Wabash outdistanced the rest of the pack at the NCAA Division III Midwest Wrestling Regional Saturday, winning the team title while sending two wrestlers to the Nationals and earning head coach Brian Anderson Regional Coach of the Year honors.
Seniors Phu Hong (Indianapolis, IN/Lawrence Central) and Chris Healy (Jasper, IN/Jasper) won their individual weight classes to earn a spot at the NCAA Division III Championships March 4-5.
The Little Giants finished with 137 points, well ahead of second place Thiel College's 99.5 points. Olivet was third (94.5), followed by Millikin (89.5) and Mount St. Joseph (85). A total of 13 teams participated at the Regional, hosted by Manchester College.
Hong finished the day with a perfect 3-0 mark to advance to the nationals at 125 pounds. He opened with a pin at 3:41 against Baptist Bible College's Tim Sullivan, then advanced to the finals with a default win against fourth-seeded Jacob Habel. Hong held on for a 9-8 victory in the finals against the second seed, Phil Davidson, to take the individual title.
Healy, ranked number one in the nation at 174 pounds in the latest Brute/Adidas NWCA Coaches Poll, went 3-0 to earn the 174-pound title while being named the Regional Most Outstanding Wrestler. The top seed entering the tournament, Healy started with a 4-0 win against Thiel's Ted Mangan, then picked up a 14-4 win against Millikin's Raul Velazquez. Healy earned his third consecutive trip to the nationals with a technical fall at 7:00 after running up a 20-5 lead in the bout scoring. He earned All-American honors in 2003 after finishing eighth at the nationals, but was unable to pick up a spot in the top-eight at last year's championships.
The Little Giants nearly sent two more wrestlers to the national tournament. Sophomore Garrett Pino (Indianapolis, IN/Lawrence North) took second place at 133 pounds. Pino won his first two matches before facing top-seeded Jim Fascetta from Millikin in the finals. A 9-8 win by Fascetta would give Pino second place overall.
Fellow sophomore Will Clarke (Indianapolis, IN/North Central) also took second place, just missing a spot at the nationals at 184 pounds. He started with a pin in his first match, then defeated the top seed in the tournament, Millikin's Joe Krugler, 8-6 with a take down in overtime. That win sent Clarke, the number four seed at 184, into the finals against third-seeded Ryan Newberry from Olivet. Newberry escaped with a 2-1 win to advance to the nationals while Clarke added second place points to the Little Giants' team score.
Senior Drew McCoy (Greenfield, IN/New Palestine) added a third place finish at 149 pounds. He entered the tournament seeded fifth, but picked up a 2-1 win over fourth-seeded Justin Edwards in the opening bout of the tournament. McCoy lost 5-3 to the top seed, Mount St. Joseph's Jason Roush, in the next round, but rallied for an 11-2 win in the consolation bracket. He finished strong, pinning Ken Laird from Waynesburg 5:43 into their third place match for his final win of the tournament.
Kevin Meyer (Columbus, IN/Columbus North) finished 2-2 to take fourth place at 165 pounds. Adam Miller (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) was fifth at 157 pounds, as was Garrett Thiel (Lowell, IN/Lowell) at 197 pounds. Steve Kasten (Winamac, IN/Winamac) added a sixth place finish at 285 pounds.
Coach Anderson and his assistant, Nathan Hills, are both in their first season at Wabash. Both came to the Little Giant coaching ranks after successful wrestling careers at Manchester College. Anderson served as an assistant coach at Manchester before taking the head coaching position at Wabash this year.
Photos courtesty of Manchester College.
On homepage: File photo of Chris Healy, who advances to Nationals.
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