Over the course of the spring and the summer months, one Tiffin Athletics program will be highlighted every Saturday on their accomplishments during the past year. This week's Saturday Spotlight focuses on the men's wrestling program.
Prior to the start of the season, the men were ranked 16th in the national NWCA poll and selected atop the GMAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
Tiffin started with a pair of strong showings at the Michigan State Open and the Ohio Collegiate Open. Following his 5-0, three-pin performance at the Ohio Collegiate Open, freshman Chris Donathan was named the GMAC Wrestler of the Week.
After that, the Dragons placed five grapplers at both the Findlay Open and the Storm Open. TU's showing was highlighted by senior Bryan LaVearn, who earned GMAC Wrestler of the Week honors after both opens. Following that, TU was ranked 19th in the country.
Tiffin then took the title at the ONU Invite to kick off December, with Derek Gross earning GMAC Wrestler of the Week honors.
TU then traveled to the prestigious Midwest Classic, where they finished 3rd out of 37 teams with Trey Grine taking the 157-lb. title and GMAC Wrestler of the Week honors. Chris Donathan (2nd, 149), Nick Mason (3rd, 197), and Hayden Bronne (3rd, 174) also performed well.
Tiffin went into the new year with a No. 7 ranking in Division II after their strong fall showing and immediately backed it up with a dominating 41-6 dual victory over Urbana.
At the NWCA National Duals, Tiffin battled to an eighth-place finish against nearly all of the top teams in the nation. Grine notched another GMAC weekly honor after going 4-0 over the weekend, including taking down the top-ranked 157-lb. wrestler from St. Cloud State.
Prior to the GMAC Duals, Tiffin picked up an eighth-place ranking from the NWCA. The Dragons then went 5-0 to take the conference title, highlighted by a thrilling win by David Henson against Lake Erie in the HWT bout to clinch the championship.
Senior Night came next on Jan. 29, and Tiffin looked extremely impressive with a 49-4 win over Rochester that included seven pins. A couple of days later, the All-GMAC squad was announced with eight Dragon representatives, with Bronne earning Wrestler of the Meet and Joey Simcoe named Coach of the Meet.
Tiffin then wrapped up the regular season with a 2-1 showing at the Greyhound Duals, after which David Henson claimed a GMAC weekly honor for a 3-0 performance. TU was then ranked ninth by the NWCA, with Grine taking the top spot at 157-lbs.
On Feb. 29, the Dragons executed their best-ever showing at NCAA Regionals with a second-place finish, as Nick Mason (1st), Donathan (1st), Grine (2nd), LaVearn (2nd), and Bronne (3rd) all qualified for Nationals.
However, due to COVID-19, the season was ended one day before the NCAA Championships were set to begin.
Nevertheless, the men pulled in a bevy of honors, including Coach Simcoe earning NWCA Super Region 3 Coach of the Year and Bronne taking the Division II falls title.
On April 10, the NWCA decided to honor the top wrestlers ranked in each weight class with All-American honors. All five Dragon qualifiers earned the recognition.
Bronne, LaVearn, Henson, and Nick Smythe all also garnered NWCA Scholar All-American honors.
Finally, despite the physical NCAA Championships getting canceled, Tiffin was able to pull off a national title in the Virtual NCAA Championship.