Wrestling finishes seventh in nation, places two runners-up

By Joel Beachum
Staff Writer

It was an impressive season for UNCP wrestling to say the least.

A seventh place national finish - highest in school history. They had three regional champions in Johnstown, Penn. They sent five grapplers to the NCAA Division II National Championships in Omaha, Neb. Four UNCP wrestlers returned as All-Americans. Two Braves reached the national finals - Curry Pickard (133) and Dwayne Coward (165).

At the University of Nebraska at Omaha, UNCP scored 52.5 points to tab the seventh spot out of 32 schools - a feat that topped the previous high of 10th in the nation. For two seasons, UNCP placed 12th and 15th respectively, according to UNCP Sports Information.

Charles Seibert, the Braves assistant wrestling coach, commented on the success of the team and how far they have been able to take the team in 2004-05.

"The team exceeded our expectations for the year. Nationally, we were not ranked until the last week," Seibert said. "We were ecstatic to get two wrestlers in the national finals.

"I am so proud of those guys and they will always be national champions to me."

In making it to the national finals, Pickard picked up three wins over Justin Bohlke of Augustana (19-6 - major decision), Jared Henning of UCO (pin) and Shane Perkey of UI (17-2 - tech fall). A pin by Andy Uhl of UF over Pickard in the finals was the difference in the championship. This was the second All-American award for Pickard.

It was one-two-three matches in a row for Coward, as well with wins over Willy Jones of CSC (pin - 5:12), Adam Morris of UF (pin - 2:36) and Cody Henriksen of Augustana (15-4 - major decision). He was defeated by a 10-5 final by Jeremiah Naig of UNO in the title match. He is now a three-time All-American wrestler for UNCP.

"It was fun while it lasted. These were the best four guys that I've wrestled with at the tournament. We accomplished more than expected," said Coward about the Nationals. "It would have been nice to have a national championship."

For senior Aaron Gunning (157), it was his second appearance in the nationals (2003-04, 2004-05). He finished in eighth place after defeating Pete Carnabuci of Ashland (11-6) and then scoring a 6-5 win over Mitch Napier of UI. He was then defeated in a tightly-fought contest by Luke Main of West Liberty (2-1) to reach All-American status.

"Both of us were too confident about winning it (the national title)," Gunning said. "We changed our style of wrestling (from what we had done during the season). If we would have just stuck to the way we wrestled, we would have done better."

Derek Brunson (184) claimed All-American status a second time with wins over Todd Naasz (12-5) and Dillon Blackman (pin - 1:58) finishing in eighth place overall.

UNCP freshman Andrew Steed (149) failed to place, but pinned Camille Dupont of WSC in a consolation match (2:37).

For further information on the tournament, go to http://gomavs.unomaha.edu/wrestling_nationals/.