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University of the Ozarks

University of The Ozarks Athletics

Nathan Rankin To Represent Eagles On National Wrestling Stage

Nathan Rankin advanced to the NCAA III National Championships at 125.
Posted: Feb 29, 2020

MATCH DETAILS
NCAA III Lower Midwest Regional
February 29-March 1, 2020
Dubuque, Iowa

ON THE MAT
The Eagles finished the NCAA III Lower Midwest Regional in tenth-place at the toughest regional in the country. Nathan Rankin (125) advanced to the NCAA III National Championships with a second-place finish. Rankin will represent the Eagles March 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Jerhett Lee (285) placed sixth overall at the regional and Ndayambaje John (174) placed eighth. Rankin posted a fall (1:22) against Griffin Gravel from Cornell College. Rankin then posted another fall (6:21) against Zac Blasioli from Millikin. Rankin had another fall (5:25) against Dylan McChesney from Simpson College to advance to the championship final. However, Rankin lost by decision (3-2) against Robbie Precin from North Central in the final. Corey Muniz (133) had a big win in his first match, a 2-1 win by decision. Sergio Nugent (141) had a major decision (11-3) win against Alex Cruz from Augustana. Nugent later won by decision (9-4) against his opponent from Huntingdon. John had a 9-5 win by decision against Floyd Miller from Buena Vista in his opening match. John later posted a technical fall against Jayson Spencer from Huntingdon. At 184, Miguel Baray had a win by decision (5-1) against Nikolas Perovic from MacMurray. Baray also had a fall (3:41) against Shane Mathias from Simpson. Lee opened with a 3-2 win by decision against Justin Hennessy from Nebraska Wesleyan. Lee followed that with another 3-2 win by decision against Frank Tomaskovic from Millikin. 

COACH GARDNER
"The qualification process in a tournament like this can be extremely exciting and heart-breaking. We had four seniors whose careers ended over the weekend. I want to thank Sergio for coming back his senior year after some injuries. Corey put in a lot of work and has been a stalwart over the last four years. Miguel put in four years of collegiate wrestling after coming from a high school program that doesn't produce wrestlers at this level. Jerhett had a tough weekend. He will learn and grow from this as a person. Overall, this is a tough tournament. We had young guys that got really good experience. We want our guys in this program to expect to do well at the regional and push for a spot at the podium on the national level."

"We are excited about Nathan's prospects. He performed really well. He put himself in a position to potentially get a good national seed. I look for him to make a run at the podium. He can be a national champion if he wrestles his best. The sky is the limit for him." 

Team Scores
1. Loras - 178.5 
2. Coe - 163.5 
3. Wartburg - 144.5 
4. North Central (IL) - 132.0 
5. Central (IA) - 129.5 
6. Millikin - 102.0 
7. Luther - 71.0 
8. Dubuque - 64.5 
9. Cornell College - 46.0 
10. University of the Ozarks - 41.5
11. Augustana (IL) - 31.0 
12. Buena Vista - 30.0 
13. Nebraska Wesleyan - 23.0 
14. Westminster (MO) - 18.0 
15. Simpson - 17.0 
16. Huntingdon - 9.0 
17. Fontbonne - 4.5 
18. MacMurray  - 2.0

UP NEXT
Nathan Rankin will compete in the NCAA III National Championships March 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.