Notre Dame (Ohio) leads Nebraska-Kearney at NCAA Div. II Nationals after first day

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The No.1 Notre Dame College (Ohio) placed four athletes into the semifinals, to take the first-day lead at the NCAA Division II Wrestling at Cleveland Public Hall.


Jonatan Rivera at 157 pounds, Eric Burgey at 165 pounds, Joey Davis at 174 pounds and Garrett Lineberger at 184 pounds all won two matches to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.Notre Dame, with 44.5 points, led Nebraska-Kearney by 3.5 points after the first day. The Falcons also have one wrestler alive in the wrestle-backs.


Nebraska-Kearney, the two-time defending champions, placed four wrestlers of their own into the semifinals, Daniel DeShazer (133), Brock Smith (165), Patrick Martinez (174) and Romero Cotton (197). Like Notre Dame, the Lopers also have one left on the consolation side.


Rounding out the top five going into the semifinals are third-place Lindenwood at 36 points, fourth-place St. Cloud State at 35.5 points and two teams tied in fifth, Maryville and Ouachita Baptist with 33 points.


The tournament will resume at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the semifinals and bulk of the placement bouts occurring in a five hour session. The championship will conclude Saturday evening at 7 p.m. with the championship finals.

NCAA DIV. II CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Cleveland, Ohio


Semifinal pairings


125 pounds

Dave Fogle (Pitt Johnstown) vs. TJ North (Augustana SD)

Matthew Turek (Gannon) vs. Ben Sergent (Findlay)

133 pounds

Casy Rowell (Central Oklahoma) vs. Brenden Murphy (McKendree)

Michael Labry (Ashland) vs. Daniel DeShazer (Nebraska-Kearney)

141 pounds

Brandon Gerl (Cal Baptist) vs. Joshua Myers (Ouachita Baptist)

Charles Napier (Ft. Hays State) vs. Daniel Ownbey (UNC-Pembroke)

149 pounds

Terrell Wilbourn (Lindenwood) vs. Frank Cagnina (Central Missouri)

Jay Hildreth (St. Cloud State) vs. Edwin Cooper (Upper Iowa)

157 pounds

Jonatan Rivera (Notre Dame) vs. Clint Poster (St. Cloud St.)

Zak Vargo (Lake Erie) vs. Cory Dauphin (Central Oklahoma)

165 pounds

Eric Burgey (Notre Dame) vs. Jeff Weiss (Indianapolis)

Chris Watson (Central Oklahoma) vs. Brock Smith (Nebraska-Kearney)

174 pounds

Joey Davis (Notre Dame) vs. Patrick Martinez (Nebraska-Kearney)

Elliot Copeland (Western St) vs. Adam Walters (Findlay)

184 pounds

Travis McKillop (Pitt-Johnstown) vs. Kyle Piatt (Western State)

Garrett Lineberger (Notre Dame) vs. Jared Holliday (Newberry)

197 pounds

Carl Broghammer (Upper Iowa) vs. Julian Smith (McKendree)

Romero Cotton (Nebraska-Kearney) vs. Tanner Kiss (Fort Hays State)

285 pounds

Ziad Haddad (Kutztown) vs. Steve Butler (Lindenwood)

Jacob Mitchell (Cal Baptist) vs. Donnell Walker (Maryville)

Team Standings – Top 20


1. Notre Dame (OH) , 44.5

2. Nebraska-Kearney, 41.0

3. Lindenwood , 36.0

4. St. Cloud State 35.5

5. Maryville University 33.0

5. Ouachita Baptist 33.0

7. Central Oklahoma 28.5

8. Pitt-Johnstown 27.0

9. McKendree University 26.5

9. University of Indianapolis 26.5

11. Newberry College 26.0

12. Cal Baptist 24.5

13. Ashland University 23.0

14. Upper Iowa 21.5

15. UNC-Pembroke 20.5

16. Western State Colorado 18.5

17. Fort Hays State 18.0

18. University of Findlay 17.5

19. Central Missouri 16.5

20. Kutztown 14.5