Senior heavyweight Wade Wheeler puts a Colorado State opponent to his back for one of his two pins over the weekend. (Photos by Robert Leek)
Flames wrestlers finish 5-1 at NCWA National Duals; Bellarmine defends championship
1/6/2024 8:26:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Share:
Liberty dominated all five of the opponents it defeated, but suffered a 44-12 setback to the Knights, who are transitioning to NCAA Division I.
For the second season in a row, Liberty University's men's wrestling team wound up as runner-up to Bellarmine (Ky.) University, a program transitioning to the NCAA Division I ranks, in Friday's and Saturday's NCWA National Duals, hosted by the University of Northern Iowa at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
After going 3-0 on Friday, the Flames doubled up Mid-Atlantic Conference rival Apprentice School, 37-18, which finished third out of seven teams in the field, on Saturday morning. Liberty bounced back from falling to the top-seeded Knights, 44-12, by dominating the University of Dubuque (Iowa), 48-10, in the final match of round-robin competition.
Freshman Jahleel Armstrong pinned Apprentice's Dillon Messick in 4 minutes, 14 seconds at 133 pounds to lift the Flames to an early 6-3 lead.
Â
Aiden Scheeringa experienced a rough day at 133 pounds, dropping all three matches.
"That was a key win, pinning the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the nation," Liberty Head Coach Jesse Castro said. "Our 125-pounder (Aiden Scheeringa) was winning his match 11-0, but ended up losing, 15-12, so we needed a momentum change and Jahleel put us on track.
The Flames then used back-to-back first-period falls by sophomore Zach Kaminski, ranked No. 1 in the NCWA at 174 pounds, and senior Timothy Goddard at 184 pounds and a technical fall by graduate Josiah Murphy, a two-time defending national champion ranked No. 1 at 197, to build a 31-11 lead on the Builders.
Against Bellarmine, Armstrong, ranked fifth in the NCWA at 133 pounds, earned a 9-3 decision over fourth-ranked Trayce Eckman before senior Blake Schmitt won by forfeit at 141 for an early 9-5 Liberty lead. Then, Murphy improved to 5-0 for the tournament and capped the scoring for the Flames with a 9-2 triumph over Kalob Johnstone.
"We're the only team that beat any of their guys," Castro said, noting that the loss was more decisive than last year's championship final, won by the Knights in their home town of Louisville, 28-21. "We were also winning soundly at heavyweight and in the last 10 seconds (Wheeler) got thrown to his back and lost by a pin. That would have been our third match win (besides a forfeit) and would have made for a more respectable showing."
In the final match, Liberty rode pins by sophomore Chase Arnestad and Goddard, technical falls by sophomores Josiah Foss at 165 and Syler Weber at 174, and three forfeits to roll over the Spartans, the only team in the tournament from Iowa.
After flying back to Lynchburg, Va., on Sunday, Liberty will have only four days of practice to prepare for the Virginia Duals set for Friday and Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum. The Flames will be one of 16 teams in the American College Division along with Apprentice School (the only other NCWA team in the field), Averett University, and Marymount University from Virginia, three teams from Pennsylvania, two each from Maryland, New Jersey, and North Carolina, and one each from Georgia and Tennessee, all NCAA Division II or III schools.
More information is available online.
Bellarmine 44, Liberty 12 125: Damion Ryan (B) t.f. Scheeringa, 19-2; 133: Armstrong (L) d. Trayce Eckman, 9-3; 141: Blake Schmitt (L) by forfeit; 149: Zac Cowan (B) p. Garrett Good, 2:41; 157: Gray Ortis (B) by forfeit; 165: Grant O`Dell (B) t.f. Josiah Foss, 18-3; 174: Cole Nance (B) p. Kaminski, 4:14; 184: Sam Schroeder (B) m.d. Gabriel Hayes, 14-3; 197: Murphy (L) d. Kalob Johnstone, 9-2; 235: Thadd Huff (B) by forfeit; 285: William Muckler (B) p. Wheeler, 5:42.
Liberty 48, Dubuque 10 125: Tanner Higa (D) m.d. Scheeringa, 8-0; 133: Chase Arnestad (L) p. Alexander Needham, 3:32; 141: Schmitt (L) by forfeit; 149: Garrett Good (L) by forfeit; 157: Stewart (L) by forfeit; 165: Foss (L) t.f. Garryt Ostrander, 16-1; 174: Syler Weber (L) t.f. Thomas Hansen, 19-4; 184: Goddard (L) p. Michael McCutcheon, 0:57; 197: Murphy (L) by forfeit; 235: Ryan McGuire (D) by forfeit; 285: Wheeler (L) d. Joseph Pineda, 4-1.
 By Ted Allen/Staff WriterGraduate Josiah Murphy improved to 5-0 with one forfeit over the weekend at the NCWA National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
