TIFFIN, Ohio -- Newberry is in the driver’s seat for a seventh consecutive regional championship with 62.5 points in the team standings after the first day of the NCAA Division II Super Region II Tournament at Tiffin.
Six Wolves have advanced to Saturday’s championship semifinals, where one win at any point in the day will clinch a berth to the NCAA Division II national tournament in Cleveland, Ohio on March 14-15. The top five placers in Super Region II in each weight class will advance to nationals.
Jeff Vesta at 125 pounds, B.J. Young at 141 pounds., Taylor Knapp at 157 pounds, Blake Ridenour at 165 pounds, Jared Holliday at 184 pounds and Joey Grisko at 197 pounds are in the semifinals of their bracket.
Joe Pittman at and Matt Wade at heavyweight are still alive in their respective wrestleback brackets.
The Wolves benefitted from 11 bonus point wins to hold a 4.5 point lead on Indianapolis, who still has all 10 wrestlers in contention.
Newberry notched six falls, two technical falls and three major decisions on the day.
Newberry leads at 62.5 points, with Indianapolis in second with 58, McKendree in third with 57, Maryville (Mo.) in fourth at 54.5 and Ashland in fifth at 53.
The Wolves are tied for the second-most wrestlers still in contention with eight total (six championship, two wrestleback).
Indianapolis has all 10 wrestlers in action Saturday (five championship, five wrestleback), while Limestone also has eight alive (one championship, seven wrestleback).
Maryville has seven in the championship bracket and none in the wrestleback, while McKendree has six championship contenders and one alive in the consolation brackets.
