Trio of Rio wrestlers headed to NAIA nationals

Rio Grande Sports Information
     BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Forgive University of Rio Grande head wrestling coach Jason Schweer for wanting more.
     But, at the same time, know that the front man for the RedStorm's second-year program is ecstatic about what his squad accomplished.
     Three of Schweer's athletes became Rio Grande's first-ever national tournament qualifiers during Friday's Mid-South Conference Wrestling Championships at the Ephram White Gym.
     Freshman Bruce Wagers (Cincinnati, OH) was the first of the trio to qualify by finishing as the runner-up in the 285-pound bracket and was later joined by freshmen Westyn Moyer (Urbana, OH) and Justin Bartee (Point Pleasant, WV) at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively.
     Moyer and Bartee both finished fourth in their respective weight classes.
     The threesome now move on to the 66th Annual NAIA Wrestling National Championships, scheduled for March 3-4, at the Hartman Arena in Wichita, Kan.
     "I don't know even where to begin. Anytime you compete in a conference tournament/national qualifier, you know you're in for an emotional roller coaster," Schweer said. "Obviously, with those three earning bids, it's the highest of highs. But my heart is still aching for a few of those guys that fell short. I can't say enough great things about this group of guys, though. I couldn't be prouder to be their coach and to be part of the Rio Wrestling family that we've built - and we're not done yet. I never thought I'd ever be this excited to go to Kansas, but next stop Wichita."
     Wagers, who earned a first-round bye into the quarterfinals of the double-elimination bracket, pinned Cumberland (Tenn.) University's River Henry at 0:57 and did the same to Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College's Carlos Figueroa at 2:33 before falling to Thomas More (Ky.) University's Daulton Mayer - who is ranked No. 7 nationally - at 4:24 of their championship bout.
     Henry was ranked 17th and Figueroa was 14th in the final NAIA regular season rankings.
     "What a phenomenal showing. I'm still trying to lift my jaw off the ground after his performance," Schweer said of Wagers. "I knew Bruce was game and I was confident we could find a way to at least finish fifth and earn a bid, but I guess Bruce had other ideas. He was dominant from whistle to whistle and won by fall over both nationally-ranked opponents en route to the finals. You can't ask for much more than that. He'll forever be the first-ever national qualifier in University of Rio Grande history and I had a front row seat for it. What a truly special moment."
     Wagers will take a 25-15 record into the national tournament.
     The path to qualifying for both Moyer and Bartee was a little more drawn-out.
     Moyer also received a bye into the quarterfinals before advancing to the semifinals with a 4-2 decision over 17th-ranked Jake Hurst of Campbellsville (Ky.) University, but he was denied a spot in the finals by coming up on the short end of a 3-2 decision at the hands of Cumberland's Eli Clemmons - who was ranked 19th.
     Moyer then won a 9-0 majority decision over No. 22-ranked Kailan Keith of Thomas More in the consolation bracket before being pinned by Midway (Ky.) University's Brent Hudgins -ranked No. 21 - at the 0:35 mark of their third-place match.
     "Westyn showed a great deal of maturity in not letting the moment get too big today, as he ran the gambit of challenges," said Schweer. "He started the day off by wrestling his high school teammate in the quarters. Those guys have probably wrestled thousands of times throughout the years, so whoever won that one was going to have to earn it and, today, Westyn earned it. He lost a 3-2 match in the semis to the eventual champ and had to bounce back to earn the bid on the backside. The guy he had to beat had pinned him earlier in the year, but Wes rose to the challenge and won in convincing fashion. I couldn't be more happy, impressed or proud of his performance today."
     Moyer moved to 18-13 for the season.
     Bartee was pinned by 10th-ranked Shadrick Slone of Campbellsville University at 2:22 of their quarterfinal round match, but rebounded in the consolation bracket by posting an 8-4 decision over Jahmon Spiller of Thomas More and pinning No. 23 Steven Lawrence from the University of Pikeville at 6:22 before falling again to Slone at 4:27 of the third-place bout.
     "Bartee is one of the coolest customers out there," Schweer said. "He found himself in more than a couple precarious positions throughout the day and he had everybody's blood pressure through the roof in his consolation semifinal where he scored a late takedown to force overtime. His opponent took an excellent shot in OT and looked to have Justin dead-to-rights but, somehow, Justin recovered position and found a way to finish on top and got the fall. The place went bananas. I'll never forget that moment as long as I live. What a day."
     Bartee finished the day with a season record of 31-10.
     Eight other grapplers also represented Rio Grande in the tournament, four which posted a victory.
     Freshman Isaac Gray (Frankfort, OH) earned a win in the second round of the 174-pound consolation bracket by pinning freshman teammate Aiden Greene (Bidwell, OH) at 0:22, while sophomore Mitchell Freeman (Point Pleasant, WV) pinned Midway's Chris Sperin at 6:50 of their second round consolation match in the 149-pound bracket.
     Freshman Mackandle Freeman (Point Pleasant, WV) also got a win in the consolation second round of the 149-pound division, defeating Thomas More's Dru Baker by technical fall, 16-0, and freshman Braeden Denlinger (Kettering, OH) pinned Gavin Hunt from Pikeville at 2:33 of their second round consolation bracket match at 285 pounds.
     Sophomore Amir Harris (Trotwood, OH) at 141 pounds, sophomore Kaylin Foust (Charlotte, NC) at 157 pounds, sophomore Anthony Parks (Jackson, OH) at 184 and Greene all finished 0-2 in the championship.
     As a team, Rio Grande finished seventh among the eight participating schools with 48.5 points.
     Campbellsville won the team title with 152 points, while Cumberland (137 pts.) and the University of the Cumberlands, Ky. (127.5 pts.) rounded out the top three.
     "Wrestling is the ultimate metaphor for life," Schweer said. "Every single part of it is hard. Nothing comes easy in our sport. Nothing. You can do everything right from managing your weight correctly, picking up extra workouts, fine-tuning technique, getting the right fuel in your system, getting the proper amount of rest and recovery. You can do every single thing right and still fall short. That's where my heart is tonight. It's with those guys that absolutely sold-out for their goals and came up empty handed."