By Justin St. Peter
History has been made. The Warhawks wrestling team set a school record on Saturday March 2 at the NCAA Division III Regional in Elmhurst, Indiana. They sent eight of the ten wrestlers to the NCAA Wrestling Championship on March 15 and 16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“We had almost a flawless performance,” said senior Jake Fredricksen. “We had eight guys place in the top three out of 10. The last two rounds we went 15-1 which was incredible.”
Thanks to the 15-1 record in the last two rounds, the No. 4 ranked, according to NCAA.com, `Hawks won Regionals against a stacked field of 12 teams with a team score of 121 points. Elmhurst, ranked second nationally, hosted the tournament and came in second with 108 points. No. 5 ranked UW-LaCrosse, took 3rd with 89 points. Another WIAC foe, No. 9 UW-Stevens Point, placed fourth with 83.5 points.
“I’m speechless, that was an amazing performance,” `Hawks head coach Tim Fader said. “It was a great team wrestle; as a coach it was really exciting.”
The `Hawks took control of the meet with four weight class champions.
Sophomore Anthony Edgren won the 285-pound class title. He came in as the No. 2 seed, and proceeded to win all four of his matches. He had two pins, including one to win the title. A motivated Edgren was already looking forward to the nationals.
“I want to take first,” Edgren said. “I think it’s crazy if that’s not your goal. I mean you don’t train to be an All-American, you train to be a National Champ.”
Freshman Shane Seifert earned the 197-pound regional title. After earning a first round bye, he won three matches to become champion. With those three wins under his belt, his season record is now 28-8.
Junior Cedric Gibson was the champion of the 165 lb. class. He also received a first round bye before he strung together three straight wins to take the title. His season record is now 14-5.
The 149-pound title went to junior Elroy Perkin. He was the No. 4 seed in the tournament but reeled off four straight to receive his title. He now has a 35-7 record on the season.
“We didn’t have anybody that was the favorite to win the tournament, and got 4 champs, which is just amazing,” Fader said. “It’s a really exciting display of wrestling, and I am really proud of them. We have a team that does not quit ever.”
Freshman Roland Dunlap was awarded a bye and won his two matches to advance to the title match. He was defeated, but took second to advance to nationals. The finals loss was his first of the season, as his record is now 11-1.
Three `Hawks took third place finishes. Sophomore Grant Sutter took third in the 133-pound class. Fredricksen fought back to take third in the 141 lb. class.
In the 157-pound class, senior Cade Sarbacker entered the regional 9-0. After losing in his first match, he won four straight to claim 3rd place. In his final match of the day, he got revenge, beating the opponent he lost to in the first round, 16-2.
After the match was over, Fader was awarded Midwest Region Coach of the Year for Division III.
“We came in and looked like the sharpest team at the tournament,” Sutter said. “That says a lot about how well- coached we were, how well-prepared we were for this weekend and obviously a well-deserved honor that he received today.”
Fader was quick to promote his assistants as a reason for this award.
“We just have a great coaching staff that does all the extra things and puts in all the time and watches film, scouts, works on and off the mat with our guys,” Fader said.
Fader is already looking forward to nationals.
“We just talked about how we are going to enjoy this for the night, and then we got get back to work,” Fader said. “There is work to be done. We are going to keep preaching that, until the tournament is over.”
Fader and the team are not content with the Regional Championship though.
“You don’t take eight guys to the National tournament and say, ‘Wow this is great. I’m really happy with that’,” Fader said. “You want those eight guys to be eight national champions. Step one is taken care of, and now we have to get to work.”
