Scranton, PA – Garrett College finished third in the NJCAA Gulf Atlantic District tournament, with nine Lakers qualifying Saturday for the NJCAA championships.
Three Lakers wrestled their way to their weight-class championship matches, with Nicholas Anderson (125 pounds), Cole Stuchal (165), and Drayk Bunn (197) all finishing second.
Everett Nichols was third at 157 pounds, 285-pounder Jacob Beeman took fourth place, and Lakers Camden Hull (133) and Braden Poorbaugh (184) were fifth-place finishers. Brooks Smith (149) and Tyberious Clayton (174) each finished sixth to complete GC's group of national qualifiers.
GC head coach David Wingate was ecstatic over the Lakers' performance.
"Last year we qualified six for nationals," said GC's second-year head coach. "This team was more technically proficient than last year's squad. I knew we had the chance to qualify seven or eight guys, and was super-happy to sneak in that ninth one."
Andrew (GA) College – a first-year program that qualified all 10 wrestlers for nationals while winning three individual titles – won the team championship with 165 points. Camden (NJ) County College was second with 146 points while Garrett College edged Sussex (NJ) County Community College, 108.5-107, to take third place.
Host Lackawanna (PA) College was a distant fifth in the 12-team competition with 67 points.
Stuchal had the tournament's most memorable win, erasing a 13-3 deficit in the last 30 seconds of his semifinal match while pinning Union College's Christian Gomez.
"You're never out of the match until the clock says 0:00," said Wingate. "Cole hit two headlocks and pinned the kid with eight seconds left."
Nichols overcame a first-round loss to earn his third-place finish.
"Losing in the first round and wrestling all the way back to third takes some resilience and toughness," said Wingate. "He definitely brought it."
The Lakers had a chance to finish second in the team standings, but Camden County College won three of the four finals in which its wrestlers were involved.
The national tournament will take place in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at the Mid-America Center on March 7-8.
Notes: GC's 10th wrestler, sophomore James Bounds, wrestled up a class at 141 pounds and wrestled well despite losing two matches.
"He battled in both matches," Wingate said of Bounds. "He really worked hard."
