Viking wrestlers qualify for nationals
Head coach Mitchell also named regional 'Coach of the Year'
Chad Kriz
Issue date: 2/26/10 Section: Sports
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The team trophy wasn't the only hardware joining the team on the bus ride home. Head coach Nick Mitchell was voted regional Coach of the Year. Junior Glenn Rhees, rated No. 2 nationally at 174 lbs, was voted Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament after winning his finals match by fall in just 1:33 over No. 7 Preston McKinney of Missouri Valley. Rhees found himself in the finals after winning his first two matches with a 10-3 decision and by fall in 3:30.
Missouri Valley, rated No. 3 by the Coaches' Top 20 Poll, scored 169 team points claiming the team title. The No. 9 rated Vikings scored 156.5 team points, separating themselves from third-place and No.13 rated Oklahoma City by 28 points.
Mitchell said although this was the teams best performance, he wasn't satisfied.
"We wrestled well but we still left a lot of points out there," Mitchell said. "The head-to-head matches (against Missouri Valley) were huge, we won some but so did they."
Rhees wasn't the only Viking wrestler to win by fall in the finals. Brad Lower, the top-rated 165 lb junior, only needed 1:15 to secure a fall over Oklahoma City's No. 11 Mark Meyer. Lower provided the Vikings with a boost by scoring bonus points in every one of his matches. Lower started off the tournament with a first-period fall in 0:53, the dominating wrestler then won by major decision in his next two matches by scores of 11-3 and 14-5.
Lower leads the NAIA in number of pins with 19 on the season. He said he wrestled well but has his sights set on the national tournament.
"I want to win and dominate my way through it," Lower said. "As a team, after today's performance, anything can happen. Hopefully everyone peeks and wrestles hard."
Sophomore Travis Evans fell short of a finals victory by losing a 3-0 decision to Missouri Valley's No. 1 rated Colin Pierce at 133 lbs. Returning All-American and No. 11 rated Sophomore Justin Rau lost by a close 3-2 decision in the 197 lb final to Missouri Valley's No. 8 Charlie Gibbs. Freshman Trae Reed reached the finals at 157 lbs but was denied a championship after dropping a 7-4 decision to No. 5 Nik Turner of Oklahoma City.
"Everyone is wrestling well right now, we're all peeking at the right time for nationals," Evans said. "Everyone is getting to the top of their game."
Sophomores Issiah Sullivan and Ty Knowler, along with senior Jordaryl Logan, ran through the consolation brackets of their weight classes to finish above their seeds and earn third-place. Knowler was the fifth seed at 165 lbs, causing him to square off against Lower in the semi-finals.
Junior Michael Schultz, No. 7 at 133lbs, entered the tournament as the second seed but lost a close 8-6 decision in the semi-finals to Evans. Oklahoma City's No. 10 Cameron Ream then edged Schultz with an 8-7 decision in their third-place bout. Junior Adam Kurimski and freshman Derek Nightster also scored team points by placing fifth.
Although the team competed well, the focus wasn't winning a regional title, Mitchell said. The team looks to improve on last year's eight-place finish in the team's national debut.
"Guys on the team know that were selfish. We want to win everything, every time. We won't be satisfied unless that's happening. I'm not going to apologize for thinking like that," Mitchell said. "People set a lower expectation for us cause it's our second year. Other people can have that lower expectation, but we're not going to."
The Vikings head into the post-season with 12 wrestlers qualified for the NAIA National Tournament, held in Oklahoma City March 4-6.
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