FINDLAY, OHIO -- Freshman Ryan Maus was a perfect three for three on Saturday and punched his ticket to the NCAA Division II Wrestling championships with a third place finish in the 141-pound bracket. Ryan Banning and Colton Schmitz each placed sixth as both had tough one-point losses with nationals on the line.
With no room for error with a loss on Friday, Maus came out with a 10-2 victory over Benjamin Cline (Ouachita Baptist) then moved to the third place match with an 8-2 decision over Marcus Walker (Central Missouri). Maus avenged a quarterfinal loss by Ky Corley (Central Oklahoma) by picking up a 5-2 decision in the third place match.
Ryan Banning won his first bout by fall at 125 Eric Brown (St. Andrews Presbyterian) but lost a one-point decision (8-7) in a match against Nebraska-Omaha’s Josh Keszier to keep the sophomore from nationals. Banning lost the fifth place bout 10-3 to Brandon Felx (Limestone).
Colton Schmitz picked up a 2-1 victory to open his second day over Theran Goodale (Limestone) but lost 6-5 in money match to Central Oklahoma’s Austin Standage. Schmitz then lost 5-2 in the fifth place match at 149.
Thomas Redmon lost his opening match of the day to Tarek Alaruri (Limestone) by a major decision.
As a team, Truman finished ninth with 37.5 points in the 13-team field. Nebraska-Omaha won the team title with 156.5 points.
Maus will travel to Kearney, Neb. for the Division II Championship that will be held on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Kearney on March 11-12th. Maus is the first national qualifier for the Bulldogs since Rob Nahlik and Blake Peterson advanced in 2008.
(Courtesy Truman State Athletics Department)
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