From Hilltoppersports.com
NCAA Division II National Championships
3/9-10/2018
West Liberty University head wrestling coach Mitch Smith was thrilled to learn Sunday night that he would be taking two Hilltopper grapplers to this week's NCAA Division II National Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Darius Bunch, West Liberty's nationally-ranked 133-pounder, had already qualified with a third-place finish in last month's NCAA Division II East Regional at Pitt-Johnstown but 197-pounder Logan Kemp – who has been in and out of the national rankings all year – turned out to be a surprise late addition.
"Logan had placed sixth at the regional," Smith said. "That made him the second alternate since they take the top four placers. You hardly ever hear about guys missing nationals so I was pretty excited when they called to tell me the fourth- and fifth-place guys at 197 were both unable to compete due to injury and Logan would be going to Iowa as the No. 4 qualifier from the East Region."
The two-day event gets under way Friday morning at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. Upper Iowa University is serving as the host institution.
Bunch, a junior transfer from Emmanuel (Ga.), carries an impressive 25-4 mark into the event and is expected to be one of the top contenders in the 133-pound bracket. Ranked No. 1 nationally for much of the season, Bunch slipped to No. 7 in the latest set of rankings after being upset in the regional tournament. The junior standout has posted wins against several of the other wrestlers in the division, including No. 1-ranked Airk Furseth of Wisconsin-Parkside.
Kemp, a sophomore from Centerville, Ohio, was ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation during the season and was one takedown away from wrestling for the East Region championship in Johnstown. Kemp battled UPJ's Levi Niebauer to the wire before dropping a 3-2 decision in the championship semifinals and wound up settling for sixth place in a highly-competitive weight class. He carries a 21-11 mark to Cedar Rapids.
"I think both of our guys have an opportunity to come home as All-Americans if they go out there and wrestle well," Smith said. "Darius and Logan are as healthy as they've been all year so while it's a great challenge to go up against the best NCAA Division II wrestlers in the nation, it's also a great opportunity.
"This is another step forward for our program because our goal is for West Liberty wrestling to get back to the point where we're producing All-Americans and national champions every year. These guys have a good shot at accomplishing that this week."
First-round matches start at 11 a.m. (CST) Friday with the marathon evening session – beginning with the traditional Grand March and featuring second-round championship bouts along with first- and second-round consolations – beginning at 6 p.m. (CST).
Action resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. (CST) with championship semifinals, third-round consolations, consolation semifinals and the Third-, Fifth-, and Seventh-Place matches. The Parade of All-Americans starts the evening session at 6:40 p.m. (CST) with the first of 10 championship finals getting under way at 7 p.m. (CST).
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – West Liberty University junior 133-pounder Darius Bunch clinched a 2017-18 All-American berth here Friday night with a clutch performance on the opening day of NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Bunch shook off a first-round loss on Friday morning to battle his way through Friday's night's consolation rounds and earn a spot in Saturday's final eight.
Hilltopper sophomore 197-pounder Logan Kemp wrestled well against a pair of tough opponents but came up short of qualifying for Saturday's action.
Bunch's day got off to a frustrating start with a first-round loss to Newberry's Nolan Whitely in a 3-2 nailbiter. Whitely, a senior transfer from Wheeling Jesuit competing in his third consecutive national tournament, caught Bunch for a takedown midway through the second period to open up a 3-0 lead.
Bunch quickly got on the board with an escape to trail 3-1 heading into the third period and notched another escape in the opening seconds of the final frame but couldn't get the takedown he needed to advance before the final buzzer.
The Hilltopper standout stayed alive in his first-round consolation bout, outlasting a scrappy Naquan Hardy of McKendree in a tough 2-1 decision to pull within one win of a guaranteed All-America slot.
That set up a showdown with Wheeling Jesuit's Dustin Warner in the second-round consolation bout with the winner earning All-America honors and the loser heading home empty-handed.
This was the third meeting of the season between the two standouts, who had split a pair of narrow decisions, so it was no surprise that they were tied at the end of three periods. It was Bunch who moved on with a big takedown in the first tiebreaker to prevail by a 5-1 count.
Kemp had a tough draw in his opening match, going up against Super Regional 3 champion Vince Dietz of No. 1-ranked St. Cloud State. A senior veteran ranked No. 3 nationally at 197, Dietz had his hands full with the Hilltopper sophomore as Kemp battled to the wire only to come out on the short end of an 8-3 decision.
Kemp got off to a good start in his first-round consolation bout with Limestone's Matt Rudy, taking the South Carolina junior down twice midway through the opening period to grab a 4-2 lead.
Rudy changed the momentum with an escape and takedown early in the second frame and carried a 9-6 advantage into the final two minutes. Kemp got back on the board with an escape but another takedown by Rudy pushed the count to 11-7 midway through the period and Kemp couldn't fight his way back. A riding time point took the final score to 12-7.
Bunch returns to action on Saturday morning when he takes on Dustin Kirk of King (Tenn.) in a third-round consolation bout.
The morning session, which gets under way at 10 a.m. (CST), also features championship semifinals, consolation semifinals and the Third-, Fifth-, and Seventh-Place matches. The Parade of All-Americans starts the evening session at 6:40 p.m. (CST) with the championship finals starting at 7 p.m. (CST).
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – West Liberty's Darius Bunch posted the highest national finish by a Hilltopper wrestler in six years here Saturday as the 2018 NCAA Division II wrestling championships concluded at U.S. Cellular Arena.
Bunch, a junior transfer from Emmanuel (Ga.) University, earned his first NCAA Division II All-America citation by mounting a strong drive through the consolation brackets to finish fourth in the nation at 133 pounds.
It's the highest placement by a Hilltopper wrestler since Jarrod Shaw was national runner-up at 157 pounds in the 2012 championship meet.
Bunch didn't have an easy road to the podium. After dropping a frustrating one-point decision in his first-round championship bracket on Friday, the WLU standout had to gut out narrow decisions against No. 1-ranked Airk Furseth of Wisconsin-Parkside and No. 3-ranked Dustin Warner of Wheeling Jesuit to punch his ticket for Saturday's action.
It was more of the same on Saturday as Bunch - ranked No. 7 nationally - pulled out a 3-2 decision against No. 10-ranked Dustin Kirk of King (Tenn.) in their Third Round Consolation match before eking out an identical 3-2 verdict against Nebraska-Kearney's No. 3-ranked Bryce Shoemaker to advance to the Third Place Match.
Bunch and Notre Dame's Kelan McKenna, ranked No. 6 nationally, battled through a scoreless first period. The second period also finished in a scoreless tie but McKenna had stolen the momentum by riding Bunch throughout the period to earn a 2-minute riding time advantage.
Needing to erase that edge, Bunch opted to give up an escape at the start of the period and try for a takedown. McKenna was able to elude Bunch's efforts for nearly the entire frame before catching the WLU grappler on a late shot for a takedown and a 4-0 win.
The impressive national tournament run boosted Bunch's final season record to a sparkling 29-6, leaving him as one of the top returning wrestlers in the NCAA Division II ranks for the 2018-19 season.
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