Kutztown, Pa. - Mercyhurst wrestling made the trip to Kutztwon, Pa. Saturday, March 2nd, for the NCAA DII Regionals, putting together a solid effort and finishing in fourth. The Lakers competed well on the mat all day long with two claiming spots in the National Tournament in Jake Niffenegger and Trever Begin with Niffenegger earning first place at 141.
How it Happened
Billy Smith competed at 125 for the Lakers with him grabbing a pair of wins. He started his day with a major decision, 12-3, before adding his second victory of the afternoon in the second round in a 7-2 decision. From there, he suffered his first loss in an 8-1 decision before a second to give him a sixth-place finish. Knowlton finished sixth as well at 133 with his pair of wins coming later on in the day. After a 5-3 defeat in his opening matchup, the freshman grabbed a 15-10 decision before an 18-5 major decision to get him to the fifth-place bout where he ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Jake Niffenegger had a very strong performance on the way to the crown at 141, having the sort of encore the reigning NWCA Super Region I Rookie of the Year wanted. Niffengger started off hot with a pin before a tech fall, 23-3, in the second. He had a tougher fight on his hands in the form of Gannon's Caleb Chaves who Niffenegger managed to defeat in a tight 1-0 decision before wrapping up his day with an 8-6 decision over Mason Myers of UPJ to end up at the top spot on the podium.
Bret Minnick ended up in fourth place at 149 for the Lakers after a loss to begin his day. He made up for it, though, with a tech fall victory, 18-3, over Ali Alicea before a pin to work his way to the third-place matchup. He was not quite able to get it done to claim a podium finish with a 7-0 defeat, taking fourth place. Max Stedeford got his day started the way that he wanted to with a tech fall victory, 15-0, over Kyler Everly of Shippensburg before falling in his second bout to put him in position to fight for third place. He was met with Eric Falleni of ESU and came away with a pin before falling 19-5 to earn fourth place.
Dillon Walker competed at 165 for the Lakers and came away with a 18-6 major decision in his first matchup before falling. He then fell in his next two contests to finish in sixth. Chase Stein grabbed sixth as well with a fall to begin his time in the tournament before falling in back-to-back matchups to round out his day.
At 184 it was Vincent Sacaramuzzino who ended up with a win in his first bout in an 8-1 decision. After a loss via a major decision with him following with a pin, working his way to the fifth place bout. He ended up grabbing the win in that contest with a 13-1 major decision over Frostburg State's Nick McCarthy. Trever Begin put together a strong performances of his own, earning a second place finish to help him punch his ticket to nationals. He began with a win via decision before a tech fall in the second round followed. From there, Begin grabbed a win via decision before a falling in a tight 2-0 decision in the championship matchup.
Christian Taylor earned fifth place for his work as the team's heavyweight. After a loss in his first matchup, he came away with a 9-3 decision before adding on with an 11-1 major decision. After a second loss of the day, Taylor finished things out with a win over Kuztown's Dustin Swanson.
Next Match
The Lakers have two grapplers move on to the next stage with both Jake Niffenegger at 141 and Trever Begin at 197 punching their tickets. The two will head to Wichita, Ks. for the DII NCAA Tournament with the event beginning on March 15th and ending the following day.
