INDIANAPOLIS – Lake Erie senior three-time NCAA Championships qualifier Nick Vandermeer (Clarkston, MI / Clarkston HS) was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Wrestling Athlete of the Week on Tuesday.
 
Vandermeer, rated sixth individually in the InterMat 165-pound rankings, recorded a runner-up finish at the Midwest Classic, a two-day event in Indiana with 35 institutions competing.
 
Lake Erie is currently ranked tied for 15th in the new NWCA Coaches Poll while Findlay, another Great Midwest competitor at the Midwest Classic, also is nationally ranked at No. 18 overall.
 
The Storm finished in the top half of the team scoring at 16th as Vandermeer accounted for 18.50 points with a major decision, technical fall and two decisions.
 
Vandermeer assembled a 4-1 record against Division II/NAIA competition and advanced all the way to the championship bout where he gave No. 3 ranked Bret Romanzak of Ashland all he could handle in the final.
 
In the first round, Vandermeer dominated Central Missouri’s Kaleb Brooks with a perfect 15-0 tech fall that elapsed over just 3:41. In the second round, he also scored bonus points with a 9-1 major against Brett Bradford from Lindsey Wilson.
 
As expected, margin for error became slimmer in the quarterfinals and semifinals as Vandermeer pushed through with two more notable victories.
 
He held off Tyler Mann of Ouachita Baptist with a 5-4 decision to advance into the semifinals, where he prevailed over Findlay’s Alonzo Turner, 3-2.
 
The 165-pound final included Romanzak posted a 5-3 decision against Vandermeer to finish up the bracket.
 
Vandermeer is LEC’s second wrestling athlete of the week for the conference this season along with Tyler Hughes (184).