Five Eagles Headed To 2022 Nationals, Team Finishes Second In Region

Ashland University's wrestling team will send half of its lineup to nationals following a second-place team showing on Saturday (Feb. 26) at the NCAA Division II Super Regional III at West Liberty.
 
Five Eagle grapplers – senior 149-pounder Carson Speelman, senior 157-pounder Chance Esmont, junior 165-pounder Drew Wiechers, junior 174-pounder Daniel Beemer, and sophomore 197-pounder Walker Uhl all punched their ticket for the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships, March 11-12 in St. Louis, Mo., on Saturday.
 
Those efforts led Ashland to a second-place finish in the 11-team regional. The Eagles had 111.5 team points, behind only team champion and host West Liberty (142). Lake Erie finished in third place (104).
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• Ashland boasted a pair of regional champions on Saturday – Esmont and Wiechers. Esmont went 4-0 on the day, including a pin and a major decision. He won the first-place match over Davis & Elkins' Noah Tarr, 7-6.
• Wiechers was 3-0 following a first-round bye, including a major decision. He took the title at 165 following a medical forfeit by Lake Erie's James Penfold.
• Beemer finished in second place after bowing out of the title match by injury default. After a bye, he won the quarterfinal by pin and the semifinal by major decision.
• Uhl also was second after an injury default in the title match, and also won the quarterfinal (pin) and semifinal (decision) after a first-round bye.
• Speelman won the third-place match, 3-1, over Lake Erie's Jack Haskin, and finished the day at 4-1 with two major decisions.
• Senior Aidan Pasiuk was fourth and was 2-2 at 184 pounds, while senior 125-pounder Christian Wellman, sophomore 133-pounder Gavin Weaver and junior 141-pounder Luke Wymer all finished in sixth place.
• Junior 285-pounder Ty Petrey was 1-2 on the day.

 
UP NEXT
The 2022 D-II Championships next month.