GVSU finishes Second, Corey Melinn wins National Championship
Laker wrestlers finish with Nine All-Americans
3/14/2011
Macon, GA – The National Collegiate Wrestling Association
(NCWA) National Championships were completed this
weekend on the campus of Mercer University. A total of 363
wrestlers from 77 teams competed for the 88 All-American
spots.
The Lakers of Grand Valley State University finished second
in the team race with 121 points after leading the tournament
through the first three sessions. The Lakers jumped out to a
lead on the strength of team depth and bonus point victories.
California Baptist University took the team title with 156.5
points. Finishing behind California Baptist and Grand Valley
were the University of Central Florida with 99.5, Southern
Illinois University-Edwardsville with 99.0, and Marion Military
Institute with 94.5.
Two of the top five teams are varsity NCAA programs
competing in the NCWA while they transition between two
college wrestling divisions. These teams complete their seasons wrestling NCAA schedules but are ineligible for NCAA post-season tournaments. Thus, they choose to
compete in the NCWA.
California Baptist placed 8th in the NAIA in 2010 and 14th in
2009. They are transitioning from the NAIA to NCAA DII.
They won the NCWA Dual National Championships in January.
Southern Illinois is in their third year in the NCWA as they transition from NCAA DII to NCAA DI. They won three team National Championships in NCAA DII.
“We are very pleased with our finish. This team really started believing we could compete for the championship after we finished third at the National Duals. Any time you can put nine athletes on the podium has to be considered a good tournament,” said coach Rick Bolhuis. “We have a young team and return all but two of our national qualifiers. We hope to build on this for next season.”
Senior Corey Melinn led the way for the Lakers, becoming a three-time All-American. In the first round, Corey scored a fall over Ivan Loya (University of Texas-Arlington) in 5:32. In round two, Melinn recorded a pin in only 59 seconds over Cody Quick (Middle Tennessee State University). Quick went on to finish fourth.
In the quarterfinals, Melinn won a tough 2-0 decision over Joshua Broadway (University of North Florida) to reach the semifinals. There he scored an 8-5 decision over Bentley Alsup (US Air Force Academy Prep School) to catapult Corey to the national championship match.
In the last bout of the tournament, Melinn met Alex Evers from California Baptist University in the championship bout at 285 pounds. The wrestlers battled to a scoreless first period. Melinn was the first to score, earning an escape in the second period to take a 1-0 lead. Evers tied the match at one with an escape of his own early in the third period.
Melinn took the lead 3-1 when he countered an Evers attack to score a takedown with about a minute remaining in the match. Evers escaped to make the score 3-2 but Melinn was able to defend several takedown attempts to take the victory. Melinn ends his career as an individual National Champion to go along with two previous All-American honors (fifth in 2008, third in 2009).
“I’m extremely proud of Corey. He’s been a leader in our program for the past several seasons and I couldn’t be happier for him to finish on top. He’ll be missed,” commented Bolhuis.
The Lakers sent 17 wrestlers to the tournament and earned a total of nine All-American honors on the weekend.
At 125, Andy Brown finished one win shy of All-American honors in his freshman season. He received a nightmare draw, losing to the eventual national champion in the quarterfinals and to the eventual third place finisher in the consolation quarterfinals.
Three freshman finished in eighth place for the Lakers. Matt Morrill (133) recorded three wins, two by fall. Nate Falbe (157) pinned a returning All-American from SIUe to help in the team race. Falbe recorded four wins, including another fall and a major decision. At 165, Bobby Tymes took full advantage of his wildcard selection to the national tournament by reaching the quarterfinals. All three of his wins came by fall.
Two returning All-Americans finished sixth for GVSU. Derek Marshall (184) matched his 6th place finish from 2010. He recorded four wins, one by fall. Carl Worthy (235) pinned his first three opponents to reach the semifinals. This was good enough for Worthy to climb two steps up from his eighth place finish in 2010.
Frank Bastien (197) recorded four wins on the weekend, good for a fifth place in his first trip to the national tournament, losing 3-0 to the eventual national champion in the semifinals.
The third time was the charm for Robert Hall. After two trips to the national tournament where he fell one win shy of placing, Hall punched his ticket as an All-American. He recorded seven wins for the weekend on his way to a fourth place finish at 174.
Adam Bastow (141) jumped a weight class and two steps on the podium from his sixth place finish at 133 in 2010. He reached the semifinals on the strength of one pin and one major decision before losing to the eventual champion and battling back for fourth.
Kyle Horr (149) and Mike Hoch (165) also secured valuable team points with victories on Thursday. Joe Westover (125), Kevin Lee (157), Nate Vaught (174), David Sponhauer (184), and Kyle Hillard (235) contributed, as well. Lee led the way with three victories.
The Lakers finish the season with a third place finish at the NCWA Dual National Championships, the North Central Conference Championship (defeating host SIUe), and a Runner-Up finish at the National Championships.
In 11 seasons in the NCWA, GVSU wrestlers have earned 114 All-American honors, including 22 National Championships. This is the team’s fourth Runner-Up finish (2004, 2005, 2009, and 2011) to go along with the National Championships from 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Additionally, the Lakers won the Dual National Championships in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
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Melinn on the podium
