Four Dragons land spots at Nationals with regional performances

Four Dragons land spots at Nationals with regional performances
Posted: Feb 25, 2023

Tiffin University had four grapplers earn spots at the NCAA Division II National Championships, as the Dragons hosted the Super Region 3 Tournament.

Tiffin had three champions, as Zack Donathan (141 pounds), Casey Barnett (157), and Jake Noon (197) all won their weight classes. Brandon Mendoza (125) also landed a spot at nationals with a second-place finish.

Overall the Dragons were 5th of 11 teams. West Liberty won the title with 137.5 points, followed by Lake Erie with 114.5, Findlay 104, and Glenville State with 103.5. Tiffin totaled 96 points.

Donathan had a strong showing, opening with two pin fall victories. He beat Davis & Elkins in 36 seconds and followed with a win over Ashland in 1:27. He then outpointed West Liberty 9-3 and upset 2nd-ranked Christian Small of Lake Erie 5-3 for the title.

Noon also excelled, edging Notre Dame 3-1 before shutting out Bluefield State 7-0. In the title match, he outpointed Brylan Clouse of Lake Erie 3-2.

Barnett continued his strong debut season, pinning Bluefield State in 41 seconds before clipping Notre Dame 7-5. He landed the title via medical forfeit over Jamar Williams of West Liberty.

Mendoza also wrestled extremely well, posting a major decision over Bluefield State 9-1 and another one over Findlay 11-1. He narrowly fell to the nation's second-ranked grappler, Cole Laya of West Liberty, 2-0 to finish second.

Two other Dragons just missed trips to Nationals. Connor Twigg (174) finished 4th, falling by fall to Lake Erie's James Penfold in 2:55. Prior to that he bounced back from a 17-1 tech fall loss to Ashland with a 13-6 win over Bluefield State, a 15-3 major decision over Notre Dame, and a pin over 4:33 over Findlay.

Clayton Ours (285) also lost a heartbreaker in the third-place match, falling 5-4 to 9th-ranked La'Ron Parks of Notre Dame 5-4. He opened with a 4-0 win over Findlay but then got pinned in 53 seconds by Glenville State. He won his next match by fall in 2:08 over Ashland.

Iran Love (184) also finished 6th. He lost 16-1 to Glenville State but then posted a 6-5 win over Davis & Elkins. He lost 3-0 to Findlay and then fell in the fifth-place match 5-2 to Lake Erie.