UIndy wrestlers win at Little State
Success was found by the University of Indianapolis wrestling team on Saturday Dec. 7 at the 54th Annual Little State Tournament, as five individuals finished as champions in their respective weight classes.
Finishing as champions for the Greyhounds in their weight classes included redshirt senior Alex Johns at 125, redshirt sophomore Josh Kieffer at 133, junior Justin Kieffer at 141, and seniors Cameryn Brady and Jeff Weiss at 149 and 165, respectively. Coming up short, but still earning runner-up positions in their respective weight classes for UIndy, included freshman Sheldon Struble, redshirt senior Shelby Mappes, and senior Evan Wooding, at 157, 174 and 285, respectively.
Each Greyhound who finished first in his respective weight class went the day undefeated en route to individual titles. The five Greyhound champions who won on the day represented five of the first six weight classes, presenting an early dominance as a program at the tournament.
The Greyhound wrestling team also had five wrestlers who finished within the top six of their weight class brackets in the tournament. Redshirt junior Taylor Scott (197) at third, senior Weston Davis (165) and redshirt freshman Brian Snyder (285) at fourth, junior Clayton Monebrake (165) at fifth, and freshman Jared Boehm (197) at sixth all placed at the tournament.
In the days leading up to Little State, the Greyhounds claimed the No. 9 position in the first regular-season National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Wrestling Coaches’ Poll released Dec. 5. Johns and Brady also were individually ranked fourth in their weight classes, 125 and 149, respectively.
The Greyhounds competed at the Lake Erie Duals on Nov. 23, finishing with two losses and one win.
The win came first over the Alderson Broaddus University Battlers 40-11, with the Greyhounds taking eight of 10 bouts in the match. Falls came from Johns, Weiss, Scott and redshirt senior George Lopez. Brady also won by a technical fall 18–2, while Struble and Mappes won by major decision.
Following the win, the team lost to both the Ashland University Eagles and the Lake Erie College Storm, falling 29–15 and 31–13, respectively. Brady, Johns and Weiss all claimed wins against Ashland.
In the matchup with Lake Erie, the team won three of 10 bouts, as Brady, Johns and Wooding all claimed wins.
Head Wrestling Coach Jason Warthan said that prior to the Lake Erie dual, the wrestling team had been working and preparing for that dual as they would have any other.
“Looking at last week’s performances, we’re pinpointing some areas where a group of guys did not do well, or certain situations where as a team we can improve, and we’re working on those,” Warthan said.
Brady emphasized on the team’s desire to improve through practice and paying attention to things that they could improve on.
“Like he [Warthan] said, we’re working on the same old stuff. [We are] still learning from last week, from the Ashland Open, and trying to correct the mistakes we made this past weekend, and hopefully do better this weekend [at the Little State Tournament],” Brady said.
The Greyhound wrestlers will return home to Nicoson Hall Dec. 14-15 to host the 35th Annual Midwest Classic. UIndy will welcome 29 different teams representing the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II, III and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The Classic is set to begin at 10 a.m.
