Men's Wrestling Dominates on Path to MSC South Tournament Title
Men's Wrestling / 02.20.21
LAKELAND, Fla. ---- The No. 3 nationally ranked Life University men's wrestling team dominated its way to the Mid-South Conference South Division Tournament title with seven conference champions, earning a clean sweep of the postseason awards with all 12 grapplers qualifying for the NAIA National Tournament.
Tyree Johnson (141 lbs.),
Denver Stonecheck (149 lbs.),
Jack Bass (157 lbs.),
Sid Ohl (165 lbs.),
Asher Eichert (174 lbs.),
Myles Starke (184 lbs.) and
Zane Lanham (197 lbs.) each stood atop the podium in their weight class for the tournament. In the South Division postseason awards, Stonecheck was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament,
Brandon Orum (125 lbs.) was named the Freshman of the Year, Ohl earned Wrestler of the Year honors and head coach
Omi Acosta received Coach of the Year accolades.
The Running Eagles finished the tournament with a total of 198 team points to claim the team title. The team finished with 18 bonus point matches that included 12 pins, four major decisions and a pair of technical falls.
"First, I want to thank God for the opportunity to compete and the safety of all our guys," Acosta stated. "I feel blessed that we were able to get this far in the season, and I am eager to see our guys compete on the national stage. Early in the year, we set a goal to qualify all 12 guys for the NAIA Championships, and we did. The entire team stepped up when we found out we were headed to Southeastern for the tournament, and I am proud of the fight and domination they displayed. Now, we turn our focus to the national tournament in two weeks."
In addition to the champions,
Julian Hernandez (157 lbs.) finished second at the tournament and earned a wild card bid.
Baker Hadwan (184 lbs.) finished third and also picked up a wild card bid. The full results from the tournament can be found here:
Life U Results at MSC South Division Tournament
The men's wrestling team will now turn its attention to the NAIA National Tournament, which will take place on March 5 and 6 in Park City, Kan.
