Rougnecks Wrap Up Season at NCAA DII National Championship
Cedar Rapids, Iowa – The University of Findlay wrestling team, which has consistently produced a stable of national qualifiers, had a pair of athletes in contention at the NCAA Division II National Championship on Friday, March 10 as Graham Shore and Jacob Kowalski made the trip to compete with the nation's best.
Junior Graham Shore earned his way into the event in the 125-pound weight class. Shore dropped his first matchup of the day against the 12th-ranked wrestler in the country in that weight class, Christian Mejia (McKendree). Shore led 4-2 through the first period as he recorded a pair of takedowns to open up the bout. The second period went in favor of Mejia who had a takedown near the beginning of the period and later recorded a nearfall with just 22 seconds remaining in the second. Trailing 6-4, Shore needed a third-period comeback and, despite a takedown and a second stalling call on Mejia, it was not enough as Shore dropped the heartbreaker by a score of 8-7.
His second matchup pitted Shore against Jose Diaz (Gannon) and it did not go in favor of Findlay. Diaz led 5-2 through the first period, added on with a 3-1 performance in the second, and went on to win by major decision, 15-4, ending Shore's time at nationals.
In the 197-pound event, junior Jacob Kowalski had an extremely tough draw as he was set to battle with Tereus Henry (Fort Hayes State) to open his tournament. Henry, ranked fourth in the country in the weight class, went ahead 6-2 in the first period and never looked back, going on to a major decision of 14-3.
Kowalski then went up against the seventh-ranked wrestler in the country, Anthony Yacovetti (Lander). Kowalski opened the scoring with a takedown 35 seconds into the match, but would trail 3-2 through one period. In the second period, Yacovetti took control, going on to defeat Kowalski by fall.