REPEAT! No. 12 Eagles Win Great Midwest Title For Second Year In A Row

The No. 12-ranked Ashland University wrestling team completed an impressive comeback to win its second consecutive Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship on Saturday (Jan. 22) afternoon, defeating host Lake Erie, 22-21, to clinch the title.

"It was a huge team effort this weekend," said Ashland head coach Colt Sponseller. "Guys had to step up and fill the lineup and get wins, and they did. Bonus points are key, and we had guys go get them."
 
Both the Eagles and Storm were 3-0 on the weekend coming into the final dual of the Championships. Lake Erie led 17-9 before the furious AU comeback.
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• Following a first-day win against Kentucky Wesleyan, then victories over Tiffin (32-12) and Findlay (25-18) earlier on Saturday, Ashland needed to beat Lake Erie to repeat as champions.
• Trailing 17-9, senior Cameron Jenkins began the comeback at 174 pounds, filling in for an injured Daniel Beemer. Jenkins took a 5-2 decision from John Penfold, making the deficit 17-12.
• Senior 184-pounder Aidan Pasiuk then pinned Tylor Orrison in 1:45 to put Ashland on top at 18-17. Sophomore Walker Uhl followed that by topping Brylan Clouse, 6-0, at 197 pounds.
• Lake Erie tied the score at 21 following the 285-pound match, but Ashland won the match and the league title on criterion.

 
THE WRAP-UP

• Eagles finishing Saturday at 3-0 were junior Luke Wymer (141 and 149), senior Chance Esmont (157), Pasiuk and Uhl. Jenkins was 2-0 at 165/174.
• Pasiuk shared the tournament's co-Most Outstanding Wrestler honors with Penfold. Esmont, Pasiuk and Uhl all made the all-tournament first team, while Wymer, senior 149-pounder Carson Speelman, junior 165-pounder Drew Wiechers and Beemer all made the second team. Eagle third-teamers were Jenkins and senior 125-pounder Christian Wellman.
• "Aidan had four pins on the weekend. That is huge," Sponseller said. "Chance Esmont, Luke Wymer, and Walker Uhl stepped up and went undefeated. But we had guys like Cameron Jenkins that stepped in at two different weights and got wins to elevate the team. We had gutsy performances from guys that aren't 100 percent, and they went out there because their team need them too. Huge team win, and I couldn't be happier."

 
UP NEXT
It's back to the regular season for the Eagles, as they go to the Greyhound Duals and the Greyhound Open on Feb. 5-6 in Indianapolis, Ind.

"Still have a lot of work ahead of us though," said Sponseller. "We have areas where we need to improve before we head to the postseason, and that will be our focus on getting better going forward. We are going to celebrate this victory, but the job isn't done."
  125 - Branden Mendoza (Tiffin) over Christian Wellman (Ashland) Maj 10-2
133 - Bryce Allison (Tiffin) over Nathan Godsey (Ashland) TF 16-0
141 - Luke Wymer (Ashland) over Matthew Zuckerman (Tiffin) Dec 7-3
149 - Carson Speelman (Ashland) over Collin Adkins (Tiffin) Fall 6:50
157 - Chance Esmont (Ashland) over Dylan Mansor (Tiffin) Dec 7-2
165 - Drew Wiechers (Ashland) over Bryan LaVearn (Tiffin) Dec 5-4
174 - Daniel Beemer (Ashland) over Samuel Lofaso III (Tiffin) TF 19-4
184 - Aidan Pasiuk (Ashland) over Kian Thompson (Tiffin) Fall 1:37
197 - Walker Uhl (Ashland) over Nicholas Mason (Tiffin) Fall 4:24
285 - David Henson (Tiffin) over Kaine Morris (Ashland) Dec 9-4
   125 - Zachary Collins (Findlay) over Christian Wellman (Ashland) SV-1 4-2
 133 - Gavin Ritter (Findlay) over Nicholas Barber (Ashland) Dec 7-0
 141 - Branson Proudlock (Findlay) over Nathan Godsey (Ashland) Fall 4:20
 149 - Luke Wymer (Ashland) over Chase Moore (Findlay) Dec 3-2
 157 - Chance Esmont (Ashland) over Alexander Isbrandt (Findlay) Maj 9-1
 165 - Cameron Jenkins (Ashland) over Justin West (Findlay) Dec 9-4
 174 - Hunter Reed (Findlay) over Daniel Beemer (Ashland) Inj 2:03
 184 - Aidan Pasiuk (Ashland) over Mark Trifelos (Findlay) Fall 3:45
 197 - Walker Uhl (Ashland) over Jacob Charette (Findlay) Fall 0:57
 285 - Kaine Morris (Ashland) over Keigan Yuhas (Findlay) Dec 3-1
  125 - Christian Wellman (Ashland) over Jordan Rodriguez (Lake Erie College) Dec 7-2
133 - Corey Gamet (Lake Erie College) over Nathan Godsey (Ashland) TF 20-5
141 - Luke Wymer (Ashland) over Nate DeBoe (Lake Erie College) Dec 7-0
149 - Jack Haskin (Lake Erie College) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
157 - Chance Esmont (Ashland) over Tyler Swiderski (Lake Erie College) Dec 6-4
165 - James Penfold (Lake Erie College) over Drew Wiechers (Ashland) Fall 2:54
174 - Cameron Jenkins (Ashland) over John Penfold (Lake Erie College) Dec 5-2
184 - Aidan Pasiuk (Ashland) over Tylor Orrison (Lake Erie College) Fall 1:45
197 - Walker Uhl (Ashland) over Brylan Clouse (Lake Erie College) Dec 6-0
285 - Chris Droege (Lake Erie College) over Kaine Morris (Ashland) Maj 11-2
Ashland's team score was adjusted by 1.0 for Match wins criterion