Scorpil, Hargrove Reach Blood Round at Nationals
Park City, Kan.--Two Statesmen men's wrestlers just missed getting onto the podium as William Penn competed at the NAIA National Championship Thursday and Friday.
Both 133-pounder Lane Scorpil (Jr., Columbus Junction, Iowa, Business Management) and 165-pounder Cameron Hargrove (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill., Sports Management) both pushed through the consolation bracket, but fell one win shy of becoming All-Americans.
Scorpil, who was 2-2, began his trip with an 18-9 major decision loss to No. 1 seed Dominic Chavez (Texas Wesleyan), but then bounced back with back-to-back victories to reach the blood round.
He pinned No. 15 seed Christian Nishi-Rivera of Baker in a time of 3:54 before rolling over No. 10 seed Adonis Boyd of Cumberlands (Ky.) via a 17-2 technical fall.
Unfortunately, he closed out the year with a 22-7 technical fall to Jackson Cockrell (Grand View) in a battle for a spot on the podium.
"Lane wrestled a really solid tournament, stringing together two wins over the No. 15 and No. 10 wrestlers in the country while being unseeded," Head Coach Drew Sams said. "I'm excited for him to be back next year and to reach the podium as this year he put the country on notice. He has a new fire lit to reach his goals next year and we are excited to see him continue to grow."
Hargrove closed out an illustrious career with a 3-2 mark at nationals. The No. 8 seed started the weekend with a 12-10 decision against Ethan Gomez of Cumberland (Tenn.).
Unfortunately, he lost a tight bout with No. 9 seed Reese Jones (Life-Ga.), falling 14-11 in overtime. The senior then stayed alive by topping a pair of Heart of America Athletic Conference foes, beating Jayden Terronez (St. Ambrose ) by a 11-2 major before turning away Juan Lopez (Graceland) with a 13-5 major decision.
Hargrove could not take down No. 6 seed Turner Black (Cumberlands) in the blood round, however, dropping an 18-8 major decision for his chance to be an All-American.
"Cam had a very heartbreaking tournament as we lost a match early on that we felt very confident, and then fell in the blood round in his final national tournament," Sams said. "Cam has been a journeyman and put together one of the best careers that this program has seen, so it's hard to see him not reach the honor of All-American."
184-pounder Branson Bottorff (Sr., Mackinaw, Ill., Industrial Technology) was unable to pick up a victory in his last nationals trip, falling 7-5 to No. 16 Temuujijn Mendbileg (Dakota Wesleyan) and 11-2 to No. 15 Jackson King (Dickinson State).
"Branson had some tough matchups and wrestled some tight, contested battles with those guys," Sams said. "The improvements he's made all season long are my biggest takeaway from his tournament. He turned a match where he previously got beat by 10 into a two-point match this weekend. He has really bought into us as a coaching staff this year and we wish we were able to get him back for another year."
As a team, the Statesmen placed 30th with nine points, while Grand View won the national title with 209 points.
"I'm proud of the way that our three qualifiers wrestled this weekend," Sams added. "Each wrestler stepped on the mat and wrestled some of their best matches of the year. This year, our opponents had our number and we weren't able to push any through to finish with All-American honors. As a coaching staff, we have done a lot of reflecting the last 24 hours and are very encouraged by the direction the program is heading. We are excited to continue to develop our current roster as well as bring in more hammers to grow this program!"
