Augustana places three in the top-8
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Competing against 45 teams at the nations largest D2 wrestling tournament, the Augustana wrestling team performed well at the 40th annual Midwest Classic.
Hosted by the University of Indianapolis, the Vikings saw three grapplers reach the podium on Sunday. At 141 Lbs, Jebben Keyes was the lone Viking to not suffer a loss on day one and finished the tournament in 5th place. Luke Nohns battled back on Sunday and took home 7th place (285 Lbs), and Clayton Wahlstrom finished 8th at 197 Lbs.
As a team, the Vikings finished in 16th place with 47 points. McKendree (IL) won the event with 127.5 points. Augustana assistant coach Chism Fink was pleased with the effort of the program but knows there’s still a lot of work to be done. “Certain wrestlers performed well this weekend,” Chism said, “but it’s a process and we’re always looking to improve on the mat.”
Ethan Cota, 125 Lbs: Kota took a first-round loss, but bounced back quickly by putting up 18 points in the first round wrestle-backs. He secured a major decision for the Vikings and stayed hot in the following two rounds. First, he secured an 8-5 decision over Noah Mcquigg of Central Oklahoma and followed that up with a 9-4 win over Erick Vargas of Central Missouri University. However, he fell to Corey Secrist of West Liberty University by a 7-1 decision to be eliminated from the tournament.
Brayden Curry, 133 Lbs: In his first action of the day, Brayden Curry battled the 6th ranked wrestler in the country to a 2-1 loss. Curry also lost his second match and was eliminated from the tournament.
Jebben Keyes, 141 Lbs: Jebben Keyes came out on fire, and strung together two straight wins to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. In his first bout, he collected a first period’s worth of riding time, with a dominant 6-2 performance. In the round of 16, Jebben kept his foot on the gas and took down the fourth-seeded wrestler at 141 pounds from Adams State by way of a 2-1 decision. Jebben cruised to a 6-1 quarterfinal win, but was slowed down in the semifinals where he will eventually fell to the second-ranked wrestler in the country, Isiah Royal of Newberry. In the consolation semi-finals, Keyes dropped a close bout to Ryan Skonieczny of Findlay but finished strong to earn a 5th place medal at the Midwest Classic.
Noah North, 149 Lbs: Noah North fell two athletes from powerhouse schools, including Shepperd from Wisconsin Parkside in the first round, and Siemasz from Lake Erie College.
Colin Ayers, 157 Lbs: In the round of 32, Collin Ayers found himself in an absolute shootout with a region opponent Nate Smalling of Mckendree University, and Ayers was victorious in the match. Collin’s round of 16 was a tight, low scoring bout, and came up short 3-2 to Minnick of Tiffin University. In Collins first wrestle-back round of the tournament, he eliminated Jocab Otuafi of Chadron State. But his weekend would come up short. In his final match at the Midwest classic, he fell to Taylor Makosy of North Carolina-Pembroke in a 5-3 sudden victory overtime bout.
Jackson Sweeney, 165 Lbs: Jackson Sweeney started Saturday with a controlled 3-2 win over Billy Holtan of Northern State. In Sweeney’s round of 16 match, he fell to Rodney Shepard of North Carolina-Pembroke. Jackson was then eliminated in the second round wrestle-backs by Hunter Mullin of Western Colorado.
Lukas Poloncic, 174 Lbs: A returning National Qualifier, Lukas Poloncic is currently the 8th ranked 174 pounder in Division. He started off strong with a fall 16 seconds into the third period over Austin Watkins from Queens University. Poloncic’s round of 16 match came down to sudden victory overtime following a late challenge from the Maryville University coaching staff, which ultimately tied the match at the end of regulation. Lukas fell in a barnburner of a match, 4-2. The second round wrestle-backs was equally as close as his prior bout, but Lukas was eliminated by Andrew Sams of Bellarmine University in overtime, 6-4.
Daniel Bishop, 184 Lbs: Daniel Bishop, who leads the Vikings in tech falls, ended his first round match by tech fall (15-0) in just 3 minutes and 44 seconds. The freshman came out firing in his round of 16 match against the 8th ranked wrestler in the country out of Queens University. Bishop
willed his way into sudden victory overtime before falling 7-5 to the sophomore Noah Curreri in the second round. In wrestle-backs, Dan put on a clinic with an 18-1 win with just 18 seconds left in the bout. In the third round wrestle backs, Daniel fell to Colton Clingenpeel of Lindenwood to be eliminated
from the tournament.
Clayton Wahlstrom, 197 Lbs: Clayton Wahlstrom started off his tournament by winning over pinfall over a senior from Central Missouri at the 5:55
mark. Clayton fell in the second round strategic battle, 2-1 by Elijah Seay of King College. In the second round wrestle-backs, he got a fall in the second period over Charlie Cadell of Bellarmine University and advances to the round of twelve. For a chance to get into the top 8, Wahlstrom answered with a 5-1 win over Job Ayala of Wisconsin- Parkside. In the consolation semifinals, Clayton dropped a highly contested 4-2 bout to Konner Schmidt of Western State, who is currently ranked 2nd in the country at 197 pounds. In the Clayton’s final bout of the tournament, he squared up to the 8th ranked wrestler in the nation, and fell by major decision to Nick Mason of Tiffin University/ Wahlstrom finished the tournament with an 8th place medal.
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Luke Nohns, 285 Lbs: Luke
2018 Midwest Classic Results
Results (Record/Team Points/Place):
Ethan Cota: 3-2/ 2.5 / DNP
Brayden Curry: 0-2 DNP
Jebben Keyes: 4-2/12.0 / 5th
Noah North: 0-2 DNP
Colin Ayers: 3-2/4.0/DNP
Jackson Sweeney:1-2/1.0/DNP
Lukas Poloncic:1-2/3.0/DNP
Daniel Bishop: 2-2/4.5/DNP
Clayton Wahlstrom: 4-3/9.5/8th
Luke Nohns: 5-2/10.5/7th
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