Dragons take 4th at Regionals, send 3 to Nationals

Tiffin University finished 4th overall at the Midwest Regional.
Tiffin University finished 4th overall at the Midwest Regional.

Tiffin University placed 4th at the Midwest Regional hosted by the University of Findlay, sending three grapplers to the NCAA National Championships.

Trey Grine (149) was the highest individual placer for TU, taking 3rd. Bryan LaVearn (141) and Chase Boyd (174) will also make the trip as both finished 4th in their weight classes.

Overall the Dragons totaled 78 points, trailing champion Ashland (94.5), Newberry (93), and Lake Erie (91). TU had six weight classes finish in the top 6.

Grine fell by fall in 6:45 to Findlay but bounced back to win his final two matches to secure third place. He beat Newberry 7-2 and edged UNC-Pembroke 6-5.

LaVearn opened with a 5-0 win over Limestone and an 11-3 victory over Wisconsin Parkside before dropping a slim 9-7 score to Newberry. He then won by rule against Parkside for fourth place.

Boyd, meanwhile, fell to Ashland 7-4 but beat Indianapolis 3-1. After a fall to Findlay in 1:54, he also took 4th by rule over Indianapolis.

Hayden Bronne (184) and Beau Minnick (157) also posted 5th place finishes. Bronne had 2 more pin victories over Limestone in 2:17 and Parkside in 3:47, but also losses to Lake Erie 2-0 and by rule to UI. Minnick, meanwhile, had another sudden victory win 4-2 over Bellarmine along with a 5-2 win over Findlay, but then fell to UNC-Pembroke 4-1 and via pin to Indianapolis in 4:22.

Nicholas Mason (197) finished 6th overall. He lost to Ashland 9-5 while also falling to Parkside 13-9 and Coker 6-4.