CLEVELAND, Ohio – Daniel Ownbey advanced to Saturday's semifinal round with an 8-6 victory over top-ranked Ryan Fillingame, while Justin Pencook and Blaze Shade each fought their way through to the consolation quarterfinals, to lift the 17th-ranked UNC Pembroke wrestling team into 15th place after day one of the 2014 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships at Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio.
The performances helped earned the UNCP trio all-American honors – the second time in the last three years that the Black & Gold has sent three individuals to all-American accolades. It is the third NCAA All-American laurel in as many years for Ownbey, while Pencook and Shade both collected that honor for the first time. Pencook also earned a pair of National Junior College Association of America (NJCAA) All-America honors as a freshman and sophomore at Gloucester (N.J.) Community College.
Ownbey cruised past Pitt-Johnstown's Sam Hanau via a 22-5 technical fall in his opening match of the day in the 141-pound tournament, and then registered the biggest win of his career in the quarterfinal round. An 8-6 sudden victory over Fillingame marked Ownbey's first over a No. 1-ranked opponent, while also snapping the Adams State senior's personal 17-match win streak. Ownbey will lock horns with third-ranked C.J. Napier (34-4) of Fort Hays State in Saturday's semifinal round.
Pencook registered a 6-4 comeback decision over Ouachita Baptist's Bobby Williams in the opening round of the 157-pound tournament, but fell behind early in dropping an 8-6 decision to fifth-ranked Jon Rivera of Notre Dame (Ohio) in the championship quarterfinals. Pencook rebounded, however, and used the momentum of a quick takedown to upend seventh-ranked Zach Voytek of Seton Hill by a 9-6 decision to punch his ticket into Saturday. Pencook will lock arms with Lindenwood's Derrick Weller (28-16) in the consolation quarterfinals.
Shade dropped his opening match with two-loss and sixth-ranked Chester Granard of Colorado Mesa in his opening match of the day in the 174-pound bracket, but strung together two wins in the wrestleback tournament to move into Saturday's competition. Shade needed just 55 seconds to pin McKendree's Luis Alba in his consolation opener, and then dominated Southwest Minnesota State's Jake Begin en route to tallying a 9-2 decision. Shade will take on Maryville's Zeb Wahle (38-10) in Saturday's consolation quarterfinals. Shade topped Wahle in double overtime in the semifinals of the NCAA Super Region 2 Tournament last weekend in nearby Tiffin, Ohio.
Chris Giddens fell to two of the nation's top-3 ranked wrestlers on the day in the 285-pound tournament, but came away with his first postseason win on the shoulders of a 5-2 decision over Chadron State's Mike Hill in his consolation opener. Giddens fell via pin to both second-ranked Steven Butler of Lindenwood and third-ranked Austin Goergen of St. Cloud State.
2014 NCAA DIVISION II WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS (UNCP Results Only)
141
No. 4 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) tech. fall Sam Hanau (Pitt-Johnstown) TF 22-5; 6:10
No. 4 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) dec. No. 1 Ryan Fillingame (Adams State) SV 8-6
157
No. 8 Justin Pencook (UNCP) dec. Bobby Williams (Ouachita Baptist) D 6-4
No. 5 Jon Rivera (Notre Dame, Ohio) dec. No. 8 Justin Pencook (UNCP) D 8-6
No. 8 Justin Pencook (UNCP) dec. No. 7 Zach Voytek (Seton Hill) D 9-6
174
No. 6 Chester Granard (Colorado Mesa) dec. No. 8 Blaze Shade (UNCP) D 6-4
No. 8 Blaze Shade (UNCP) pinned Luis Alba (McKendree) F 0:55
No. 8 Blaze Shade (UNCP) dec. Jake Begin (Southwest Minnesota State) D 9-2
285
No. 2 Steven Butler (Lindenwood) pinned No. 6 Chris Giddens (UNCP) F 0:41
Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. Mike Hill (Chadron State) D 5-2
No. 3 Austin Goergen (St. Cloud State) pinned No. 8 Chris Giddens (UNCP) F 4:04
