FEBRUARY 23, 2018
KING'S WRESTLERS PLACE TWO IN SEMI-FINALS OF NCAA SOUTHEAST REGIONALS
ROCKY MOUNT, VA -- A pair of King's College wrestlers are one victory away from qualifying for an NCAA Division III National Tournament berth as seniors Eddie Merrill and Ralph Bernardo advanced to the semi-finals on the opening day of the Southeast Regional Championships in Rocky Mount, Va.
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http://www.ferrumpanthers.com/sports/2018/2/16/2018-ncaa-div-iii-wrestling-southeast-regional.aspx?id=264
As a team, King's finished the first day in 10th place among the field of 18 teams.
Both Merrill and Bernardo can earn an automatic berth to nationals if they can advance to finals as the top-three finishers at the event qualify for nationals.
Merrill (15-4) was seeded third in the event and won two matches on Friday to reach the semi-finals. In his opening match, Merrill won a wild 17-13 decision over Nassar McCummings (8-23) of Wilkes, then registered a 12-6 decision over Jacob Parsons of Penn State Behrend.
In Saturday morning's semi-finals, Merrill will square off against second-seeded Antavian Leary (17-7) of Ferum College of Virginia. Leary won his first two matches by a major decision and a pin.
The fourth-seeded Bernardo (27-9), meanwhile, received a first-round bye, before posting a 5-2 quarterfinal decision over Henri Behaeghel of Johns Hopkins. Bernardo then reached the semi-finals with a hard-fought Dylan Otis 4-3 overtime decision over Dylan Otis of Penn College of Technology.
Bernardo will face a major task in the semi-finals when he meets top-seeded Garrett Wesneski of Lycoming. A transfer from the University of Maryland, Wesneski is 37-2 on the year and ranked sixth nationally by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Wesneski won his first two matches by scores of 10-0 and 15-4.
Monarch freshman Jake Taylor (26-11) remained alive at 141-pound consolations. The unseeded Taylor won his first match 23-7 over Jayson Cody of Southern Virginia. He then fell 5-2 to fourth-seeded Zach Rainess of Greensboro (NC). Taylor then won his first consolation match with a 13-5 major decision over Tatom Tyree of Ferrum. He is slated to meet Josh Linkous in his next consolation match.
At 157-pounds, King's unseeded senior David White came up short in a hard-fought 8-6 decision loss to second-seeded Shane Connors of Washington & Lee. In his first consolation match White stayed alive with back-to-back pins of Caleb Harmon of Averett and Wilkes' Kyle Medrow. White will look to remain alive when he faces Jason Miller of Theil.
In the 125-pound weight class, King's unseeded sophomore Dakota Quick won his first match with a pin in 3:56 over Jacob Fankhouser of Penn State Behrend. In the quarterfinals he dropped a 17-6 major decision to fourth-seeded Sam Braswell of Averett (Va.). In his first consolation match Quick was eliminated by Sean Redington of Messiah by technical fall.
At 149-pounds, King's unseeded senior Jake Daniel dropped his first match by fall to Bryce Crew of Washington & Lee. In his first consolation match he was eliminated by William Merritt of Averett.
In the 165-pound class, King's unseeded freshman Darren Marte dropped his opening match in a 18-2 technical fall to top-seeded Jeff Hojnacki of Messiah. In his first consolation match he posted a 13-7 decision over Jake Phelps of Averett. But Marte was eliminated in his next contest 16-0 by Nathan Wertheimer of Johns Hopkins
At 174-pounds, King's unseeded senior Sean Floto went 1-2 on the day. Floto fell by fall to fourth-seeded Blake Rosenbaum of Ferum, but rebounded to post a pin in 3:20 over Norjan Hedman of Hampden-Sydney. Floto was then eliminated by Wilkes John Ritter by fall.
In the 184-pound class Monarch junior Nick Price received a first round bye before falling to Rexx Hallyburton of Washington & Lee 13-5. Price remained alive with a pin in 0:52 of Triston Kechter of Averett, but was eliminated by a 14-0 count in his next match by Max Baker of Ferrum.
Wrestling will resume Saturday at 9:00 AM.
