CEDAR RAPIDS (IA) – Delaware Valley College sophomore 197-pounder Aaron Karns placed sixth while senior Emmanuel Ajagbe took eighth at 149 pounds as both earned All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships hosted by Cornell College.  

The Aggies finished tied for 28th place in the team standings as they notched 13.5 points in the tournament. Wartburg College of Iowa ran away with its fourth straight national championship.

Charlie Frankel (125 pounds), Dale Fava (141 pounds) and Dallas Winston (174 pounds) were also national qualifiers for Delaware Valley. They each dropped a pair of matches and were eliminated from the tournament on Friday.

Karns and Ajagbe, who guaranteed themselves a spot on the national podium by advancing through Friday, became the 70th and 71st wrestling All-Americans in school history. It marked the 18th consecutive year that the Aggies had at least one, top-eight finisher, and the sixth year in a row that they have crowned multiple All-Americans.

Karns (31-3) entered Saturday's semifinals after not having given up a point in 14 minutes of action on Friday. The number three seed faced No. 2 Alex Coolidge of Cornell, who entered the match with a 30-3 record. Neither wrestler scored a point in the first period and Coolidge started the second in the down position. He escaped from Karns 32 seconds in and it was the lone point of the period. Karns needed just 12 ticks to elude Coolidge to start the third period.

Karns was the aggressor throughout the final period and nearly came up with a takedown on two occasions, but the match and a championship berth headed to overtime. Then with 15 seconds left in the one-minute extra session, Coolidge defended a move by Karns and went around to get control for the takedown and the 3-1 win.

The setback dropped Karns into the consolation semifinals where he met fifth-seeded Shane Siefert of Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-9). The disappointment of having come so close to the championship finals showed and Karns fell behind 6-1 in the first, before dropping a 7-2 decision.

Karns' opponent in the placement match was unseeded Andew Lovins of Heidelberg (24-5) who reached the semifinals with upset wins over the number one and eight seeds. Karns registered a takedown near the end of the first for a 2-0 lead. It remained that way until early in the third when Lovins got a reversal to tie the match. Karns escaped with 28 seconds to go, but Lovins had more than a minute of riding time for an extra point and a 3-3 score. In overtime, Lovins was ruled to have a scored a takedown just before the clock ran out. The officials conferred with the video replay and stuck with their decision and a 5-3 victory for Lovins. 

Nonetheless, Karns had a standout out second year with Delaware Valley. He posted a 31-6 record, captured the East Regional title, made his second trip to the NCAAs (qualified as a rookie in 2011), and placed sixth at nationals for his first All-America honor.

Karns opened the '13 tournament on Friday morning against Ryan Michaelis of St. John's (7-3). He had a takedown just 16 seconds in and added an escape and another takedown in the second for a 5-0 advantage. Karns had a third takedown and amassed nearly four minutes of riding time for an 8-0 major decision. In the quarterfinals against sixth-seeded Punahele Soriano of national powerhouse Wartburg (21-6), Karns went to work quickly again, this time with a takedown 20 seconds in. He escaped midway through the second and had close to four minutes of riding time again for a 4-0 blanking.

Ajagbe, the number four seed at his weight, went 2-1 on Friday, including a win in the third round of consolations that advanced him to the final eight. He met No. 8 Jacob Long of Concordia Moorhead (18-10) in the consolation quarterfinals and a takedown and near fall gave Long an early 5-0 lead. Ajagbe bounced back and made it 5-3 score at the end of the first. A Long escape in the second was matched by an Ajagbe escape in the third for a 6-4 score. However, Ajagbe could not garner any more points and Long also had riding time for a 7-4 decision.

That put Ajagbe in the seventh-eighth place match against unseeded Luke Lohr of Waynesburg (12-5). Lohr built a 5-0 lead into the first, but Ajagbe fought and trailed by just two, 6-4, heading into the final period. The two exchanged points as Lohr notched a 7-5 victory and put Ajagbe on the eighth spot on the podium.

Ajagbe reached the quarterfinals on Friday as he notched a takedown with 32 seconds left in the first period and went on to a 3-1 triumph over Howard Tobochnik of Wesleyan (34-4). He then faced No. 5 Robert Dierna of Cortland (22-2) in what turned out to be an epic match that lasted 11 minutes. Escapes were the only points in regulation and neither wrestler scored in the one-minute extra session. They then each had an escape in the two, 30-second tiebreakers and went scoreless in another one-minute overtime. That brought about the 30-second tiebreakers again and riding time would be in effect. Dierna quickly escaped when he was down. Ajagbe escaped too, but time was on Dierna's side for the 4-3 heartbreaking decision.

That dropped Ajagbe into a do-or-die match against Trevor Engle of Cornell (29-8) in the third round of consolations with the winner advancing to Saturday and the other being eliminated from the competition. Escapes were the lone points again and another overtime match loomed. However, Ajagbe got inside and picked up a takedown with 34 seconds to go. He rode Engle the rest of way to pick up the bonus point for riding time and a 4-1 decision.

Ajagbe finished his career with the Aggies with a 96-30 record (12th on the school's all-time list for wins), including a 33-6 mark in a senior year to remember. He was ranked first in the country for a four-week period midway through the season, returned to the NCAAs for the first time since he was a freshman in 2010 and earned his first All-America accolade.   

Frankel, who placed eighth and earned All-America honors at last year's NCAA Championships, was seeded sixth in his weight class. He met Delian Schneider of Heidelberg (18-8) in the opening round and used two takedowns and a near fall to build a 6-2 advantage with 30 seconds remaining. Schneider picked up an escape then quickly took Frankel down to make it 6-5. He let Frankel escape with 11 seconds to go and registered a takedown at the edge of the mat with three ticks left to tie it up and send the match to overtime. Frankel nearly had a takedown before Schneider turned the tide and notched one of his own just 27 seconds into the extra session for the 9-7 decision. 

That dropped Frankel into the consolation bracket and he suffered a 12-4 setback to Isaac Balsiger of Wisconsin-La Crosse (23-3) to end his run at the tournament. A two-time national qualifier and 2012 All-American, Frankel ended his standout career with an 83-44 record, including a 16-8 mark this season.

Fava was making his first trip back to nationals since he was a freshman in 2009. He was unseeded and took on No. 7 Thomas Mirocha of Wartburg (21-4) in the opening round. After a scoreless first period, Fava rode Mirocha for more than half of the second stanza before Mirocha got a point with an escape. Fava was in the down position in the third and could not escape the grasp of Mirocha as he dropped a 1-0 decision.

Fava had an early 2-0 lead over Nathaniel Behnke of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (36-12) in the consolation preliminaries, but a reversal, a second period takedown and riding time resulted in a 5-2 loss. Fava ended his career with a 55-33 record (8-7 this year).

Winston's first match on the national stage had the freshman locked up with third-seeded Lou Puca of Cortland (24-4). Winston jumped ahead with a takedown midway through the first period. Puca tied it with escapes in the first and second period, and then had a takedown of his own with 33 seconds left in the second for a 4-2 lead. He then rode Winston for the entire third to earn riding time and a 5-2 victory.

Winston had a bye in the consolation preliminaries and met Ben Kramer of Messiah (25-13) in the second round. After a scoreless first, Kramer notched an escape for the lone point of the second period. Kramer then rolled Winston over midway through the third and picked up three points for the near fall. Riding time made the final 5-0 and ended Winston's rookie campaign that saw him go 22-14 and qualify for the NCAAs.


HOW DELAWARE VALLEY COLLEGE WRESTLERS FARED
197 pounds – Aaron Karns – Sophomore – (Bloomsburg, PA/Berwick) – Seeded 3rd 
Championship First Round (Fri): Won by major decision over Ryan Michaelis (St. John's), 8-0
Championship Quarterfinals (Fri): Won by decision over #6 Punahele Soriano (Wartburg), 4-0
Championship Semifinals (Sat): Lost by decision to #2 Alex Coolidge (Cornell), 3-1 OT
Consolation Semifinals (Sat): Lost by decision to #5 Shane Siefert (Wisconsin-Whitewater), 7-2
5th-6th Place Match (Sat): Lost by decision to Andrew Lovins (Heidelberg), 4-3 OT
- Karns finished in sixth place for his first All-America honor (second trip to the NCAAs). He went 31-6 on the season - 

149 pounds – Emmanuel Ajagbe – Senior – (Bogota, NJ/Bogota) – Seeded 4th
Championship First Round (Fri): Won by decision over Howard Tobochnik (Wesleyan), 3-1
Championship Quarterfinals (Fri): Lost by decision to #5 Robert Dierna (Cortland), 4-3 OT
Consolation Third Round (Fri): Won by decision over Trevor Engle (Cornell), 4-1
Consolation Quarterfinals (Sat): Lost by decision to #8 Jacob Long (Concordia Moorhead), 7-4
7th-8th Place Match (Sat): Lost by decision to Luke Lohr (Waynesburg), 7-5
- Ajagbe finished in eighth place for his first All-America honor. He went 33-6 this year and 96-30 with two trips to the NCAAs for his career. -

125 pounds – Charlie Frankel – Senior – (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) – Seeded 6th
Championship First Round (Fri): Lost by decision to Delian Schneider (Heidelberg), 9-7 OT
Consolation Preliminaries (Fri): Lost by major decision to Isaac Balsiger (Wisconsin-LaCrosse), 12-4
- Frankel finished the season with a 16-8 record and his career with an 83-44 record. He was a two-time national qualifier and earned All-America honors (eighth place finish) in 2012 - 

141 pounds – Dale Fava – Senior – (Elmwood Park, NJ/Elmwood Park) – Unseeded
Championship First Round (Fri): Lost by decision to #7 Thomas Mirocha (Wartburg), 1-0
Consolation Preliminaries (Fri): Lost by decision to Nathaniel Behnke (Wisconsin-Eau Claire), 5-2
- Fava finished the season with an 8-7 record and his career with a 55-33 mark. He was a two-time national qualifier -

174 pounds – Dallas Winston – Freshman – (Jackson, NJ/Jackson) – Unseeded
Championship First Round (Fri): Lost by decision to #3 Lou Puca (Cortland), 5-2
Consolation Preliminaries (Fri): Bye
Consolation Second Round (Fri): Lost by decision to Ben Kramer (Messiah), 5-0
- Winston finished the season with a 22-14 record and a trip to nationals -