CLEVELAND, Ohio – Senior
Rodney Shepard toughed out a pair of 10-5 decisions, including a victory over seventh-ranked Kyle Jolas of Lindenwood in his opening match of the day, to punch his ticket to earn all-America recognition for the second-straight year and advance to Saturday's semifinal round at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
Shepard was the lone member of the UNC Pembroke wrestling team to escape Friday's action inside the Wolstein Center.
Nick Daggett (125 pounds),
Kaleb Warner (149),
Faris Teia (174) and
Brandon Sloop (184) all registered a victory on the day, but the trio was ousted from the double-elimination tournament in Friday's evening session.
Shepard (24-5) will grapple with Adams State's Koery Windham (20-6) in Saturday's morning session at 10 a.m. The winner of that semifinal matchup will advance to the national championship match where they will face the winner of the other semifinal contest between third-ranked Shane Ruhnke (27-3) of Millersville and Pitt-Johnstown's Devin Austin (17-8).
| 125 Pounds |
No. 6 Nick Daggett (UNCP) dec. Josiah Seaton (Colorado State Pueblo) D 5-2
No. 7 Cole Laya (Wheeling Jesuit) dec. No. 6 Nick Daggett (UNCP) D 5-3
No. 4 Marcus Povlick (McKendree) dec. Nick Daggett (UNCP) D 8-1 |
| 133 Pounds |
No.2 D'Andre Brumfield (Colorado State Pueblo) dec. Ronnie Pietro (UNCP) D 6-1
Timmy Martinez (Newberry) dec. Ronnie Pietro (UNCP) D 4-3 |
| 149 Pounds |
No. 10 Gavin Londoff (Lindenwood) dec. Kaleb Warner (UNCP) D 6-2
Kaleb Warner (UNCP) dec. John Gahagan (Belmont Abbey) D 9-2
No. 2 James Pleski (St. Cloud State) dec. Kaleb Warner (UNCP) SV-1 5-3 |
| 157 Pounds |
Corey Falleroni (Pitt-Johnstown) dec. Tyler Makosy (UNCP) D 6-0
James Wimer (Findlay) maj. dec. Tyler Makosy (UNCP) M 13-3 |
| 165 Pounds |
No. 2 Rodney Shepard (UNCP) dec. No. 7 Kyle Jolas (Lindenwood) D 10-5
No. 2 Rodney Shepard (UNCP) dec. Jason Buhr (Colorado Mesa) D 10-5 |
| 174 Pounds |
Faris Teia (UNCP) dec. Devin Crawl (Central Oklahoma) D 4-1
No. 5 Nick Foster (McKendree) dec. Faris Teia (UNCP) D 3-1
No. 10 Gino Sita (Alderson Broaddus) dec. Faris Teia (UNCP) TB-1 6-5 |
| 184 Pounds |
No. 9 Brandon Sloop (UNCP) dec. Nathan Bowlen (Seton Hill) D 8-4
No. 1 Jeff Reimel (Kutztown) pinned No. 9 Brandon Sloop (UNCP) F 2:58
Brock Biddle (Pitt-Johnstown) pinned No. 9 Brandon Sloop (UNCP) F 3:36 |
| 197 Pounds |
| No Entry |
| 285 Pounds |
| No Entry |
