FEBRUARY 25, 2017
KING'S KILPATRICK NARROWLY MISSES NCAA NATIONAL BERTH AT EAST REGIONAL WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
FINAL BRACKETS
Kilpatrick
ROCKY MOUNTAIN, VA -- King's College wrestler Howard Kilpatrick narrowly missed a bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament as the junior placed fourth in the East Regional Championships Saturday in Rocky Mountain, Va. The top three wrestlers from each weight class earned national tournament berths. In addition, King's Eddie Merrill placed fifth at 197-pounds.
In the consolation final, Kilpatrick faced top-seeded Colin Navickas of Stevens Tech who was upset in the first round but won three straight wrestle-back matches to reach the consolation finals. Kilpatrick advanced to the semi-finals before falling 6-1 to Nick Herrig (23-2) of the College of New Jersey. Kilpatrwick stayed alive in his first wrestle-back match with a 7-1 overtime victory over Ferrum's Andrew Tolbert.
But in the consolation finals Kilpatrick (25-8) dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Navickas (32-6) to place fourth, one spot away from a national tournament berth.
Merrill
After going 1-1 in the tournament on Friday, King's sophomore Eddie Merrill remained alive at 197-pounds by winning his second consolation match 8-7 over Hunter Goulart of Ferrum. He then won his third straight consolation match with a pin in 2:26 of Jack LaCourte of New York University to advance to the consolation semi-finals. There he fell 6-4 to Blake Bunce of the Merchant Marine Academy. In the fifth-place match, Merrill (14-10) earned a second pin of LaCourte, this time in 2:32, to finish fifth.
As a team, King's finished 12th in the 19-team field with 26.0 points. Host Ferrum won the team title with 135 points while NYU was second with 106.5.
The event also marked the final event for retiring Monarch wrestling coach Ned McGinley who is stepping down after 48 years as the helm for King's. McGinley concludes his career with a 455-450-1 record. He coached 45 College Division/Division III national tournament qualifiers; 18 NCAA Division III All-Americans; 20 Middle Atlantic Conference individual champions; six Metropolitan Conference winners; five National Catholic Invitational Tournament champions; while 13 of his wrestlers concluded undefeated dual-meet seasons. He also produced six wrestlers who reached the NCAA Division III national finals, including two national champions.
