LOUISVILLE, Ky. - McKendree University men's wrestling competed at the National Wrestling Coaches Association's (NWCA) National Duals at the Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC) on January 6-7, going 4-1 overall in the duals tournament and finished fifth overall by defeating Tiffin, Ashland, Mercyhurst, and Colorado Mesa.

In the opening match of the two-day outing, the fourth-seeded Bearcats struggled to find team points against unseeded Newberry, dropping the dual 16-24. McKendree collected its points behind wins by Ryan Ripplinger (133-lb. class) via tech fall (15-0), 149-pounder Noah Villareal by major decision (12-2), another major from 165-lb. Cory Peterson (18-5), and a fourth by Rozell Baker in the 184-lb. class via 10-4 decision. 

With the loss in mathc one, McKendree moved into the consolation side of the national dual bracket, taking on Tiffin in its second matchup of the week. The Bearcats bounced back, thwarting the Dragons, 35-9, and winning eight of 10 matches. Christian Mejia (125lb. class) kicked things off with a 10-5 decision while 133-pounder Tyler Delaware captured a tightly contested 5-4 decision victory. Noah Villarreal (149lb.) and Mason Gray (157lb.) nabbed back-to-back first period pins with Villarreal's coming at the 1:46 mark and Gray's at 2:03. Peterson (165lb.) then took a win by tech fall by a score of 24-9 while Joshua Jones (174lb.)  got his first win with a 10-4 decision. Baker added another fall victory for McKendree in his matchup, pinning his opponent only 37 seconds into the match. Ian Kuehl then capped off the dual with a 5-2 decision for the Bearcats. 

To close out the first day of duals, the Bearcats matched up with Ashland on Thursday evening. McKendree collected two majors in the opening two matches of the dual with wins by Mejia (11-0) and Ripplinger (10-0). Joey Semerad (141) won by decision, 8-3, to post his first win of the tournament. Villareal won via forfeiture while Peterson took yet another major by a 9-1 count. Ashland took the 157, 174, and 184 matches before Rodrick Love (197lb. class), who was wrestling up two weight classes, collected his first win of the weekend with a 15-11 decision. Kuehl (285) then earned a tech fall win (17-0), pushing the Bearcats to a 29-11 dual win.

The Bearcats opened Friday against Mercyhurst in the consolation semifinal contest. The 125-lb. matchup went to forfeit in favor of the Bearcats but Mercyhurst then took the next two matchups, 133 and 141lb., by decision. McKendree managed to claim the next three with Villareal (149), Gray (157), and Peterson (165), each winning by decision on counts of 6-2, 8-4, and 6-2. Jones (174), wrestled up in the 197lb. class and took a decision victory, 3-1. Kuehl then won a 4-2 decision to bump the dual match win to 21-15 ovre Merchurst. 

In the fifth-place match, McKendree took on Colorado Mesa, winning 21-12 to take fifth place in the National Duals. The fourth-seeded Bearcats opened with two decision victories by Mejia (125), 4-1 over Cian Apple, and Delaware (133), 4-3 against Collin Metzgar. Mesa managed to take the next three matchups in the 141 (10-6 decision), 149 (5-2 decision), and 157 (15-11 decision) weight classes. Peterson (165lb.) broke the streak by Mesa, winning 3-2 over Alexander Holguin. In the 174 weight class, Jones then won a second-straight matchup for McKendree by 4-3 decision against Seth Latham. Bake (184) then won a third straight match for the Bearcats with a pin victory in under one minute (0:49) over Jason Bynarowicz. Mesa added a major victory in the 197lb. class but Kuehl finished off Colorado Mesa with a 5-2 decision against Kash Anderson. Mesa's overall score was adjusted by -1.0 for a caution. 


Redshirt freshman Cory Peterson (165lb. class) went 5-0 in the duals tournament, winning his matchup in each round for the Bearcats. Peterson won two matches by major decision (18-5 vs. Newberry's Nolan Wheeler, 9-1 vs. Ashland's Drew Wiechers), two by decision (6-2 vs. Mercyhurst's Max Stedeford, 3-2 vs. Colorado Mesa's Alexander Holguin), and one via tech fall (24-9 vs.TIffin's Samuel Lafaso III).


UP NEXT:
McKendree men's wrestling will be back on the mats with a #GLVCwrestle dual against Drury on Wednesday, January 12 at 7 P.M. at MPCC. 

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