[Men's Wrestling] Wrestling Wins First GPAC Tournament Title
Doane Wrestling made program history once again on Saturday as they claimed their first-ever GPAC Tournament Championship. The Tigers raced out to the lead after Friday's opening matches and then closed out the team victory by placing eight wrestlers in the championships of their respective weight classes. Doane finished with a program-best 163 team points to out-distance runner-up Morningside's 101 points.
Daniel Vargas (JR/San Diego, Calif.) won the 125-pound division for the second straight year, going 3-0 on the weekend. He opened the tournament with a 6-2 decision over Concordia's Isaac Agabin. The road to the championship was a mirror image of last year's title run for Vargas in the last two matches. In the semifinals, Vargas defeated Seth I'nama of Briar Cliff by major decision, 15-6, and in the finals he defeated Evan Shell of Morningside by a 6-1 decision. He defeated both last year in the same rounds.
Another repeat winner for the Tigers was Baagii Boldmaa (JR/Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), as he went 3-0 at 141 to claim his third GPAC title. He opened action against Conner Burrus of Concordia and pinned Burrus in 4:58. In the semifinals, Boldmaa defeated No. 9 Edrich Nortje of Hastings by a 3-2 decision. The finals saw Boldmaa take on No. 4 Theorious Robinson of Jamestown. Robinson jumped out to a 3-0 lead as he picked up a takedown with eight seconds left in the opening period and then collected an escape to open the second period. Boldmaa, shortly after the escape, took Robinson down to the ground to earn two points to close the gap but in the process Robinson was injured and unable to continue.
The 149 division saw a rematch of last year's championship with Tristan Zamilpa (SO/Madera, Calif.) once again competing for the title. His road to the title match started with Ben Peters of Briar Cliff. Zamilpa collected a 10-4 decision over Peters to avenge an earlier season loss. In the semifinals, Trystan Berry of Hastings stood in the way of Zamilpa and the two would need extra time to decide the match. In overtime, Zamilpa recorded a takedown to pick up an 8-6 win. John Diener of Morningside met Zamilpa for the title once again but this year it would be the 11th-ranked Diener collecting the win, 4-1.
Chinges Tsermaa (SO/Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) gave Doane another championship as he won the 157-pound division. He opened with a 10-7 victory over Briar Cliff's Garrett Arment. In the quarterfinals, Tsermaa won by pin over Tavoris Smith of Concordia in 4:15. A 4-2 decision over Morningside's Caleb Connor set Tsermaa into the championship match where he was scheduled to meet No. 4 Thomas Stevenson. Stevenson would drop out of the tournament, giving Tsermaa a medical forfeit victory to claim the title.
In the 165 division, Benjamin Dobler (FR/Torokszentmiklos, Hungary) placed sixth. He opened action with a 17-6 major decision win over Midland's Kody Hahn. Issiah Burks of Concordia knocked off Dobler in the quarterfinals by pin. Dobler was injured in the Burks match but was able to bounce back to win by major decision over Morningside's Samuel Moore, 11-3. The win guaranteed Dobler a place on the podium and extra team points for the Tigers as he was forced to drop out of the competition due to the injury.
Finishing in the Top 3 for the third straight year was Michael Scarponi (SO/Temecula, Calif.). He advanced to the championship of the 174 division for the second straight year to take Second Place. He opened the tournament with a pin of Jackson Chapin of Morningside in 3:16. He then picked up a 3-1 victory over Cole Halouska of Dakota Wesleyan. Scarponi picked up a little revenge for an earlier season loss in the semifinals as he defeated Jakob Francksen-Small of Northwestern by a 7-2 decision. In the championship, No. 5 Trenton Munoz was able to down Scarponi, 11-0.
A pair of Tigers competed at 184, Garrett Cornwell (JR/Albion, Neb.) and Cael Jordan (FR/Eaton, Colo.). The two guys would post Top 4 finishes for Doane. Cornwell defeated Kolton Kammeyer of Midland in the opening match, 7-6, before falling to Briar Cliff's Jeremiah Glise by tech fall in the semifinals. He then defeated Midland's Connor Rinn to advance to the Third Place match. Jordan opened with an 11-2 major decision victory over Concordia's Jovon Howe. In the quarters, he defeated Rinn by major decision, 12-4. In the semis, No. 10 Luke Jenness of Northwestern won by pin but Jordan followed up the loss with a pin of his own over Kammeyer to advance to the Third Place match. Cornwell received a medical forfeit win over Jordan for the placing, though it is only known by the two wrestlers how it was decided who would get the win without wrestling the match.
The 197 division saw Bradley Antesberger (FR/North Pole, Alaska) advance to the finals for the second straight year. He opened with a 9-4 win over Evan Morara of Hastings and then collected an 8-5 win over Morningside's Hunter DeJong to advance to the finals. He faced off with No. 4 Tyson Beauperthuy for the title and it was a close match until late when Beauperthuy got a takedown to secure a 6-1 win.
Doane had two wrestlers in the 285 division and they would both advance to the championship of the weight class. Odgerel Batkhishig (SR/Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) opened with a pin of Northwestern's Lincoln Siebert in 53 seconds and won his semifinal match over last year's champion, Jacob Telles of Concordia, by a 4-3 decision. Brandon Antesberger (SO/North Pole, Alaska) opened with a 3-0 win over Henry Jones of Hastings and a major decision of 16-2 over Colten Hink of Dakota Wesleyan. In the semifinals, he defeated Midland's Matt Johnston by pin in 5:57. Antesberger would claim the title by medical forfeit, guaranteeing the two wrestlers a spot in the national tournament.
The Tigers will send a program record eight wrestlers to nationals. Receiving bids from the conference were Vargas, Boldmaa, Zamilpa, Tsermaa, Scarponi, Batkhishig and the Antesberger brothers.