Three Qualify for Nationals as Statesmen Place Sixth at Heart Championship

Oskaloosa--Three William Penn men's wrestlers extended their seasons with strong showings at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Friday and Saturday.

Paced by three national qualifiers, WPU finished sixth out of nine squads with 87.5 points.  Grand View won the team crown with 239.5 points.

Cameron Hargrove (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill., Sports Management) locked up his fourth trip to the NAIA National Championship by placing third with a 4-1 record.  The senior recorded two technical falls.

133-pounder Lane Scorpil (Jr., Columbus Junction, Iowa, Business Management) finished fourth with a 2-2 mark (two falls) to also qualify for nationals.  It marks the second appearance in his career (also qualified in 2023 while at Iowa Wesleyan).

Trailing late in his consolation semifinal matchup with Arojae Hart of Central Methodist, Scorpil reversed Hart and eventually pinned his opponent to guarantee his nationals spot.  He was also part of the highest-scoring matchup of the weekend in an intense 31-19 setback to top-seeded Jackson Cockrell of Grand View.

Branson Bottorff (Sr., Mackinaw, Ill., Industrial Technology) earned his second national-tournament berth (also qualified in 2023), finishing fifth at 184 pounds.  He locked up the weight's final allocation with a 4-1 victory over KJ Fry (Graceland) in the fifth-place bout.  The senior's 4-2 record included one major decision and one fall.

Kendal Pugh (So., Letts, Iowa, Business Management) narrowly missed nationals with a 3-3 record (one fall) at 174 pounds.  Despite entering the weekend ranked eighth in the league, he knocked off two higher-rated individuals and finished fifth overall.  The sophomore forced a 'true' fourth-place match for the last bid at the weight class, but unfortunately he fell to Christion Briggs of Benedictine in the national-qualifying match.

285-pounder Jesse Schwery (Sr., Panama, Iowa, History) closed out his career by going 3-2 (one fall) to place seventh, while 141-pounder Carson Jensen (Jr., Idaho Falls, Idaho, Exercise Science) collected two victories (one fall) to take sixth place.

"The guys put together a really good performance this weekend," Head Coach Drew Sams said.  "We have talked all year about preparing for the postseason and peaking at the right time, and I feel all of our guys wrestled some of their best matches of the season this weekend.  I am proud of all of them, and especially our three qualifiers.  We are starting to fire on all cylinders and I am excited to see what they can do at the national tournament."

Next Up: Hargrove, Scorpil, and Bottorff will travel to Park City, Kan. on March 6-8 to compete in the 68th Annual NAIA National Championship.