Bartee 4th at MSC Tournament, earns spot in nationals
Rio Grande/MSC Sports Information
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Justin Bartee posted a fourth-place finish and earned a berth to the NAIA National Championships in the process to lead the University of Rio Grande in Friday's Mid-South Conference Men's Wrestling Tournament at Ephram White Gymnasium.
Bartee, a junior from Point Pleasant, W.Va., received a bye into the semifinal round of the 184-pound bracket before dropping an 11-8 decision to Cumberland (Tenn.) University's Rocco Horvath.
Bartee then posted an 11-2 major decision over his Rio teammate, junior Ashton Simison (Enon, OH), before coming up on the short end of a 15-6 major decision against Campbellsville's Brice Parks.
Simison finished in sixth place after also losing by technical fall to Thomas Ketchen-Carter from the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) and dropping a 13-7 decision to Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College's Cale Johnson.
Bartee pinned Johnson at 2:27 of their true fourth-place match.
Rio Grande also got a fourth-place finish from freshman Gary Reno (Hillsboro, OH) at 197 pounds, while sophomore Pate Eastin (Granger, IN) placed fifth at 174 pounds and junior Mackandle Freeman (Point Pleasant, WV) did the same at 157 pounds.
Reno received a first round bye before getting pinned by Campbellsville's Joel Hatchett at 4:21 of their semifinal bout.
After earning another bye, Reno lost by technical fall to Midway University's David Emfinger in the third-place match.
Eastin fell to Cumberland U's Cameron Nesbitt, 4-1, before rallying to post a 6-5 decision against Midway's Sebastian Hutchinson.
Eastin then found himself on the short end of a 15-6 major decision to Cumberland U's Anthony Pyron before picking up a forfeit against Lindsey Wilson's Chris Morales in the fifth-place match.
Freeman lost a 2-0 decision to Midway's Kaleb Clark and, after receiving a bye, also fell to Cumberland U's Ellis Otting, 8-5.
Freeman then pinned Midway's Chris Begley at 1:16 of their fifth-place match.
Senior Mitchell Freeman (Point Pleasant, WV) also earned a place-holder spot at 165 pounds for Rio Grande.
After getting a bye in the first round of the championship bracket, Freeman decisioned Midway's Abe Hafez, 6-2, before falling by technical fall to Cumberlands' Turner Black in the semifinal round.
Freeman then dropped a 4-0 decision to Campbellsville's Jasitin Kubwimana before being pinned by Hafez at 5:50 of the fifth-place match.
Freeman also lost a 10-2 major decision to Cumberland U's Ethan Gomez in the true sixth-place match.
Freeman now plays the waiting game to see if he earns an at-large berth to the national tourney.
Also representing Rio Grande was freshman Conner Blessing (Point Pleasant, WV) and sophomore Phillip Balis (Leroy, WV) at 141 pounds, freshman Ben Sloan (Ironton, OH) at 149 pounds, senior Kaylin Foust (Charlotte, NC) at 157 pounds and senior Michael Peneski (Port Washington, NY) at 285 pounds.
The only win among the quintet came from Blessing, who defeated Balis by technical fall in round two of the consolation bracket.
The University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) captured the team title, topping the six-team field with 170 points. Campbellsville (Ky.) was runner-up with 151 points and Cumberland (Tenn.) finished third with 140.5 points.
Rio Grande finished sixth with 48 points.
Cumberlands (Ky.) had the most individual champions with four, while Cumberland (Tenn.) and Campbellsville (Ky.) had three each.
All 10 weight division winners earned first-team all-conference honors, with the runner-up finishers receiving second-team honors and third-place finishers earning third-team all-conference.
Cumberlands' Austin Silva was named Freshman of the Year and Black was named Wrestler of the Tournament.
Campbellsville's Michael Diemer was named Assistant Coach of the Year and Cumberlands Corey Ruff was named Head Coach of the Year.
The MSC Wrestler of the Year will be named following the NAIA National Tournament.