EC Men’s Wrestling Takes on Challenging Competition at Regionals
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – For the first time ever, the Eureka men's wrestling team competed in an NCAA Division III regional tournament this weekend.
The Red Devils took on a loaded field of 18 teams that included seven nationally ranked teams, six top-10 squads and 24 ranked wrestlers. Only the top three in each bracket qualified for nationals.
"Our regional is super tough," EC coach Eric Biehl said. "We've got some of the top teams there, and at every weight class, there were ranked individuals. In many weight classes, it will be tougher than the national tournament. This weekend, we saw guys who were All-Americans last year who didn't even qualify.
""We knew that going in, and we knew we would have to wrestle tough and I think the guys competed well."
By the tournament's last round, there were two Eureka wrestlers left competing for a place on the podium and one competing for an opportunity to qualify for nationals.
At 165 pounds, senior Andrew Sims (Heyworth, Ill./Heyworth/Lincoln) was the eighth seed of his bracket.
After winning his first match by 5-3 decision, he was defeated by 12-0 major decision by top-seeded Nathan Fuller of Wartburg in the quarterfinals. Then, he went on the back side of the bracket and wrestled all the way back to the third-place match in a rematch against Fuller, who was upset in the semis.
This time around, Sims fared significantly better against the Division I transfer from the University of Minnesota, but he ultimately fell short by 6-2 decision, placing fourth overall and falling just one win shy of a national tournament berth in his last collegiate tournament.
"He was outstanding today," Biehl said of Sims, who beat the fifth- and sixth-seeded wrestlers in his bracket and placed above two nationally-ranked wrestlers and returning All-Americans. "I couldn't be happier with Drew's career and his season. We unfortunately don't get him back as he graduates this year, and that will leave a big hole on our team, but he definitely helped us build the program the right way."
Sophomore Gaige Owens (Marion, Ill./ Marion/Iowa Wesleyan) was the other Red Devil to land on the podium, placing eighth at 133 pounds.
He picked up a pair of wins on the back side of the bracket, pinning Noah Clayton of University of the Ozarks in 3:338 and topping Cornell's Evan Husko by 5-1 decision. Owens then ended up on the losing end of two close matches, falling 6-4 against Luther's Christian Chavez and 5-4 against Millikin's Coby Haney in seventh-place match.
Jake Jozwiak (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North/Lincoln) and Anthony Sartori ( ) both came one win away from placing at 125 and 157, respectively.
Jozwiak bounced back from getting pinned in the first round with a 16-0 technical fall over Westminster's Isaac Gawronski before getting knocked out with a pin in his second consolation match.
Sartori delivered a 52-second fall over Cornell's Gabriel Smith in a first-round upset. Then, after getting stuck by North Central's Alex Villar in the quarterfinals, he came close on the other side, dropping a 7-5 decision against Central's Luke Condy.
Nathan Berta (Channahon, Ill./Minooka/Calumet College of St Joseph) and Thomas Culp (Quincy, Ill./Quincy/Lincoln) each picked up a preliminary round win at 141 and 184, respectively.
Bradden Davis (Mount Vernon, Ill./Mount Vernon), Robert Muhammad (Palos Heights, Ill./Shepard/Lincoln) and Robert Castellano (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) all wrestled hard, but went 0-2 in their first Division III regional meet.
"I couldn't be happier or prouder of them," Biehl said. "They all battled each match and left it all out there."
Although none of his wrestlers made it to nationals, at the end of the first wrestling season in Eureka College history, the coach saw a lot to be proud of. The men's team went 6-1 in duals this season. It tallied six individual titles, placed in a bunch of meets and had four wrestlers finish with 20-plus wins.
They did it all while confronting the challenge of launching a first-year program.
"They really had to come through a lot of adversity," Biehl said." It's tough to build a brand-new program from the start, and we had a stellar year.
"We really just wanted to be in every match and have everyone give 100 percent and compete and just come together as a team, and we did that, so the foundation is set at Eureka wrestling, and I'm looking forward to the future."