Seton Hill University Athletics

SHU Wrestlers Finish as Runners Up at NWCA National Duals

The Seton Hill wrestling program's first trip to the NWCA National Duals will be one to remember as the Griffins advanced to the finals of the prestigious tournament.  The Griffins finished as runner up in their first appearance after falling by the score of 41-0 to top ranked and defending NWCA Duals champion St Cloud State in the finals.  SHU advanced to the finals by defeating the #3, 10 and 18 ranked programs in the country.  The Griffins fall to 5-1 in dual matches on the season while the Huskies improve to 10-0.

Head coach Brian Tucker stated, "I am very proud of all of our team for their efforts over the past two days.  Finishing second in a prestigious tournament like this one is a great accomplishment for our program.  We really enjoyed out time at the NWCA National Duals and can't wait to be back next year."

Earlier in the day on Friday, the Griffins advanced to the finals with a thrilling 19-18 tiebreaker win over #18 Gannon.  The match ended in an 18-18 tie but the Griffins were awarded the win based on tiebreaker C.  SHU had 42 total points won in matches decided by decision, major decision and tech falls to only 23 for Gannon. 

St Cloud State features eight wrestlers ranked in the national top 10's and was second at last season's NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships.  The opening match of the finals was a battle between two top five wrestlers.  The Griffins Alan Diltz and the Huskies Brett Velasquez hooked up in a great match with #2 ranked Velasquez defeating the fourth ranked Diltz by a 5-4 score.  Damon Greenwald nearly knocked off seventh ranked Kolton Eischens in the 174 pound match.  Eischens edged out Greenwald by an 8-6 score.  Joey Alessandro dropped a tough decision at 149 pounds.  Alessandro dropped a 5-4 decision.  

Diltz got the Griffins off to a good start in the semifinal win over Gannon.  Alan earned a 5-0 decision win in the 125 pound match.  After dropping a tough 2-1 decision at 133 pounds, the Griffins got a win by injury default by Joel Cawoski at 141 pounds to take an 8-3 lead after two matches.  SHU was docked a point after the 133 pound match for a penalty.  

Joey Alessandro increased the Griffins lead to 11-3 with an 8-1 decision win in the 149 pound match.  The Knights responded by winning the next two matches to trim the Griffins lead to 11-9 with four matches to go.  

The big win for the Griffins came in the 174 pound match when Damon Greenwald picked up a major decision victory by the score of 18-6.  The bonus point victory gave the Griffins a 15-9 advantage in the match.  

The Knights tied the match at 15 after a win by fall at 184 pounds.  Jacob Temple continued to be an anchor at the end of the Griffins lineup with a win in the 197 pound match.  Temple's 5-2 decision gave the Griffins an 18-15 lead heading into the final match.  The Griffins Jody Crouse put up a good fight against fifth ranked Nick Budd but in the end Budd pulled out a 5-3 decision win to tie the match at 18.

The match then went to the dual match tiebreakers with the first two criteria not doing anything to break the tie.  The third tiebreaker was the one that broke the tie and gave the Griffins the win.  The tiebreaker takes into account all points won in matches that were decisions, major decisions and tech falls.  SHU earned 42 points while the Knights only had 23 points in those matches which sent the Griffins into the finals.

SHU will return to action on Saturday, January 13th when they travel to #18 Gannon for a PSAC matchup at 7 PM.   

NWCA National Duals Division II Final
#1 St Cloud State 41  #25 Seton Hill 0
125 - Brett Velasquez (St. Cloud State) over Alan Diltz (Seton Hill) Dec 5-4
133 - Adam Hedin (St. Cloud State) over Rodney Sunday (Seton Hill) Fall 4:19
141 - Jarred Oftedahl (St. Cloud State) over Joel Cawoski (Seton Hill) Dec 8-2
149 - Jake Barzowski (St. Cloud State) over Joey Alessandro (Seton Hill) Dec 5-4
157 - Larry Bomstad (St. Cloud State) over Austin Shaw (Seton Hill) Maj 10-1
165 - Travis Holt (St. Cloud State) over Zach Voytek (Seton Hill) Dec 6-2
174 - Kolton Eischens (St. Cloud State) over Damon Greenwald (Seton Hill) Dec 8-6
184 - Brady Nelson (St. Cloud State) over Zach Mattucci (Seton Hill) Fall 2:05
197 - Vince Dietz (St. Cloud State) over Jacob Temple (Seton Hill) Maj 11-1
285 - Lawrence Phillips (St. Cloud State) over Jody Crouse (Seton Hill) Fall 0:51

NWCA National Duals Semifinal
#25 Seton Hill 19 #18 Gannon 18
125 - Alan Diltz (Seton Hill) over jacob dunlap (Gannon) Dec 5-0
133 - austin hertel (Gannon) over Rodney Sunday (Seton Hill) Dec 2-1
141 - Joel Cawoski (Seton Hill) over carmine ciotti (Gannon) Inj 6:16
149 - Joey Alessandro (Seton Hill) over FARIS MESSAI (Gannon) Dec 8-1
157 - giovanni ciotti (Gannon) over Austin Shaw (Seton Hill) Dec 2-0
165 - nate ross (Gannon) over Zach Voytek (Seton Hill) Dec 5-2
174 - Damon Greenwald (Seton Hill) over jake stratton (Gannon) Maj 18-6
184 - nick costa (Gannon) over Zach Mattucci (Seton Hill) Fall 5:47
197 - Jacob Temple (Seton Hill) over etahn budd (Gannon) Dec 5-2
285 - Nick Budd (Gannon) over Jody Crouse (Seton Hill) Dec 5-3
* Seton Hill's team score was adjusted by -1.000 for Penalty
* Seton Hill's team score was adjusted by 1.000 for Criteria C: 42-23