) and Simon Fraser (30-12), but fell, 29-10, to Nebraska-Kearney.
Simon Fraser lost to Menlo and Nebraska-Kearney, but handed Pacific a 33-12 defeat. In a highlight encounter in the match between the two NAIA programs, Simon Fraser’s Mikhail Abdul-Latif downed Menlo’s talented Ben Flores, 8-3, at heavyweight. Mike Rodriguez (125) and Jesse Vasquez (174) both won by fall for Menlo against Simon Fraser.
Menlo also traveled to Fresno for a triad against a pair of Division I foes, Fresno State and Boise State, Jan. 11. The Oaks lost to both squads by scores of 33-13 and 36-2, respectively. Joe Garcia went 2-0 individually at 141 for Menlo.
Trevor Lofstedt (125), Joey Jannsen (149) and Jimmy Grochowsky (165) were all champions for Southern Oregon at the Portland State Open, Jan. 8. Lofstedt won in overtime in the quarterfinals before decking his next two opponents. Alfonso Paez (133) from Menlo College and Abdul-Latif from Simon Fraser also won titles at Portland State.
Abdul-Latif recorded a pair of first-period falls on the way to his title and Paez won in overtime in the semifinals and racked up a pin in the finals.
One week earlier, Southern Oregon netted a 1-1 mark at the Portland State Duals as the Raiders dealt Simon Fraser a 29-6 loss, but dropped a 25-19 decision to Division II power Nebraska-Kearney. Barry Johnson (133), Grochowsky and David O’Brien (174) each collected 2-0 records individually for the Raiders.
Richard Byrd (125), Michaiah Watkins (133), Calvin DeVault (165) and Joffre landers (184) all captured first place for Embry-Riddle at the Western State College Tracy Borah Invitational, Jan. 7 in Gunnison, Colo. Byrd and Watkins both pinned their final-round opponents for the Eagles, who placed second in the team scoring with 97 points. Western State, with five champions, won the team title with 122.5 points.
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