Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007
Newman wrestlers excel at regional meet in Colorado
BOULDER, Colo. – Newman will send at least nine – and possibly 11 – wrestlers to nationals after faring well at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association regional tournament on Saturday in Boulder, Colo.
Nine wrestlers qualified by placing in the top four at the regional, while two others placed in the top six and could be invited to nationals as a wild card entry.
“This is the best wrestling we’ve done all year, hands down,” Coach Mark Stovall said. “To bring 12 and qualifiy nine with two more possibilities, is pretty good.”
Three Newman wrestlers were undefeated, winning regional championships. Isaac Wall was 2-0 at 133 pounds, Clay Goodloe went 3-0 at 141 pounds and Rowdy Palmer went 3-0 at 149 pounds. Palmer defeated two returning All-Americans to earn his title
At 133 and 141 pounds, Newman wrestlers grabbed the top two spots. Kyle Oyler went 2-0 at 133, forfeiting the championship match to Wall. Aeron Hill also went 2-0 at 141 before forfeiting in the championship to Goodloe.
Newman also had three wrestlers finish third in Andrew Nash (3-1 at 157 pounds), Nate Alvarez (4-1 at 165 pounds) and Florian Temingil (3-1 at 197 pounds). Brett Jenlink finished fourth at 285. He had to forfeit his final two matches to finish fourth after suffering from an illness.
The potential wild cards are Isaac Cervantes, who went 2-2 at 149 pounds and Jake Johnson was 1-3 to finish sixth at 157. Dylan Probst, the third Newman wrestler at 157, was the only Jet not to place.
The success comes despite a three-week layoff for the Jets.
“We had some of our best practices during that time,” Stovall said. “Being a young team, we matured nicely. We took some beatings against Division I teams in the first part of the season, but at has really paid off.”
The national tournament will be held in Dallas, Texas in two weeks, starting on Thursday, March 8
