S ports
The Lorian
Feb. 28, 2019
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All they do is pin
Team finishes 2nd at regional meet; 7 wrestlers earn berths to Nationals on. After a win via a 16-1 technical fall, he butted sports writer heads with Buena Vista’s Over the weekend, 10 Dylan Huntoon. Despite wrestlers went to the Five his effort, however, SchulFlags Center in Dubuque to er’s time as a competitor compete in the NCAA Lowcame to end due to a 10-1 er Midwest Regional. major decision defeat. Kicking off the tournaDuking it out in the ment in the 125-weight 197-weight class was juclass was sophomore Jake nior Guy Patron Jr. Patron Hiles. In his first match, Jr.’s first match of the day Hiles defeated Buena Vista’s was against Westminster’s Byron Fleming, 12-1, earnKo d i e B el lu r y, w hom ing Hiles a major decision. he quickly dispatched Hiles later lost to Nebraska through a fall at 1:19. His Wesleyan’s Eron Haynes. hot streak continued with Moving into the consolation a 16-1 technical fall over bracket, Hiles won another Luther’s Hunter Weaver. photo courtesy of Loras College Athletics major decision while beatHis next opponent, Coe’s ing University of Dubuque’s The wrestling team poses with its second-place team trophy at the NCAA Lower Midwest Regional. Along with great team success, Head Coach TJ Miller was also named Regional Coach of the Year. Taylor Mehmen, put up Aaron Black, 15-3. more of a fight, but was In the 133-weight class He kicked off his day with 5-4 decision over cision. Continuing his trend, Smith took was junior Brice Everson. Everson opened Coe’s Josh Gerke. In his next match, Kelly down Cornell’s Ben Hewson with a 3-1 unable to topple Patron Jr. Moving on from that 6-2 decision win, Patron Jr. went on to up with a match against Buena Vista’s came out on top against North Central’s An- decision, and wrapped up the tournament show his skills, pinning Millikin’s Keajion Brandon Foster, successfully beating him thony Rink with a 7-2 decision. Dubuque’s with a 9-0 major decision win over Buena Jennings in 1:16, granting Patron Jr. the through an 18-0 technical fall. In the quarGreg Krulas was Kelly’s next victim, falling Vista’s Brad Kerkhoff, granting him his first championship title. terfinals, Everson triumphed over Luther’s to the Duhawk by a 11-1 major decision. regional championship. In the final weight class was senior Quin Tyler Difiore with a 5-2 decision. With that Sophomore Jacob Krakow, a newcom- Gilliam. In his first two matches, Gilliam win under his belt, Everson went on to de- Kelly’s win streak ended in the finals when feat North Central’s Jaime Suarez with an he had to face Wartburg’s Kris Rumph. With er to the tournament, is a Duhawk of the showed no mercy to his opponents, defeat8-3 decision. In the final round, Everson a 3-0 decision defeat, Kelly ended the day 174-weight class. His first match of the ing first Buena Vista’s Don Phillips II and day was against Ozarks’ Ndayambaje John. then Luther’s Feldpausch. Both were taken fell to Wartburg’s Brock Rathbun due to with second place. With a 17-1 technical fall, Krakow went on out with a fall. Sadly, Gilliam’s day came to Next up is the 157-weight class, with a 15-4 major decision, giving him second to face against North Central’s Cam Hayes. a close when he was bested by Augustana’s junior Brandon Murray being Lora’s complace. Through a difficult battle, Krakow emerged Adarios Jones through an 8-0 major decipetitor. With a tough opening against WestRepresenting the team in the 141-weight victorious with a 3-1 decision win. In the sion defeat. minster’s Jacob Warren, Murray moved on class was junior Clint Lembeck. Lembeck’s “I thought the team performed excepday started out with a win by fall at 2:10 through a 7-4 decision win. His opponent semifinals, Krakow lost 9-5 to Coe’s Jake against Luther’s Kyle Clough. He kept on in the semifinals was Luther’s Teagan Mill- Voss, but with a 10-4 decision victory over tionally the entire weekend,” said Coach going, winning against Dubuque’s Jevontae er, whom he crushed with a 16-1 technical Buena Vista’s Shane Vaughn, he made it into Miller. “Getting six wrestlers in the finals, Yarbourgh through an 8-1 decision. Noth- fall. With a narrow 4-3 decision win over the third place match. There, Krakow fought and three of them winning the regionals ing was stopping Lembeck at this point. His Millikin’s Bradan Birt, Murray went onto to Central’s Nathan Fritz, and came out victo- was very significant for the team. It wasn’t all perfect, but it was definitely a great overstreak continued, beating Wartburg’s Brady wrestle Wartburg’s Cross Cannone, only to rious with a fall at the very end. “Seeing Jacob Krakow come back and get all performance.” Fritz with a 3-0 decision win, followed by a fall 6-2, giving him a second place. Fighting in the 165-weight class is none third to qualify for nationals was really great Next up on the wrestling team’s calendar 5-2 decision win over two-time All Ameriis the NCAA Championships in Roanoke, can Millikin’s Chris Williams. Lembeck was other than junior Eddie Smith. Smith ab- to see,” said coach TJ Miller. In the 184-weight class, senior Sam Schul- Virginia, on Friday, Mar. 8, and Saturday, crowned regional champion for the second solutely dominated his first two opponents, crushing Augustana’s Neil O’Shaughnessy er had a difficult day. With being knocked Mar. 9. Hiles, Everson, Lembeck, Kelly, time in his career. Senior Kevin Kelly tried out something with a 15-0 technical fall and North Cen- out in his opening round via a fall, Schuler Murray, Smith, Krakow, and Patron Jr. will new by competing in the 149-weight class. tral’s Danny Harris with a 9-0 major de- went on to wrestle Huntingdon’s Cody Dix- all be competing in the tournament.” by Connor Halbmaier
Running toward Boston Men’s and women’s track-and-field teams finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively, at conference meet; Duhawks push to qualify more athletes for Nationals by Christopher Ponton sports writer
This past weekend, the men’s and women’s track-and-field teams traveled to Waverly, IA, to compete in the American Rivers Conference Indoor Championships. With the national meet just a couple of weeks away, Duhawk standouts such as junior Gabby Noland and junior Patrick Mikel were looking to pad their impressive resumes, while others, such as first-year Stevie Lambe and sophomore Kassie Rosenbum, looked to climb the national leader boards. A top-20 performance would secure a ticket to the national indoor meet, which will be held in Boston. Beginning Friday, three long-jumpers on the women’s team placed among the top-five finishers in the conference. Junior Elyse Acompanado, junior Terrianna Black, and senior Taylor Schaefers all eclipsed the mark of 5.20 meters. Acompanado, who had finished first in the long jump at her prior two meets, fell just shy of the first-place mark. In the women’s 5K run, Rosenbum placed second with a time of 17:28.87, finishing about two seconds behind the winner. However, with her finishing time, Rosenbum moves up to No. 2 alltime in Loras’ record books.
In Day Two of the competition, the sprinting and mid-distance runners got into the act, with first-year Elayna Bahl, first-year Elijah Thomas and sophomore Ryan Rodgers helping to rack up points for the Duhawks. Starting with the men’s 60-meter dash, Thomas was crowned champion with a time of 6.95 seconds. “I knew I had to run a little faster coming into the race … and I did just that,” Thomas said after the victory. In the meantime, Rodgers won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.32 seconds, while on the women’s side, Bahl finished second, as Wartburg’s Maggi Bjustrom edged her by just onetenth of a second. The men’s 400-meter dash saw two Duhawk competitors, Mikel and junior Tyson Morrison, going head-to-head in the standings. After both won their respected heats, it was Mikel who got the upper hand in the final, finishing with a blazing time of 47.93, which set a new facilities record. Overall, the women placed third in the conference meet, while men placed second. With just two weeks to go before Nationals, the Duhawks will send part of the team back to Waverly, while others will head to Platteville, WI.
