The Eastern Michigan University Wrestling team finished off their season in the "Big Apple" on Thursday and Friday as four wrestlers competed in the NCAA Wrestling National Championships in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Three of the four wrestlers finished up their days on Thursday where they dropped both of the first two matches in the tournament round and the consolation round.
Redshirt junior Dakota Juarez looked to continue his hot streak in March after placing second at the Mid-American Conference Championships. Juarez dropped his first match to the ninth ranked wrestler at 165 as he had a fall to Tanner Weatherman of Iowa State. In his consolation match, he lost in an 8-5 decision to Seth Thomas of Oregon State.
Anthony Abro, ranked no. 18, was up next as the redshirt senior faced off to wrestle at the collegiate level for the last time after his performance at the MAC Championships. He faced off against the no. 12 ranked Zachary Nye of Virginia and he fell in a 6-3 decision to send Abro to the consolation bracket. Abro looked to rebound against the no. 19 ranked Preston Weigel of Oklahoma State but he would have a technical fall and be eliminated.
Gage Hutchinson snuck into the tournament with an at-large bid and the redshirt sophomore hoped to take advantage of it. Hutchinson faced Nick Gwiazdowski, the no. one ranked heavyweight from North Carolina State and he fell in a technical fall to him. He then faced Ray O’Donnell from Princeton and lost in a technical fall again to end his tournament.
Redshirt junior Nicholas Barber was the only wrestler who survived to participate in the second day of championships. Barber's first matchup on Thursday was against Brandon Sorenson, the no. two ranked wrestler at 149. Barber lost in a 9-1 major decision. He would rebound as he won in a 7-4 decision to send him to a consolation match on Friday.
Barber faced off against the no. 16 seeded Patricio Lugo of Edinboro. Barber led 3-0 early but got pinned to officially eliminate EMU from the tournament.
The Eagles closed their season with an 8-7 record and a 3-5 MAC record for head coach David Bolyard in his second season as the coach. The future looks bright for the team as the Eagles will only be losing one dual starter with nine returners coming back.
