ST. LOUIS, Mo.— The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) showed its strength at the 2015 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships as Lake Erie, Tiffin, Findlay and Ashland all displayed strong showing in St. Louis over the weekend. Recaps from each school's final day of the national meet are below, courtesy of their respective sports information crews.
Lake Erie - 19th Place
Matt Vandermeer (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) finished runner-up in the 165-pound bracket at the 2015 NCAA Division-II Wrestling Championships Saturday (March 14).
Vandermeer joined Zak Vargo as the only members of the Storm to make it to the finals of the NCAA Championships. Vargo did it at 157-pounds in 2013.
In his semifinal match, Vandermeer bested Devin Aguirre of Nebraska Kearney 5-3 to move into the championship match.
In the finals, Vandermeer faced top-ranked Chris Watson of Central Oklahoma, who entered the match with a 41-0 record. Late in the first period, Watson scored a takedown to own a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.
Vandermeer started the second period on the bottom. He cut the lead to one with an escape in the second period- the only points of the frame.
In the third period, Watson scored a pair of takedowns, matched by escapes from Vandermeer. However, Vandermeer was unable to overcome Watson's lead, falling 7-3.
For his performance, Vandermeer earned All-American honors. This was the second All-American honor for Vandermeer in his career at Lake Erie. In 2012, Vandermeer finished sixth, earning the first All-American honors in the program's history.
Tiffin - 9th Place
It was a historic final day for Tiffin University wrestling at the 2015 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships.
Michael Screptock, Jake Cramer, and Garrett Gray all finished 4th at the NCAA Division II National Championships, the highest finish ever for Tiffin University wrestling. The team finished 9th out of 48 teams, the best finish of any GLIAC team. Ashland trailed TU by 7 spots, finishing 16th, while Lake Erie was 19th and Findlay was 28th.
Screptock (141 pounds) lost in the semifinals to Corbin Bennetts of Western State, dropping him to the consolation round where he defeated Josh Myers of Ouachita Baptist 6-4. That placed him against Maurice Miller of Notre Dame in a battle for 3rd place. Screptock fell in the razor thin decision 3-2.
At 197 pounds, Jake Cramer took a different path. After falling on day one, Cramer had to battle back to reach the third place match. He posted three straight wins, beating Tyler Richardson of East Stroudsburg 10-6, Joe Gomez of Northern State 5-3, and Jayd Dorken of Augustana 5-2. That gave him a shot at third place. Cramer fell 8-6 to Julian Smith of McKendree, the same opponent who beat him on day one.
At 285 pounds, Garrett Gray fell in the semifinals 9-7 to Austin Goergen of St. Cloud St. He then posted a 6-3 victory over Chris Giddens of UNC Pembroke to set up a battle for third place with Jack Page of Fort Hays St. Gray fell 13-2 in the match.
In TU's other day two match, Sam Viengmany lost in his 157 pound consolation match to Greg Hegarty of Maryville 3-2.
Findlay
The University of Findlay wrestling team wrapped up the 2015 NCAA Division II National Championship on March 14 in St. Louis, Mo. and were led by sophomore Nick Goebel, who took fourth place in the 149-pound weight class to earn All-American accolades.
Goebel lost 9-0 to defending national champion and top-ranked grappler Frank Cagnina of Central Missouri in the semifinals before taking down Mercyhurst's Jeremy Landowski, who is ranked seventh in the weight class, by a 6-1 decision to reach the third place match. In the third place match, Goebel suffered a 3-2 loss to Nebraska-Kearney's Destin McCauley, who is ranked sixth in the nation.
Goebel, who is ranked fifth in the nation, finished the national tournament with a 3-2 record.
Ashland
Ashland University junior Michael Labry earned his highest placement at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, finishing second at 133 pounds on Saturday (March 14).
Labry lost in the championship match by a 7-6 count on riding time following three overtime periods against Nebraska-Kearney's Daniel DeShazer. Labry won his semifinal match earlier Saturday against Dakota Bauer of Maryville, 3-2.
Labry finished third at nationals as a sophomore and fourth as a freshman. He finishes 2014-15 with a 42-2 record, and has a mark of 112-11 in three seasons as an Eagle.
Also on Saturday, sophomore Brent Fickel finished in eighth place at 149 pounds, earning him his first All-American honor. Fickel finished 2-3 at nationals after a 4-3 loss to Belmont Abbey's Scott Bosak in the consolation round, then a loss by pin to Larry Bomstad of St. Cloud State in the seventh-place match.
Fickel ends the season at 19-9.
