Wrestling prepares for postseason
The University of Indianapolis wrestling team hosted the Greyhound Open in Nicoson Hall on Feb. 6. Eight Greyhound wrestlers placed at the meet.
Senior Nick Walpole, the No. 1 seed, won the 149-pound bracket, going 4-0 on the way to the title.
In the 157-pound bracket, junior David Lopez and freshman Jeff Weiss took third and fifth place, respectively. Fourth and seventh places in the 285-pound bracket were taken by Freshmen Evan Wooding and Kevin Gaughen, respectively. Wooding went 2-2 on the day.
Three other Greyhounds placed at the meet. Senior Keith Smith took sixth place in the 197 bracket. Both junior Johnny Henry and freshman Marcus Watson placed eighth in their brackets.
The Greyhounds also competed in the Pete Willson Wheaton College Wrestling Invitational on Jan. 28-29 and placed fourth of 32 squads.
Walpole received the most outstanding wrestler honor with an undefeated win in the 149-pound title event. Walpole, the No. 2 seed in his bracket, upset top-seeded Isaac Dukes of Case Western Reserve in the championship, 7-4.
Sophomore Alex Johns, the No. 1 seed, went 4-0 on his way to his second consecutive title in the 125-pound bracket at the Pete Willson Invitational.
“He [Johns] just knows how to win,” said head coach Jason Warthan. “It’s not always pretty. Last year he won this event with only one take down, which is pretty unheard of. This year he had two take-downs.”
Other strong individual performances included senior Matt Irwin with a second-place finish in the 141-pound bracket, junior Ethan Harris in third place in the 133 class and freshman Taylor Scott with a sixth place finish in the 197 bracket.
Warthan explained that Harris’ win was important because his opponent was the No. 5 wrestler in Division III and that the top wrestlers in Division II and Division III are about the same level in talent.
The Greyhounds travel to Findlay, Ohio, on Feb. 11 to close out their 2010-2011 regular season.
Warthan said that the Findlay meet will be a good test because Findlay is the only other Division II wrestling team in the area. Although not in the same region as the Greyhounds, Findlay is a top team in their respective region, so the meet will be a good gauge for the postseason.
The wrestlers’ postseason begins on Feb. 27 with NCAA Super Region 3 in Sioux Falls, SD.
“We’re kind of going into the unknown,” Warthan said. “It’s our first time in this regional, so we haven’t met any of these teams head-to-head yet. But everybody’s goal is to make it to nationals.”
Despite these concerns, Walpole commented that they have a good chance to place high at nationals.
“Our team just has to wrestle to the best of their ability,” Walpole explained. “We have the possibility of at least three national champions.”
Freshman Jeff Weiss grapples with an opponent at the Greyhound Open on Feb. 6. Eight Greyhounds placed at the meet. Photo by Elizabeth Wheeler.
