AGGIES FALL TO NO. 5 WARTBURG IN NATIONAL DUALS SEMIFINALS
1/10/2010 2:04:17 PM
CEDAR FALLS (IA) – Delaware Valley College fell into the consolation finals and will battle for third place as the 12th-ranked Aggies dropped a 25-12 decision to fifth-ranked and two-time defending champion Wartburg College in the semifinals of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/Cliff Keen National Duals.
Delaware Valley (6-1), seeded eighth at the National Duals) will take on third-seeded and third-ranked Coe College for third place. The two met in last year’s consolation finals as well with the Aggies picking up a 22-15 decision. They then met in a dual meet at Coe and Delaware Valley was victorious again with a 26-15 triumph.
Delaware Valley, which reached the semifinals with a 22-15 upset of No. 1 University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse on Saturday, could not follow up with a similar performance against Wartburg as the Knights won seven of 10 weight classes,
Wartburg opened with three straight decisions for a 9-0 victory before the Aggies got on the board at 149 pounds as Emmanuel Ajagbe earned a 9-3 decision over TJ Moen. Jesse Harrington, Division III’s top-ranked wrestler at 157 pounds, followed with a 6-4 victory over Adam Weber to pull Delaware Valley to within three at 9-6.
However, Wartburg took the next four weight classes, including a pin and a major decision to build a commanding 25-6 lead. Kyle Bilquist put the final points on the board for the Aggies as the two-time All-American and fourth-ranked heavyweight pinned No. 3 John Helgerson 36 seconds into overtime.
SEMIFINALS: WARTBURG COLLEGE 25, DELAWARE VALLEY COLLEGE 12
125 – Mark Kist (W) by decision over Zach Haynes, 4-1 (3-0 W)
133 – Matt Kelly (W) by decision over Eric McCann, 6-0 (6-0 W)
141 – Christopher Sandy (W) by decision over Zac Andrews (9-0 W)
149 – Emmanuel Ajagbe (DVC) by decision over TJ Moen, 9-3 (9-3 W)
157 – Jesse Harrington (DVC) by decision over Adam Weber, 6-4 (9-6 W)
165 – Carrington Banks (W) by major decision over Matt Lindsay, 16-5 (13-6 W)
174 – Dylan Azinger (W) by decision over Dan Daddino, 5-2 (16-6 W)
184 – Todd Becker (W) by decision over Martin Porter, 2-0 (19-6 W)
197 – Byron Tate (W) by fall over Jeff Siciliano, 2:57 (25-6 W)
285 – Kyle Bilquist (DVC) by fall over John Helgerson, 7:36 OT (25-12 W)