Coe sends four to quarterfinals at NCAA Wrestling Championships

It was a successful first round of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships for Coe. The Kohawks advanced four wrestlers into Friday night's quarterfinals.

Farai Sewera of Coe, seeded second at 165, dug himself a 10-4 hole in his first round match against Eric Hensel of Augsburg. But Sewera was able to rally back and move to quarterfinals with a 17-12 victory. Sewera will attempt to become an all-American for the first time against seventh-seeded Terner Gott of John Carroll.

Ryan Sheldon picked up his 100th career win in the first round, knocking off sixth-seeded Ben Swarr of Messiah. The Cedar Rapids Kennedy graduate will try to become an all-American for the second straight year against third-seeded Tyler Beckwith of SUNY-Courtland. Ryan Harrington, seeded seventh at 174, earned his way into the quarterfinals, beating Mason Merenger of Concordia (Wis.), 6-2.

It will be another Coe and Messiah matchup when Harrington faces second-seeded Josh Thomson. Returning All-American Donnie Horner gave the Kohawks their fourth first-round win at 197. Horner knocked off third-seeded Aaron Karns of Delaware Valley, 3-2, and faces Wartburg's sixth-seeded Gerard Roman in the quarterfinals. Roman defeated Horner twice this season.

First-time qualifier Jan Rosenberg, wrestling at 125, was eliminated, losing his first two matches of the day.

Cornell has put two wrestlers into the quarterfinal round. At 133, Nathan Shank won, 7-4, over eighth-seeded Trevor Pruett of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Shank will face Nathaniel Giorgio from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, who is now 39-0. The Rams lone seeded wrestler, Brent Hamm, who is seeded sixth at 174, came from behind to win, 6-5, over Tory Cain of Rochester Institute of Technology. The Rams Trevor Engle, at 149, stayed alive in the pigtail consolation. After Engle lost to the top seed Dan Mirman of John Carroll in the first round, he won by fall in 3:41 over Josh Evans of Wilkes.

Luther advanced three wrestlers to the quarterfinals. At 285, Cedar Rapids Jefferson graduate Connor Herman won, 5-3, over seventh-seeded Anthony Edgren of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Herman will face Augsburg's Donny Longendyke in the quarterfinals. Longendyke is 28-0 this season. Evan Obert, the sixth seed at 133, moved on to the quarterfinals with an 8-2 win over Eric Harder of Pacific. Obert will face Zach Haynes of Delaware Valley. Haynes earned a forfeit win in the first round after third-seeded Jeremy Border of Mount Union failed to make weight.

At 141, Drew Van Anrooy picked up his 21st consecutive win with a 7-2 victory over Marcus Hamer of Augsburg. Van Anrooy, the second seed and an Oregon State transfer, will face seventh-seeded Matt Adcok of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the quarterfinals.

Luther's Jayden DeVilbiss, seeded fifth at 184, lost to Daniel Manganaro, 6-5, in the first round and was pinned by Matt Rieckhoff of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the consolation pigtail to end his season.

Luther's Blake Letney at 165 also was eliminated from the tournament losing his first two matches. The Norse's Dakota Gray did stay alive after losing his first round match at 149, pinning Mason Bohm of Wisconsin-Platteville in 40 seconds in the wrestlebacks.

In the team standings, Augsburg leads the way with 15 points. Four-time defending champion Wartburg has 13 1/2, followed by Wisconsin-Whitewater with 12 1/2, Delaware Valley with 11 and Wisconsin-La Crosse with 7 1/2. Loras currently sits in 6th with seven points and Luther is in ninth with 5.5 points.

Cornell was 12th with 4 1/2 points and Coe is 13th with four after the first session.

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