Sports
Point wrestlers claim fifth and sixth place at NCAA championships
The Pointer
ataub878@uwsp.edu
Wrestling for the title four Pointers participated in the two-day 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Held in the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and hosted by Coe College, Cornell College and the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the tournament permitted the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point wrestlers to finish a season that made head coach Jonny Johnson proud.
Wrestling for Johnson and qualifying for the NCAA championships were three seniors: 165-pound Jake Wozniak, 144-pound Chase DeCleene and 133-pound Jered Kern, as well as 184-pound sophomore Ben Engelland.
Engelland took fifth place in the nation, and finishing behind him for sixth was DeCleene.
“Both athletes are great guys to coach; they work hard and do everything you ask of them,” said Johnson of the two, who also received National Wrestling Coaches Association scholar-athlete awards.
DeCleene won his first match 3-2 over John Paxos. However, a loss sent him to the fifth place match. Defeated by Luke Baum 13-1, he finished in sixth place.
Engelland, however, won his last match of the NCAA championships, conquering Bryan Lenhardt 9-4 to claim fifth place.
“It was an intense match and emotions were high,” said Engelland.
Johnson can foresee a tremendous future for Engelland, saying Engelland “certainly has the potential to be a national champion.”
Engelland said his biggest challenge was staying mentally motivated throughout the lengthy season. However, he attests that having great teammates to push him along the way helped keep his attitude positive.
“We battled through injuries and adversity,” said Engelland, who was disappointed the team didn’t reach their goal of becoming conference champions when they fell behind by only two points.
Ending the season with a 16-4-1 record and a 10th place ranking for the dual meet season, Johnson said, “We took a pretty young team a long way.”
The team also succeeds academically with a team GPA of 3.22 and five scholar all-americans.
Only losing four seniors, the team still has many top state wrestlers committed to UW-SP for next year.
“All the pieces are in place to continue Stevens Point’s great wrestling tradition,” said Engelland.
