EVENT: NCWA Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship

LOCATION: Liberty University- Lynchburg, VA

The Builder wrestling squad competed in the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championships on Saturday, finishing in 2nd out of 11 teams.  Host Liberty University won the event again with 200.5 team points, followed by Apprentice with 175.5 and newcomer Queens University of Charlotte with 153.  After winning their first eight MAC Championships, the Builders have not won the event since Liberty joined in the 2011-12 season.

Thirteen Builders earned automatic bids to the NCWA National Championships with top-5 finishes, with all sixteen wrestlers finishing in the top-7.  All sixteen wrestlers will compete in Texas with the three non-qualifiers receiving wildcards.  The team had 3 individual championships with Chad Simmons and Ross Graham winning their first MAC gold, and Ty Boyd winning his second.  

At 125lbs, sophomore Colton Messick's win streak came to an end following a loss to 2x All-American and 2x Conference Champion Byron Smith of Middle Tennessee in the finals by way of a 5-3 decision.  On his way to the runner-up finish Messick recorded two pins, extending his win streak to 19 straight which is likely a school record.  Messick is now 28-7 on the season and will likely be the 2nd seed at the National Championships.

Freshman Trey Boyd earned a trip to nationals with a 4th place finish.  After going down 6-0 to Melvin Rubio of Queens in the consolation finals, Trey mounted a huge comeback before giving up a merkle in the closing seconds to give up a 10-6 decision.  Boyd recorded 2 pins on the day as well.

Both Builders qualified at 133 lbs as Anthony Monahan and Kolin Johnson finished 3rd and 4th respectively.  The #1 seed Johnson recorded a pin in his first bout before being upset by 4th seed Blake Justis of Liberty in the semi-finals 7-5.  The 2nd seeded Monahan recorded two pins before being upset by eventual champion Noah Gilbert of Queens in the semi-final as well.  Both wrestlers recorded a pin in the wrestle-back before Johnson conceded to Monahan by injury default in the consolation final.

Two more Builders qualified at 141 lbs in one of the more stacked weight classes of the day as Freshman Tyler Allen and Soph Shalek Colon finished 4th and 5th respectively.  Both builders were defeated by eventual finalists in the opening round of action.  Both Allen and Colon were losing in the first wrestle-back and would appear to not be moving on to the national tournament. Trailing 4-2 in the final period, Colon forced two stalling calls in the final period to put the bout into overtime where he would find a takedown in the last second to move on.  Allen, also trailing 4-2, found another last-second takedown to force the bout into overtime where he would also find a takedown to win.  Superior conditioning allowed both builders to dominate #1 seed Carlos Garcia of Middle Tennessee to earn spots at the National Tournament.

Junior Ty Boyd struck the first gold for Apprentice, winning his second straight MAC Conference title.  The #1 seeded Boyd recorded a quick pin and a technical fall to advance to the finals, where 2nd seed Chad Cantrell conceded by medical forfeit after being injured in the semi-finals. Boyd is now a 3x national qualifier and will look to be the first 3x All-American since Builder Heavyweight standout Ian Jones.

Junior Chad Simmons solidified his #1 national ranking, winning the title at 157lbs.  The 2017 All-American went unscathed heading into the finals with two pins.  After giving up an immediate takedown to 2nd seed Andrew Burgette of Liberty in the finals, it was all Chad.  With that 11-5 decision, Chad is now 25-10 on the season with with an impressive 20 wins with bonus points.

At arguably the toughest weight of the tournament, junior Jeff Driscoll placed 7th after falling to eventual champ Joe Scott of Liberty in his opening bout. He recorded a 17-2 technical fall over VMI for 7th place.  Driscoll will receive a wildcard bid to nationals, as only two of three Liberty wrestlers can advance and based on the quality of competition. Jeff was an automatic National Qualifier at 174lbs last season.

Both Builders will move on to Nationals at 174 lbs as Senior Dan Henson and Soph Jeremy Mosely placed 4th and 5th.  Henson and Mosely both advanced to the semi-finals with major-decisions in the quarter-finals.  "Hendo" turned around his lackluster season by dominating 4th seed Luke Eli of Liberty in his opening bout with two perfectly timed pancakes for six points apiece.  A more conservative Eli would bounce back to defeat Mosely and Henson with a 3-0 and 2-0 decision for 3rd.  Mosely is now a 2x national qualifier and Henson will be competing at his 3rd championship.

Wes Sorey qualified for his first National tournament after finishing 2nd at 184lbs.  2nd seeded Sorey dropped a 9-3 decision to #1 seed Josh McLlhenny of Liberty in the finals after a pin and a razor-thin 5-4 decision to Cody Richmond of Liberty in the semi-final.  Teammate Devon Meredith also fell to McLlhenny in the quarter-final but bounced back with a 12-3 major decision over Northern Kentucky.  Finishing in 6th place, Meredith will also advance to his first National Tournament with a wildcard.  

Freshman Ross Graham won the third and final title for the Builders at 197lbs.  In his first bout of the day, Graham led his opponent from Queens only 1-0 after the first five minutes.  In the final period, Graham racked up sixteen consecutive points in 90 seconds to secure a 17-0 tech fall.  In the semi-final, Graham recorded another 16-0 tech fall in the first period, dominating 4th seed Alex Hicks of Liberty.  In the finals, Ross defeated Sean Kennedy of MTSU 3-1.  Kennedy finished in 3rd place at the National Tournament last season.  The "Prince of Poquoson" is now 22-5 on the season, with 12 pins and 5 technical falls and only one NCWA loss.  He will head to his first National Tournament without losing a bout in three months.

The Pairings were not kind to Zach Sintobin at 235 lbs which was also had the most entries.  After a first round pin, Zach fell to eventual runner-up Drew Barrett of Queens by major decision.  After another quick pin in the wrestle-back, Zach lost a controversial 3-2 decision to Liberty to fall into the 7th place bout.  Zach recorded his 3rd 1st period pin for 7th place and will receive a wildcard to his 2nd National tournament.  

Shakeem Lassiter was the 6th finalist for the builders.  The senior had his best performance to date in his final conference championship.  After a 7-1 decision in his first bout, Shak defeated Jacob Marin of Queens 3-2 in a 9th period ultimate-tiebreaker.  He fell to defending champion Dominick Johnson of Liberty 3-0 in the finals.  Shak is now a 4x National Qualifier and will look to make the best of his final collegiate competition after this strong performance.  

The NCWA National Championships will begin March 8th in Allen Texas.

RESULTS:

Individual Results: