CEDAR RAPDIS, Iowa – Determined and resilient, Minot State sophomore
Jake Swirple refused to let his season come to an end on Friday.
That effort earned the sophomore heavyweight All-American honors as Swirple battled back with three victories in elimination matches, moving him on to action Saturday in the consolation quarterfinals and ensuring him at least an eighth-place finish in his first trip to the NCAA National Tournament.
That performance highlighted the day for Minot State, which sent three wrestlers onto the mats at the NCAA Tournament, including senior
Oscar Nellis at 125 pounds, and junior
James Davis at 133 pounds.
Both Nellis and Davis saw their first trip to nationals end on the first day of action.
As for Swirple, he becomes the Beaver wrestling program's second All-American, joining Mitchell Eull who finished sixth in the 2018 NCAA National Tournament in the heavyweight bracket to become Minot State's first NCAA All-American.
"I am extremely proud of Jake and I'm so happy for him," Minot State head coach
Evan Forde said. "He battled through four tough matches today.
"The job isn't done yet, but he is an All-American! That is an incredible accomplishment. It's great to see all of his hard work pay off."
After an opening setback, 3-1 in overtime to Taniela Feliciano-Takafua from Simon Fraser (B.C.) in one of two pigtail matches in the 285-pound weight class, Swirple responded with a dominating 4-0 win by decision over Daniel Scheib of Shippensburg (Pa.) to ignite his consolation-bracket charge.
With win No. 1 at nationals under his belt, Swirple continued with his own overtime victory, this one a 3-1 win over Isaiah Vance from Pitt-Johnstown (Pa.), sending the Beaver heavyweight into one final Friday bout with Francesco Borsellino of West Liberty (W.V.).
Needing a win to advance to Saturday's quarterfinals, and earn All-American honors, Swirple and Borsellino battled to a draw through regulation and their 2-minute, sudden-death overtime, then into two more overtime rounds where each wrestler scored an escape point, but a 9-second riding-time advantage for Swirple gave him the victory, a berth in the quarterfinals, and All-American honors.
Next up, Swirple battles Juan Edmond-Holmes from Lander (S.C.) in the quarterfinals Saturday morning.
As for Nellis and Davis, their first trip to the NCAA National Tournament ended with two losses for each at their sports pinnacle event.
Nellis dropped an 11-4 decision to James Joplin of Lander, and a 13-6 decision to Studd Morris of Central Oklahoma at 125 pounds.
Davis lost a major decision 12-3 to Central Missouri's Tommy Frezza, and dropped an 8-5 decision to Indianapolis' Breyden Bailey at 133 pounds.
"Oscar and James had a great season," Forde said. "Today didn't go quite like we would have liked, but they fought hard.
"I want to thank Oscar for six years of hard work. He had a great career and I'm very proud of him," Minot State's coach added.
