Wichita, Ks. - Mercyhurst wrestling made the trip west for the NCAA DII National Championships this weekend with the first day of competition taking place on Friday. The team had a pair of wrestlers in the field in Jake Niffenegger and Trever Begin with Niffenegger reaching All-American status for a second-straight season.

How it Happened

Trever Begin found himself with a tough task in his first bout of the day as he was matched up with the champion at 197 for Super Region V, Dominic Murphy of St. Cloud State. The Laker grappler fought hard, but was not quite able to keep pace with his counterpart with Murphy slowly building out his lead before securing a major decision win, 17-5, to send Begin to the consolation bracket. 

From there, Begin saw Mason Christian of West Liberty. It was a highly contested bout between the two as they both were patient in waiting for the moment to take their shot. Unfortunately for Begin, that chance never quite materialized. The two fought their way to a score of 2-2 at the end of regulation with Christian able to do just enough to come away with the sudden victory and end the Laker's time in the tournament.

Niffenegger started out similarly to his teammate as he fell in the opening bout of day one. The Queen City native was matched up with the Cayden Henschel of Wisconsin-Parkside, falling 8-6.  The Laker sophomore ended up keeping pace with his opponent for the majority of the matchup before Henschel made a move in the later stages, helping him grab a lead he would never relinquish. Niffenegger rebounded in his second contest as he entered the consolation bracket with Belmont Abbey's John Carayiannis as his opponent. Once again the Laker found himself in a close bout but it was Niffenegger who ended up coming away with the late lates, securing an 8-6 win.

He then rounded out his first day of competition with his strongest showing, earning an 11-3 major decision. The Laker was faced with the University of Central Oklahoma's Dylan Lucas who gave Niffenegger a good fight in the early going, but wore down as the bout went along. The sophomore seized the opportunity in front of him and slowly built out his lead until finishing things out with his largest lead on the day, helping him move onto day two and claim All-American honors for a second-straight season.

What's Next

Niffenegger returns to action tomorrow for the final day of competition, hoping to add to his win total. He will be tasked with Hunter Burnett of Augustana (SD) in the opening round of Saturday's action and, with a win, will move on to see the loser of Zackary Donathan of Tiffin and McKendree's Ronan Schuelke's matchup in the semifinals of the championship bracket.