Lindenwood claims NAIA mat title
Morningside's Stevenson is champion
By Steven Allspach Journal sports writer | Posted: Sunday, March 04, 2007
Cliché, of course, but it was over long before it was over.
Lindenwood staked a claim to its third national title hours prior to the championship matches in the 2007 NAIA wrestling tournament Saturday night at the Tyson Events Center.
The collegians from St. Charles, Mo., sewed up the school's second title in three years after Saturday afternoon's lower-place matches, building a 63-point cushion over their nearest challenger.
Coach Joe Parisi's Lions then added frosting to their championship cake when Jake Dieffenbach (165), a repeat winner, and Jake Salter (174) claimed individual titles.
Salter's win was unique to NAIA wrestling and came at the expense of teammate Matt Cauley in a tight 2-1 struggle.
"We had excellent efforts from all our guys,'' said Parisi, who was named coach of the year. "You'd like to see every guy place, even win. That's why we're in the sport.''
The Lions, who won crowns in 2002 and 2005, as well, finished with 177 points, 67 more than runner-up Embry-Riddle. Dickinson State of North Dakota was third with 107 points and defending champ Dana was fourth with 100 points.
Morningside finished 13th with 44.5 points and Northwestern was 15th with 41.5 points.
The highlight of the tourney for local mat fans was Morningside's Jake Stevenson winning the 184-pound title. In the morning semifinals, the junior won his 100th career match and then edged No. 1-ranked Joffre Lander of Embry-Riddle in a riveting title duel, 3-1.
Stevenson became Morningside's first national champ.
Joining Stevenson and the Lindenwood grapplers as individual champs were Delrico Choates of the University of the Cumberlands (125), Mike Miller of McKendree (133), Zach Flake of Campbellsville (141), Brad Stockton of Waldorf (149), Hayden Harrison of Embry-Riddle (157), Justin Schlecht of Dickinson State (197) and heavyweight Eric Flinchum of Cumberlands.
Stockton, a senior, was also named the tourney's outstanding wrestler. He defeated top-ranked Darren Cotton in the finals, 6-2.
"This a great way to end my career,'' said Stockton, a former Iowa state prep champ at Iowa City West. "I never dreamed I'd win the award, but I certainly felt I could win the title.
"I'm pretty beat up. I think this is the end of the competitive wrestling for me. It was sweet because Darren has beaten me four times in the past two years.''
Stockton became Waldorf's first national champ since the school switched from a junior college to a four-year school five years ago.
The first upset of the finals came early when the second-ranked Miller pinned top-ranked Burke Barnes of Dana at 2:59 of the 133-pound scrap. Miller improved to 26-5 and Barnes finished 30-4.
Miller wrestled at Bacone College in Oklahoma for three years, then transferred to the Illinois college.
''I wrestled one of my teammates and now my roommate, Kyle Jahn, here last year and he talked me into transferring,'' said Miller.
Just prior to Miller's win, Choates won his second straight title with a 7-5 win over Cory Borges of Montana State-Northern.
Embry-Riddle's Richard Byrd, who lost to the second-ranked Choates in the finals at 125 last year, finished third after coming into the tourney ranked No. 1.
After two years as the 197-pound runner-up, Flinchum finally earned his first title.
Schlecht, the 197-pound king, was named NAIA wrestler of the year in ceremonies after the meet concluded.
Other than Morningside's Stevenson, just one Siouxland collegian placed in the top eight. Northwestern heavyweight Andrew Lundgren earned seventh by pinning Seth Theroit of Missouri Valley in 2:58.
Lundgren, a junior and starting defensive end on Northwestern's football team, concluded a 21-9 season. He lost his opening match, but on his way back through the consolation rounds two of his four wins were pins in 43 and 29 seconds.
Northwestern's team was also accorded the sportsmanship award.
MATSIDE: Notre Dame College's new NAIA program yielded a placewinner in its first season of varsity competition - freshman Nick Terifaj, who was eighth at heavyweight. The South Euclid, Ohio college, an all-female school until 2001, is coached by former Kent State Coach Frank Romano. "We've got approximately 50 guys and all but one is a freshman and we still had a 10-6 dual record. We're proud of that,'' said Romano.....
The NAIA will add four more new programs next year. In addition to Hastings of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, West Virginia Tech, Southern Ohio and Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) will also initiate the sport. Notre Dame and Southern will be the only two NAIA mat programs in the Buckeye State.....
Dana's Barnes, Penn's Cotton, Lindenwood's Dieffenbach, Embry-Riddle's Lander, Dickinson State's Schlecht and Cumberlands Flinchum were ranked No. 1 coming into the tourney and all reached the finals....
Athletes from 28 colleges participated in the 2007 tournament....
Former Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Coach Dan Payne was inducted into the NAIA Wrestling Hall of Fame during the Saturday afternoon tourney banquet.
Lindenwood staked a claim to its third national title hours prior to the championship matches in the 2007 NAIA wrestling tournament Saturday night at the Tyson Events Center.
The collegians from St. Charles, Mo., sewed up the school's second title in three years after Saturday afternoon's lower-place matches, building a 63-point cushion over their nearest challenger.
Coach Joe Parisi's Lions then added frosting to their championship cake when Jake Dieffenbach (165), a repeat winner, and Jake Salter (174) claimed individual titles.
Salter's win was unique to NAIA wrestling and came at the expense of teammate Matt Cauley in a tight 2-1 struggle.
"We had excellent efforts from all our guys,'' said Parisi, who was named coach of the year. "You'd like to see every guy place, even win. That's why we're in the sport.''
The Lions, who won crowns in 2002 and 2005, as well, finished with 177 points, 67 more than runner-up Embry-Riddle. Dickinson State of North Dakota was third with 107 points and defending champ Dana was fourth with 100 points.
Morningside finished 13th with 44.5 points and Northwestern was 15th with 41.5 points.
The highlight of the tourney for local mat fans was Morningside's Jake Stevenson winning the 184-pound title. In the morning semifinals, the junior won his 100th career match and then edged No. 1-ranked Joffre Lander of Embry-Riddle in a riveting title duel, 3-1.
Stevenson became Morningside's first national champ.
Joining Stevenson and the Lindenwood grapplers as individual champs were Delrico Choates of the University of the Cumberlands (125), Mike Miller of McKendree (133), Zach Flake of Campbellsville (141), Brad Stockton of Waldorf (149), Hayden Harrison of Embry-Riddle (157), Justin Schlecht of Dickinson State (197) and heavyweight Eric Flinchum of Cumberlands.
Stockton, a senior, was also named the tourney's outstanding wrestler. He defeated top-ranked Darren Cotton in the finals, 6-2.
"This a great way to end my career,'' said Stockton, a former Iowa state prep champ at Iowa City West. "I never dreamed I'd win the award, but I certainly felt I could win the title.
"I'm pretty beat up. I think this is the end of the competitive wrestling for me. It was sweet because Darren has beaten me four times in the past two years.''
Stockton became Waldorf's first national champ since the school switched from a junior college to a four-year school five years ago.
The first upset of the finals came early when the second-ranked Miller pinned top-ranked Burke Barnes of Dana at 2:59 of the 133-pound scrap. Miller improved to 26-5 and Barnes finished 30-4.
Miller wrestled at Bacone College in Oklahoma for three years, then transferred to the Illinois college.
''I wrestled one of my teammates and now my roommate, Kyle Jahn, here last year and he talked me into transferring,'' said Miller.
Just prior to Miller's win, Choates won his second straight title with a 7-5 win over Cory Borges of Montana State-Northern.
Embry-Riddle's Richard Byrd, who lost to the second-ranked Choates in the finals at 125 last year, finished third after coming into the tourney ranked No. 1.
After two years as the 197-pound runner-up, Flinchum finally earned his first title.
Schlecht, the 197-pound king, was named NAIA wrestler of the year in ceremonies after the meet concluded.
Other than Morningside's Stevenson, just one Siouxland collegian placed in the top eight. Northwestern heavyweight Andrew Lundgren earned seventh by pinning Seth Theroit of Missouri Valley in 2:58.
Lundgren, a junior and starting defensive end on Northwestern's football team, concluded a 21-9 season. He lost his opening match, but on his way back through the consolation rounds two of his four wins were pins in 43 and 29 seconds.
Northwestern's team was also accorded the sportsmanship award.
MATSIDE: Notre Dame College's new NAIA program yielded a placewinner in its first season of varsity competition - freshman Nick Terifaj, who was eighth at heavyweight. The South Euclid, Ohio college, an all-female school until 2001, is coached by former Kent State Coach Frank Romano. "We've got approximately 50 guys and all but one is a freshman and we still had a 10-6 dual record. We're proud of that,'' said Romano.....
The NAIA will add four more new programs next year. In addition to Hastings of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, West Virginia Tech, Southern Ohio and Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) will also initiate the sport. Notre Dame and Southern will be the only two NAIA mat programs in the Buckeye State.....
Dana's Barnes, Penn's Cotton, Lindenwood's Dieffenbach, Embry-Riddle's Lander, Dickinson State's Schlecht and Cumberlands Flinchum were ranked No. 1 coming into the tourney and all reached the finals....
Athletes from 28 colleges participated in the 2007 tournament....
Former Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Coach Dan Payne was inducted into the NAIA Wrestling Hall of Fame during the Saturday afternoon tourney banquet.
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Garrett wrote on Mar 5, 2007 9:39 AM:
new fan wrote on Mar 4, 2007 9:56 PM:
Bob Koerner wrote on Mar 4, 2007 12:26 PM: