Portions of this release courtesy of Skip Snow, NDC Sports Information Director
BAY CITY, Mich. - By virtue of having the best dual meet record against conference opponents, Notre Dame College has won the 2013 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Wrestling Championship. The Falcons posted a perfect 4-0 mark against conference foes this season.
Note Dame, ranked second in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) poll, wrapped up its first GLIAC title in just its first season in the league with a 41-0 win over No. 19 Ashland on Friday evening.
The Falcons won all 10 bouts against the Eagles, collecting four decisions, three majors, one tech fall and two pins. Notre Dame (8-1) has now won three straight dual matches after losing to now-No. 1 St. Cloud State (Minn.) on Jan. 13. NDC's 41 team points mark a new season-high, and Saturday's shutout is the team's first since Jan. 24, 2010.
The Eagles went into the night with three NWCA-ranked grapplers
(Max Byrd-125, Michael Labry-133, Joe Brandt-197). Those three were
turned aside with relative ease: Johnny Papesh earned a 17-5 major
over No. 7 Byrd; No. 7 (Basford) Marty Carlson pinned No. 4 Labry;
and Brandonn Johnson downed No. 3 Brandt, 9-3.
Friday's action started with Papesh and Carlson earning their wins
at 125 and 133, respectively. No. 8 (NWCA) Maurice Miller then
majored Adli Edwards, 13-5, and the rout was on.
The rest of the way it was No. 7 Jeffery Pelton running his season
record to 12-1 with a 19-4 tech fall over Zeb Beam at 157, No. 1
Joey Davis (now 22-0) collecting his third fall of the season,
Johnson's win over Brandt, and No. 5 (NWCA) Orlando Scales crushing
Tyler Houska, 14-2, as the feature moments.
NDC defeated Tiffin University, 35-9, back on Dec. 12. The Falcons then took out Lake Erie College, 33-6, on Jan. 27, and the University of Findlay, 24-9, on Feb. 2, before dispatching the Eagles. Ashland and Findlay finished tied for second in the conference with 2-2 marks. Tiffin and Lake Erie finished tied for fourth after each posted 1-3 records in conference matches.
