NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Coverage

<< Back to Articles
Jason Bryant (USA Wrestling)
01/07/2012


Live Brackets
Division II
Division III
NAIA
NJCAA
Women

Video
TheMat.TV National Duals Coverage Page

Event News
Sunday Updates
OCU women dominant
Oklahoma CIty University charged into the Women's Freestyle finals with a 39-6 victory over Lindenwood. OCU will face King College, a 24-17 winner over Canadian school Simon Fraser. Of note, Audrey Morehouse of OCU topped Shauna Isbell at 130 pounds, while Kristie Davis and Brittany Roberts each earned falls.

Video update
Nearly 99 matches, features and interviews from Saturday competition have been posted on TheMat.TV from all five divisions. Check them out on the link above.

Semifinals set for Division II, III and NAIA
As expected, Augsburg and Wartburg rolled into the semifinals of the Division III bracket at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Ill. Top-ranked Wartburg lost just one match in the first two duals and will face fourth-seeded Wisconsin-La Crosse in Sunday morning's semifinal. 

Wartburg shut out Concordia 36-0 to reach the semifinal round. Surprisingly, despite only losing one match, Knight wrestlers have only garnered one fall in their first 20 bouts.

In the bottom half of the bracket, second-seeded Augsburg will take on third-seeded Ithaca. Ithaca had a first-round scare, holding on to beat Wisconsin-Stevens Point 19-18 before topping upstart Elmhurst 26-13. 

Augsburg has been bolstered by the return of All-American heavyweight Chad Johnson to the lineup and also unleashed Mike Fuenffinger, a rising star on the U.S. Greco-Roman circut. Brad Baus was the only Auggie wrestler to secure two falls on the day.

In Division II, it was assured there would be a new team champion even before the event began. As Newberry charged into the semifinals where it will meet Nebraska-Kearney, there was a notable feeling of who is missing -- defending champion Nebraska-Omaha. One UNO alum is still carrying the Mavs legacy -- St. Cloud State coach Steve Costanzo. The third-seeded Huskies will take on second-seeded Upper Iowa in the bottom bracket semifinal.

St. Cloud State has been the most prolific team when it comes to getting falls. In 20 bouts, the Huskies have scored seven falls, led by top-ranked heavyweight Jacob Kahnke with two. Six different wrestlers have falls. 

Great Falls and Grand View advanced to the semifinals as the top two seeds in the NAIA, but it was in a very different fashion. Great Falls used a fall by Kamron Jackson at 197 pounds to give them breathing room against Campbellsville. The fall gave the Argonauhts a five point lead heading into heavyweight, but Jamelle Jones, a familiar name to many around the East, won but didn't get the fall needed to push the Tigers into the semifinals. 

Grand View, still in its program's infancy, blitzed through outgunned Cumberland U. and Midland. Grand View displayed its depth by wrestling all 15 wrestlers who weighed in. Iowa natives Brad Lower, T.J. Moen and Eric Thompson all went 2-0, as did Derek Nightser at 197 pounds.

Thompson picked up a dominating fall over returning NAIA runner-up Leviticus Roberson. 


Tag Teams
Missouri Valley and Oklahoma City are two of the schools represented with both men's and women's programs at the NWCA National Duals. During the heavyweight match between the two men's squads, the women's squads for each were loudly rooting their friends on. Just another reason to get women's wrestling added at schools around the country -- instant cheering sections to go along with it being an Olympic sport. Check out the video here.


Pin Parade
St. Cloud State rolled past Truman 47-6. The Huskies picked up five falls in the match and advanced to face Central Oklahoma. Four of the last five weights were falls as Tad Merritt, Derek Skala, Mic Berg and Jake Kahnke flexed their collective muscle for the third-seeded squad.

Coming back strong
Elmhurst won the last five bouts to erase a 15-3 deficit and roll past Johnson & Wales 27-15. Midlands placewinner Josef Rau picked up the dual's fastest fall, dispensing Connor Nelson in 1:58.

Welcome to the Big Show
Nebraska-Kearney is a long-time participant in the NWCA National Duals Division II tournament -- Ouachita Baptist isn't. The Lopers made it a quick morning for the second-year program from Arkadelphia, Ark., as Nebraska-Kearney topped OBU 30-6 in the opening round. The Tigers, however, made every match a fight, only giving up bonus points in one match.

Cruising
Top-seeded Newberry cruised past Central Missouri 43-6 in the first round of the Division II bracket. Eight of the 10 matches won by the Wolves were bonus victories, including falls by John McDonald, Blake Ridenour and Jake Elkins.

Hesson lifts Purple Raiders
Mount Union pulled off the day's first upset as the Purple Raiders stunned fifth-seeded St. John's 20-19. St. John's pulled ahead by five after a fall by Dustin Baxter at 197 pounds, but Derick Hesson then stepped to the mat. Hesson, a returning All-American, pinned John Scepaniak at the 2:25 mark to lift coach Mark Hawald's team to the victory.

More heavyweights
Cody Casprick of Concordia broke a 6-6 tie with a fall at 4:23 to lift the Cobbers past Dubuque 22-18. Concordia will face top-seeded Wartburg in the quarterfinals. Wartburg lost the opening match at 125, then swept the remaining nine weights in a 36-4 victory over North Central College. 

Quarterfinals
Division II
Newberry 24, King College 6
Nebraska-Kearney 21, Augustana (SD) 10
St. Cloud State 26, Central Oklahoma 15
Upper Iowa 27, UW-Parkside 16

Division III
Wartburg 36, Concordia (MN) 0
UW-La Crosse 29, Mount Union 10
Ithaca 26, Elmhurst 13
Augsburg 30, Olivet 13

NAIA
Great Falls 18, Campbellsville 16
Oklahoma City 20, Missouri Valley 17
Southern Oregon 35, Montana State-Northern 8
Grand View 41, Midland 9

NJCAA
Iowa Central 50, Rend Lake 0
Northwest (WY) 35, Lincoln 9
Labette 33, Harper 5
Clackamas 21, Muskegon 18

Women
Oklahoma City 48, Waldorf 0
Lindenwood 32, U. of the Cumberlands 12
Simon Fraser 37, Missouri Valley 5
King 38, Jamestown 5

Consolations
Division II
Minnesota State-Mankato 35, Central Missouri 6
Findlay 19, Ouachita Baptist 14
Northern State 29, Truman 12
Limestone 25, San Francisco State 12
UW-Parkside 23, Minnesota State-Mankato 18
Central Oklahoma 22, Findlay 15
Augustana (SD) 25, Northern State 15
Limestone 16, King 15
Ouachita Baptist 46, Truman 8
San Francisco State 31, Central Missouri 13

Division III
Dubuque 21, North Central 14
St. John's (MN) 32, Centenary 11
UW-Stevens Point 24, Johnson & Wales 10
UW-Whitewater 36, Rhode Island College 6
Olivet 18, Dubuque 15
St. John's (MN) 26, Elmhurst 18
Mount Union 22, UW-Stevens Point 15
UW-Whitewater 19, Concordia (MN) 15
Rhode Island College 24, North Central 21
Johnson & Wales 23, North Central 14

NAIA
York (NE) 27, Waldorf 13
Dakota Wesleyan 23, Lindsey Wilson 17
U. of the Cumberlands 30, Morningside 22
Baker 22, Cumberland U. 15
Midland 33, York 10
Dakota Wesleyan 22, Montana State-Northern 15
Missouri Valley 27, U. of the Cumberlands 6
Campbellsville 30, Baker 10
Lindsey Wilson 39, Waldorf 13
Morningside 39, Cumberland U. 15

First Round Results
Division II
Newberry 43, Central Missouri 6
King (TN) 18, Minnesota State-Mankato 14
Augustana (SD) 27, Findlay 12
Nebraska-Kearney 30, Ouachita Baptist 6
St. Cloud State 47, Truman 6
Central Oklahoma 29, Northern State 10
UW-Parkside 17, San Francisco State 16
Upper Iowa 27, Limestone 12

Division III
Wartburg 36, North Central 4
Concordia (MN) 22, Dubuque 15
Mount Union 20, St. John's (MN) 19
UW-La Crosse 31, Centenary (NJ) 9
Ithaca 19, UW-Stevens Point 18
Elmhurst 27, Johnston & Wales 15
Olivet 19, UW-Whitewater 13
Augsburg 41, Rhode Island College 14

NAIA
Great Falls 30, York (NE) 16
Campbellsville 28, Waldorf 13
Missouri Valley 30, Lindsey Wilson 9
Oklahoma City 34, Dakota Wesleyan 3
Southern Oregon 39, U. of the Cumberlands 12
MSU-Northern 25, Morningside 24
Midland 22, Baker 15
Grand View 44, Cumberland U. 3

Underway
We've got 12 mats here in Springfield, Ill., for the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. The action starts out with three divisions rolling across all 12 mats as Division II, III and the NAIA have taken to the floor. Check Trackwrestling.com links above for LIVE updates of each division. TheMat.TV will have video throughout the day and will post updates whenever possible.

Twitter Updates