Men's Wrestling 2/26/2022 11:59:00 PM Turner Kirby, Athletic Communications Assistant

Kings of the South: Five National Qualifiers Lead to Wolves’ Tenth Super Region Title

Carrigan, Decatur, Royal, Spears, and Seitz Earn NCAA Berths

Pembroke, N.C. - In a season that was full of ups and downs, the Newberry Wrestling Team showed why they are the predominant program in the region as they claimed their second consecutive NCAA Super Region II Title and tenth overall on Saturday in Pembroke, N.C on the backs of five different Wolves punching their tickets to the NCAA National Tournament in St. Louis, Mo. The Wolves earned a total of 130.5 team points, 26 more points than second place UNC Pembroke.

Isiah Royal and Caleb Spears would both continue their dominant runs in 2022 as they both would claim individual titles. After receiving a bye, Royal would start his national title defense with a 18-2 technical fall win over Coker's Bryan Jones then he would clinch his NCAA berth with a 8-0 major decision over Tyler Pepe of Belmont Abbey in the semifinals. The win made him the first five time NCAA qualifier in program history. Royal would complete his regional title run with a 9-2 decision over Demetri Teddlie of King.

Spears would also receive a bye in the first round and followed the exact path Royal would as he would win his three matches by tech fall, major decision, and decision. Spears would dominate Coker's Alex Miller and Lander's Jack Bond to secure his NCAA spot and then would win his second straight regional title with a 9-6 win over Belmont Abbey's Connor Weeks. The latter win would all but secure the Wolves' team title.

Evan Carrigan would secure his NCAA berth at 125 with a 16-0 tech fall over Aaron Zebrauskas of Belmont Abbey in the quarterfinals and a 8-6 decision over Limestone's Kevin Radcliff. However, Carrigan would not get a chance to wrestle for the region title as an injury would cause him to forfeit his championship bout, giving him a second place finish.

Joining Royal, Spears, and Carrigan in St. Louis are Talon Seitz and Timothy Decatur, both of whom ran the gauntlet through the consolation bracket to place third and secure the last spot in their weight class. Decatur would fall in his opening bout in the championship bracket but would use a technical fall and two major decisions to propel him into the third place match with a berth in the national tournament on the line. Decatur would rise to the occasion as he would earn a gritty 4-2 decision over David Medina of King to secure his spot on the podium.

Seitz would win his opening round bout against King's David Varner via a pin in the last minute of the bout. He would advance to the semifinals with a 7-4 decision over Lander's Gage Bernall but would fall in the championship semis. Seitz would bounce back in the consolation semis with a 9-1 decision over Connor Smith of Emmanuel and would clinch his NCAA berth with a reversal in a tiebreak in a rematch with Bernall to give him the 7-6 win.

Devan Moore and Nolan Wheeler would each fall one bout short of an NCAA berth as they would fall in the third place match. However, both Moore and Wheeler would earn bonus point wins in their respective runs to help the Wolves in the team point race.

Armando Acosta, Kaleb Haven, and Devon Rice would each fall in the consolation semifinals but would add a total of 31 points to the Wolves team total as each of them would win their fifth place matches, highlighted with a Rice pin of Coker's Hamilton Cooper.

"I'm proud of what our team has accomplished this year," said Head Coach Deral Brown. "It's been a 'roller coaster' of a season and our guys never took their eyes off the goal and now it's time to turn our eyes to NCAAs in two weeks"

With the Super Region trophy in tow, the Scarlet and Gray return home and will look to add some more hardware to the case as they will head to Chaifetz Arena in two weeks for the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships on March 12th and 13th.

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Players Mentioned

Armando Acosta: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Evan Carrigan: Freshman

Devan Moore: Sophomore

Devon Rice: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Caleb Spears: Redshirt Junior

Nolan Wheeler: 5' 8"; Freshman

Timothy Decatur: 5' 5"; Sophomore

Isiah Royal: 149 lbs; Junior

Players Mentioned

Armando Acosta
: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Evan Carrigan
: Freshman

Devan Moore
: Sophomore

Devon Rice
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Caleb Spears
: Redshirt Junior

Nolan Wheeler
: 5' 8"; Freshman

Timothy Decatur
: 5' 5"; Sophomore

Isiah Royal
: Junior
: 149 lbs