#1 Wrestling Wins First Midwest Classic Title; Joplin and Hunsberger Win Individual Titles

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - After two days of wrestling against 52 other teams and over 900 individual matches, the top-ranked Lander Wrestling team emerged as the cream of the crop at the prestigious Midwest Classic on Sunday afternoon behind five placers and two individual champions in James Joplin (Greensboro, N.C.) and David Hunsberger (Duncan, S.C.). The 52 teams by far the most the 44-year old tournament has hosted in it's history and it included many of the top teams in Division II wrestling.

The Bearcats amassed 126 points, 14 more than second place Wisconsin-Parkside.

Joplin continued his run of domination from Saturday with another bonus point victory, this time a pin of Aaron Lucio of Grand Valley State. He culminated his run to the top of the podium with a 6-4 decision over fourth-ranked Christian Mejia of McKendree to become just the second Midwest Classic champion in program history.

Hunsberger added his fourth bonus point victory of the tournament with a dominating 9-0 win over sixth-ranked Dillon Walker of Mercyhurst before securing the third Midwest Classic title in program history by securing a takedown at the horn to knock off top-ranked and defending national champion Chase Luensman of Upper Iowa, 7-4.

The other placers for Lander were Elijah Lusk (Merritt Island, Fla.), Isham Peace (Okatie, S.C.), and Juan Edmond-Holmes (Goose Creek, S.C.).

Lusk placed fifth, dropping three matches on the day but earned a crucial 11.5 team points helping Lander secure the team title.

Peace came into the tournament unranked but earned a win over nationally ranked opponents in #2 John Carayiannis of Belmont Abbey and won his blood round matchup against Carsen Richards of Lake Erie by a 5-3 decision to secure his spot on the podium where he eventually placed eighth.

Juan Edmond-Holmes dropped his quarterfinal bout to end the night last night and came back and won four straight matches on the backside of the bracket to help him secure a third place finish.

When asked about his team's triumph this weekend, head coach R.C. LaHaye said "I am super proud of the grit our team showed this weekend in a massive 52 team tournament against the best teams in the country. It was a long night on Saturday and for our guys to turn back around and wrestle like they did today is a testament to the program we've built and it shows that the best is yet to come for this program"

This concludes competition for the wrestling team for the 2023 calendar year. After the new year, the Bearcats will once again face stiff competition as they take part in the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Lander looks to be the favorite to be the top-seed in the bracket as they were the top team in the last NWCA Rankings and with the win at Midwest Classic, it seems that they will stay at that spot when the last rankings of 2023 are released later this month. Those last rankings of 2023 will be the seedings for the National Duals bracket.

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Players Mentioned

Juan Edmond-Holmes: Graduate Student; 285

Juan Edmond-Holmes: Graduate Student; 285

David Hunsberger: Sophomore; 157

James Joplin: Junior; 125

Elijah Lusk: Junior; 133

Isham Peace: Redshirt Sophomore; 133

Players Mentioned

Juan Edmond-Holmes
: Graduate Student; 285

Juan Edmond-Holmes
: Graduate Student; 285

David Hunsberger
: Sophomore; 157

James Joplin
: Junior; 125

Elijah Lusk
: Junior; 133

Isham Peace
: Redshirt Sophomore; 133