The Blue Jays’ wrestling season officially came to an end this past weekend as five Elizabethtown College wrestlers competed at the NCAA Division III Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Before the national championship, the Blue Jays had a stellar performance at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships in Ada, Ohio on Saturday, March 2.
The Blue Jays competed well at the inaugural NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships; they brought home the team title and sent a program record of five wrestlers to NCAA Division III Championships. The highlight for Head Coach Eric Walker was having his team wrestle together at an extremely high level. He said that all of his wrestlers were focused on their own results, but really wrestled like a team. He also said it was a bonus to win the tournament as a team and that it was a special moment for the program.
First-year Jesse Meaney proved that he had what it took to win on Saturday at the Mideast Regional Championships, improving his season record to 17-5 with seven pins. He flew through the 141-pound bracket with three falls and a decision. Jesse Meaney, who was seeded fourth, opened the tournament with a 93-second pin of Ohio Northern’s Shaun Lee. Jesse Meaney proceeded into the semifinals with his second victory over York’s Chuck Glatz. He finished a champion after pinning No. 1 seed Wayne Black in the semifinals in 5:15, and doing the same to No. 7 seed Jordan Dyer. Jesse Meaney commented on his performance, saying, “I feel that I performed well at the regional tournament. I just did what I knew worked for me when I was wrestling and in the end it proved to be the right decision.”
The Blue Jays also had four wrestlers finish as runners-up, including first-year Chad Lammer, sophomore Jeremy Reith and juniors Julian Meaney and Phil Landis. Julian Meaney commented on the tournament, saying, “We performed well as a team, we all supported each other until the very last bout, and our bond as teammates only helped us reach our goals.”
Those five national qualifiers competed this past weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the NCAA Divison III Championships. When asked how he was preparing for the NCAA Division III Championships, Julian Meaney said, “Staying mentally strong is the key, fine tuning technique to prevent previous mistakes, and finally just having fun. That’s why we do it — making sure it’s not a job keeps the pressure off.” Out of the five qualifiers, Julian Meaney and Rieth both secured All-American honors for 20th-ranked Etown on Friday night. The other three Blue Jays wrestled well, but age might have been a factor as they wrestled more experienced wrestlers on the national level. These results meant that Etown placed two wrestlers in the top eight at nationals for the second year in a row.
On Saturday morning, Etown wrestling brought home a pair of All-Americans from the NCAA Division III Championships, as Julian Meaney placed fourth at 184 pounds and Reith took eighth at 285. Julian Meaney was beaten in his first match of the day and was sent to wrestle-backs. In the consolation semifinals, Julian Meaney won by major decision, 16-5 against Mitch Hagen of St. John’s. Unfortunately, Julian Meaney was forced out of his third-place match due to a medical condition. Rieth lost his consolation quarterfinal matchup to Anthony Edgren of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 6-5, in the second overtime period. Rieth then fell to Wartburg’s Ryan Frank, as Frank grabbed a 1-0 decision, landing Rieth in eighth. Rieth finished the season 23-7, while Julian Meaney finished 14-2. Etown placed 12th with 22.5 points, their best finish at nationals in 33 years.
Rieth commented on the overall season, saying, “It’s been a great year for the program – we have really come together as a team this year and really wrestled well.” In conclusion Walker said, “I think that we have had some really good moments this year. We have competed well in tournaments all season and we knocked off three ranked teams while we were unranked. I am happy with the efforts of the guys this season. We have a young group and we can always improve, but I am happy with how we have improved each week this season.”