#2 Wrestling Has Six Named All-American on Day 1 of NCAAs

PARK CITY, Kan. - The second-ranked Lander Wrestling team saw six of their nine national qualifiers secure a top-eight placement on day one of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships on Friday inside Hartman Arena. The Bearcats currently sit in second place with 54.5 points, five points behind Central Oklahoma in first, with two more sessions of wrestling to come tomorrow.

The wrestlers who earned a spot on the podium were: James Joplin (125), Elijah Lusk (133), Zeth Brower (149), David Hunsberger (165), Anthony Yacovetti (184), and Juan Edmond-Holmes (285).

Session I:
Brandon Matthews was the first to take to the mat for the Blue and Gold in a 174-pound prelim. He secured a quick takedown in the first period before riding out the whole second period on top to rack up over three minutes of riding time heading into the final period. In the third period, Matthews was able to pick up another takedown to ice the match with a 7-0 decision over Nate Barrett of Ashland.

At 125, top-seeded James Joplin wasted no time jumping out in front in his first round matchup against William Burgess of Seton Hill as he used two takedowns with a two-point nearfall to lead 8-2 after one. Then in the second period, Joplin picked up another takedown and added a three-point and four-point nearfall to reach the tech fall margin at 18-3.

At 133, seventh-seed Elijah Lusk got a takedown and a two-point nearfall to lead 5-1 going into the final period and used two escapes to ice the match with an 8-4 decision over Evan Binder of Maryville.

At 141, eighth-seeded Isham Peace got a second period escape and rode out the entirety of the third period to secure a gritty 2-0 decision over Corey Gamet of Lake Erie.

In the 149-pound class, fourth-seeded wasted no time and picked up a first period pin over Craig Cook of Millersville.

At 157, Jack Tangen couldn't overcome a 7-2 deficit after two periods and fell to fifth-seeded Guy Deleonardis of Glenville State, 10-4. The loss moved Tangen into the back side of a prelim pigtail which meant he would have to wrestle again in the session.

David Hunsberger found himself in a knock-down, drag-out opening round matchup at 165 but the top-seeded wrestler in the weight class was able to secure a takedown with 19 seconds left to take a 4-1 decision over Chase Bloomquist of Northern State.

Matthews returned to the mat for a first-round matchup and despite several good shots, could never secure a takedown and fell to eight-seeded Bordy Hemauer, 4-0.

Anthony Yacovetti was drawn up agains the top-seeded wrestler at 184 and despite a first period reversal, he was kept at arms length against West Liberty's Ty McGeary, falling 14-5.

Fourth-seeded Juan Edmond-Holmes got his takedown less than a minute into the first period and used that to pin Gavin Bage of Frostburg State to move him into the 285-pound quarterfinals.

Tangen wrapped up the session for the Bearcats and saw himself tied with Cyruss Meeks of CSU-Pueblo and had several good shots both in the third period and sudden victory but couldn't complete the takedown and fell via riding time tiebreaker to end his run.

Session II:
Joplin got things started quickly for the Bearcats as he dominated to a 7-0 first period lead over Isaiah Gamez of Adams State before sealing a spot in the semifinals with a takedown in the third period to secure a 13-4 major decision.

Lusk was next on the mat and led led 3-2 after one but a trio of penalty points proved to be the difference as he couldn't get a takedown at the buzzer and fell to a 5-4 decision moving him into the consolation bracket later in the session.

Peace was next on the mat and could never get his footing against the top-seeded wrestler at 141 and fell 24-4.

Brower found himself in overtime against fifth-seeded Nico Taddy but Brower went on the attack early in the sudden victory period and got a takedown to become the first three-time All-American in program history.

Matthews was next on the mat and got out to a commanding 10-0 lead in the third before securing a pin in 4:42 to put himself into the blood round.

In his consolation first round, Yacovetti used four takedowns to help secure a 15-0 shutout tech fall to send him into the blood round as well.

Edmond-Holmes was tied 1-1 after three periods and still tied after sudden victory to send the bout into tiebreaker. He was then able to secure an escape two seconds quicker than Crew Howard of Nebraska-Kearney to send him into the semifinals tomorrow morning.

The lineup turned back around in the consolation bracket to Lusk at 133 and he got out to a 7-0 first period lead and held on to secure a 7-3 decision and secure his spot on the podium.

Peace was next and despite being down 9-3 in the third, he was able to come back and take a 12-11 lead with under 30 seconds left. However, Khyvon Grace of West Liberty got a reversal with 11 seconds left and rode out the rest of the match to end Peace's season.

Matthews took to the mat at 174 and could never get offensive footing against second-seeded Seth Brossard, falling 12-0 to end his run.

Yacovetti was the final Bearcat on the mat and stamped his first ever All-American honor with a 15-0 technical fall in 4:28 over second-seeded Daniel Beemer of Ashland to send him to Session III.

Wrestling continues inside Hartman Arena tomorrow at 10:00 AM local time (11:00 AM Eastern). The third session will consist of the championship semifinals and the rest of the consolation brackets. Then at 7:00 PM local (8:00 PM Eastern) will be the Championship matches for each weight class as well as the awards ceremony for each class.

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Players Mentioned

Zeth Brower: Redshirt Senior; 141

Juan Edmond-Holmes: Graduate Student; 285

David Hunsberger: Sophomore; 157

James Joplin: Junior; 125

Elijah Lusk: Junior; 133

Isham Peace: Redshirt Sophomore; 133

Jack Tangen: Graduate Student; 149

Anthony Yacovetti: Senior; 197

Brandon Matthews: Graduate Student; 174/184

Players Mentioned

Zeth Brower
: Redshirt Senior; 141

Juan Edmond-Holmes
: Graduate Student; 285

David Hunsberger
: Sophomore; 157

James Joplin
: Junior; 125

Elijah Lusk
: Junior; 133

Isham Peace
: Redshirt Sophomore; 133

Jack Tangen
: Graduate Student; 149

Anthony Yacovetti
: Senior; 197

Brandon Matthews
: Graduate Student; 174/184