Eagles Wrestling Wins Second Straight AMC Title
The Overview:
Date: January 28, 2017
Event: American Midwest Conference Championships
Location: Southerland-Mabee Center - Walnut Ridge, Ark.
Back-to-Back:
The (9) Williams Baptist College Eagles wrestling squad won its second consecutive American Midwest Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles hosted the event and won convincingly by 58 points.
WBC had eleven players earn top three medals for their performances in the tournament. They had six champions, four second place finishers, and one third place finisher.
The final scores of the event are as follows:
1. Williams Baptist College - 185
2. Lindenwood University-Belleville - 127
3. Missouri Baptist University - 100
4. Lyon College - 74.5
5. Central Baptist College - 56
6. Hannibal-LaGrange University - 36
Outstanding Wrestler of the Championship:
Tyler Fraley (JR/Freehold, N.J.) was named Outstanding Wrestler of the Championship after winning his 141 lb. weight class. He stormed through his bracket, winning his opening round fall, his second round 16-1, and championship 19-2. It was Fraley's second consecutive individual AMC championship.
Individual Champions:
Joining Fraley as individual champions are Patrick Grigsby (JR/Bentonville, Ark. ), Ryan Whittle (JR/Greenwich, Conn. ), Josh Chiles (JR/Little Rock, Ark. ), Demetrius Thomas (FR/Ferguson, Mo. ), and Tanner Irwin (FR/Jefferson City, Mo. ).
Patrick Grigsby won his first individual AMC title after finishing third a season ago. He marched through his bracket with a major decision, a pin, and a 9-5 decision in the championship.
Ryan Whittle also came away with his first individual AMC champion medal. He came through his bracket with a technical fall (18-3), decision (2-1), and 13-6 decision in the final.
Josh Chiles won his first, first place medal after finishing second a year ago. After receiving a bye in the first round, he won by fall in round two, before beating teammate Tyler Dibert (JR/Imler, Penn. ) by decision (6-5) in the championship.
Demetrius Thomas won his first title by sweeping through his bracket, winning every match by fall.
Tanner Irwin won every match by technical fall, 15-0, 18-2, and 24-9 in the final.
Medal Winners:
Winning second place medals for WBC are Keion McVay (SO/Maumelle, Ark. ), Nick Hooper (JR/Crystal River, Fla. ), Tyler Dibert, and Braden Zini (SO/Little Rock, Ark. ).
Pierre Dowling (FR/Augusta, Ga. ) was the lone third place finisher for the Eagles.
Coach's Thoughts:
"It is great to host the conference championships. It is great that our school can see the hard work that these guys put in every day,," summed up Head Coach Kerry Regner
What's Next?
The Eagles will compete in the Missouri Valley Open on Feb. 4. This will be in Marshall, Mo., and will begin at 9 a.m. Following that, they will head to regionals and then nationals.
To keep up with all Eagles athletics, visit www.wbceagles.com.