Before the Super Region tournament, the Eagles were ranked fifth, with five wrestlers ranked in the top four at their respective weight class. Proving that rankings aren't always what they seem, six Ashland wrestlers qualified for the 2015 national tournament. Junior Michael Labry, the top-ranked wrestler in the super region and ranked No. 2 in the country at 133 pounds, won his second consecutive super regional championship and earned the super region's Wrestler of the Year award. He went 4-0 over the weekend, winning the title in a 3-1 decision over Indianapolis' Nick Crume. He heads into nationals with a 39-1 record.
Joining Labry as repeat finalist are sophomore Brent Fickel at 149, junior Zeb Beam at 157, and junior Kurt Schaefer at 184, all of which finished second at their respective weight classes. First time national qualifiers in sophomores Luke Cramer and Brandon O'Neill, round out the attendees for Ashland.
Findlay
Ranked 20th in the nation, the Oilers will be sending four to the national championship. With a 4-0 record, sophomore Nick Goebel, who is ranked fifth in the nation at 149, won a regional championship for the Roughnecks. Joining Goebel is sophomore Schuyler Phillips with a fourth place finish and a 4-2 record, and freshman Ryan Skonieczny, who punched his ticket by a score of 4-2 over Lake Erie's Nick Boggs.
Sophomore Luke Fleming was the last Roughneck to advance to the championship after placing fourth in the heavyweight division with a 4-2 record. He earned a trip to the championship with a 12-6 win over Wisconsin-Parkside's Matt Halverson in a true fourth place match.
Lake Erie
A program best five Lake Erie College wrestlers in Zak Vargo, Matt Vandermeer, Nicholas Vandermeer, Zev Green, and Evan Rosborough.
Green had the top finish for the Storm, winning the 184-pound division. He picked up a 3-2 decision against Jared Holliday of Newberry College in sudden victory to advance to the 184-pound finals. In the finals, Green defeated Kurt Schaefer of Ashland University 3-1 to capture the 184-pound Regional Championship and earn his first trip to the NCAA Championships.
Matt Vandermeer won his semifinal match against Wally Figaro of Shorter University 4-3 in overtime to advance to the 165-pound finals. Vandermeer fell in the finals to Juan Stimpson of North Carolina-Pembroke to finish second and earn to his second appearance at the NCAA Championships.
Rosborough bounced back from a loss in the 197-pound semifinals with a 3-1 sudden victory win against Stuart Nadeau of North Carolina-Pembroke. He finished in third via forfeit to advance to his second straight NCAA Championships.
Nicholas Vandermeer won his 174-pound third round consolation match against Brett Scoles of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside 3-0 to advance to the consolation semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Vandermeer picked up a major decision over Trevontay Rhodes of Anderson College, 11-2, to move onto the third-place match. He fell in the third place match but still advances to his first appearance at the NCAA Championships.
Vargo fell in the semifinals of the 149-pound bracket but rebounded with an 11-3 major decision against Landon Reed of King University to move onto the third-place match. In the third-place match, Vargo fell to Scott Bosak of Belmont Abbey College to finish in fourth and advance to his third straight NCAA Championships.
Rosborough bounced back from a loss in the 197-pound semifinals with a 3-1 sudden victory win against Stuart Nadeau of North Carolina-Pembroke. He finished in third via forfeit to advance to his second straight NCAA Championships.
Tiffin
The Dragons advanced four grapplers to NCAA Nationals while finishing 5th of 14 teams overall at the Super Regionals. But the highlight on the day had to be the Dragons' first ever Regional Championship, won by Garrett Gray at 285 pounds. Gray dominated the heavyweight division, posting another pin in 3:40 in his semifinal match before winning the title 6-4 over Shorter College.
TU also had two other wrestlers reach the championship match. At 141 pounds, Mike Screptock posted a 6-1 win in the semis before falling 3-2 in a razor thin loss to UNC-Pembroke to finish 2nd in the region. At 197 pounds, Jake Cramer won 2-1 to reach the title match. He then fell in another nailbiter 8-7 to Newberry, giving TU another second place finish. Sam Viengmany wrestled well at 157 pounds, posting three straight wins to finish 3rd in the region. His wins came by 7-3, 3-2, and 5-3 margins.