FINDLAY, Ohio – With the stakes raised to the max, top-seeded and No. 8 nationally-ranked Tiffin came back in the final match of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Wrestling Championship duals on Saturday afternoon.
With his team trailing 19-18 against defending conference duals champion Lake Erie, heavyweight David Henson surged in front of his crowd’s rallying cries to score a huge win for the Dragons.
It was redemption for Henson, who was put in a carbon copy of the same situation at last year’s inaugural championship duals event that Tiffin hosted. Match momentum shifted from the lightweights to the middle weights and teams exchanged blows up in the upper weights before it all came down to the heavyweight bout.
Tiffin was a perfect 5-0 as all six Great Midwest teams wrestled each other in five different duals over two days in Findlay’s Malcolm Athletic Center.
Lake Erie gave Tiffin all it could handle, winning the first four weight classes to grab the early advantage. Three of those four victories included bonus points as Jacob Johnson (125), Blake Glogouski (133) and Brandon Tenney (149), all came through with major decisions.
Tiffin’s big guns came out and scored critical points starting at 157 pounds as senior Trey Grine was able to eventually turn LEC’s John Siemasz for the Dragons’ first win.
Bryan LaVearn made the score 15-9 following his decision at 165 and Hayden Bronne pinned yet another opponent to tie the match at 16-16. Richard Screptock made it four straight victories the Dragons with bonus points from his major decision at 184.
But NWCA/Intermat nationally-ranked Chris Droege delivered in a big way for the Storm at 197 and countered with bonus points of his own with a major decision.
That set the stage for Henson and his 5-1 decision. Earlier in the afternoon, Tiffin beat Findlay and Alderson Broaddus while Lake Erie defeated Ohio Valley and Findlay.
Kentucky Wesleyan earned a pair of team victories to finish 2-3. The Panthers are young and showed plenty of improvement in the tournament format in just the program’s second year of existence. Host Findlay was able to finish 3-2 with a young lineup that included as many as six freshmen. Alderson Broaddus was able to come away with a team victory in the final match of the afternoon.
OVU’s roster had some open weight classes that left the lineup a bit thin, but 133 pounder Fred Lewis reeled off a 4-1 showing in the event with a tech fall and a pin.
The all-conference team will be voted on by the coaches this weekend and announced on Monday. Two different student-athletes from each weight class will be recognized by their performance at this year’s championship duals.