Four Wrestlers Qualify For NCAA Championships

TIFFIN, Ohio – Daniel Ownbey, Justin Pencook and Blaze Shade each registered second place finishes, while Chris Giddens secured a win in the fifth place match, and all four wrestlers booked their tickets to the national championships at the NCAA Super Region 2 Tournament on Saturday in Tiffin, Ohio.

It will mark the third-straight trip to nationals for Ownbey who captured all-American honors (top 8 at national tournament) in each of the last two seasons, while Pencook and Shade will make their second-straight trip to the national championships. Giddens will make the trip to the national tournament for the first time.

The appearances will mark the eighth-straight season that UNCP will have multiple representatives at the national tournament. UNCP's rich wrestling tradition now includes 52 national qualifiers since 1991.

The performances helped the Black & Gold log 65-1/2 points and a seventh place finish in an event that featured six nationally ranked squads. Tenth-ranked Indianapolis captured the Super Region 2 championship with 125-1/2 points, while McKendree (106 points) and third-ranked Newberry (105-1/2) finished second and third, respectively.

Ownbey, Pencook and Shade all captured wins in Saturday's semifinal round, but all three fell to nationally ranked opponents in the finals. Giddens dropped his semifinal match to Ashland's Tyler Houska, and then dropped his following match to Evan Wooding of Indianapolis in the consolation semifinals. Down to his last chance to qualify for nationals, Giddens tallied a 3-2 win over fourth-ranked Kevin Christman of Tiffin in the fifth place bout.

The 2014 NCAA Division II National Championships will be held, March 14-15, at Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. Brackets and pairings will be announced at a later date.

2013-14 NCAA SUPER REGION 2 TOURNAMENT (UNCP RESULTS ONLY)

125
Patrick Mestrez (Belmont Abbey) disqualified Dontae Brown (UNCP) DQ
Dontae Brown (UNCP) dec. Reed Jacks (King) D 5-1
Alex Battaglia (Limestone) dec. Dontae Brown (UNCP) D 5-3

133
Austin Gillihan (Lake Erie) tech. fall Cole Murray (UNCP) TF 15-0
Cole Murray (UNCP) dec. Adam Green (Tiffin) D 8-2
DeMarcus Spencer (King) pinned Cole Murray (UNCP) F 1:00

141
No. 4 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) pinned Daniel Simmons (Anderson) F 3:29
No. 4 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) dec. Bryce Killian (King) D 3-1
No. 4 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) dec. Darick Lapaglia (Maryville) D 3-1
No. 6 Justin Kieffer (UIndy) dec. No. 4 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) D 4-1

149
Eric Milks (UNCP) dec. Sam Viengmany (Tiffin) D 6-5
No. 8 Kyle Williams (McKendree) maj. dec. Eric Milks (UNCP) M 10-0
Eric Milks (UNCP) pinned Isaac Morisette (Lake Erie) F 2:00
Mel Levergne (Limestone) dec. Eric Milks (UNCP) D 2-1

157
Justin Pencook (UNCP) maj. dec. Zach Noel (Wisconsin-Parkside) M 18-7
Justin Pencook (UNCP) maj. dec. John Aus Jones (King) M 10-2
Justin Pencook (UNCP) dec. No. 4 Josh Ballard (McKendree) D 12-8
No. 3 Zak Vargo (Lake Erie) dec. Justin Pencook (UNCP) D 6-0

165
No. 6 Jeff Weiss (UIndy) dec. Reggie Allen (UNCP) D 8-1
Reggie Allen (UNCP) dec. Travis Edwards (King) D 8-2
Nick Fishback (Wisconsin-Parkside) pinned Reggie Allen (UNCP) F 2:41

174
Blaze Shade (UNCP) pinned Austin Antill (Ohio Valley) F 1:49
Blaze Shade (UNCP) dec. Joe Pittman (Newberry) D 4-2
Blaze Shade (UNCP) dec. No. 7 Zeb Wahle (Maryville) 2OT 4-3
No. 2 Adam Walters (Findlay) dec. Blaze Shade (UNCP) D 2-1

184
Brach Walker (UNCP) maj. dec. Blaike Henry (King) M 14-3
Jared Holliday (Newberry) pinned Brach Walker (UNCP) F 5:48
Chevy Farris (Lake Erie) dec. Brach Walker (UNCP) D 5-2

197
Kaleb Matchett (Tiffin) dec. Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) D 6-3
Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) pinned Robert Johnson (Anderson) F 2:30
Taylor Scott (UIndy) maj. dec. Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) M 10-2

285
No. 6 Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. Ross Janney (McKendree) D 5-4
Tyler Houska (Ashland) dec. No. 6 Chris Giddens (UNCP) 2OT 2-1
Evan Wooding (UIndy) dec. No. 6 Chris Giddens (UNCP) D 6-2
No. 6 Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. No. 4 Kevin Christman (Tiffin) D 3-2

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