DUBUQUE —
Shandon Akeo (fifth year, 125 pounds, Honolulu, Hawaii, Kapolei HS) won the 125-pound title at the NCAA Division III Lower Midwest Regional Saturday and will be joined by a pair of teammates at the NCAA Division III Championships in two weeks.
Rob Areyano (senior, 149 pounds, Selma, Calif.) and
Gage Linahon (sophomore, 197 pounds, Newton) also clinched spots at the national meet by finishing second and third, respectively.
Central finished sixth in the 18-team field with 97.5 points. Wartburg College won the team title with 158.5 points.
After securing a first-period takedown in his semifinal match against Nathan Rankin from the University of the Ozarks (Ark.), Akeo was hit with a reversal and a four-point nearfall as the clock expired to trail 6-2 at the end of the first period. Akeo got two points back with a reversal of his own with 12 seconds left in the second period. He got two more takedowns in the third period and added a riding-time point to win 9-8 and secure his spot at the national meet.
Akeo wasn't done with his late-match heroics. In the title bout against Brady Kyner of Wartburg College, Akeo trailed 6-4 at the start of the third period. He got an escape, secured a takedown and executed a 46-second rideout to win the Lower Midwest Regional crown 7-6.
"It was such an unbelievable effort and a phenomenal tournament by him," coach
Eric Van Kley said. "To do it the hard way like he did is such a testament to who he is as a person and the training he has put in. He earned it, he earned every bit of it."
Areyano needed overtime to secure his spot at the national meet. Trailing 2-1 at the start of third period, he stayed on top of North Central College's Alex Villar for the full two-minute period to pick up a riding-time point and send it into overtime. In the two-minute sudden victory period, Areyano secured a takedown and a 4-2 win. He would lose the title match against Wartbrug's Kristian Rumph.
"It was a really gutty effort to put it into overtime," Van Kley said. "That was a hard rideout for two minutes to put into overtime. There were two or three different scrambles and then he went for it and got it. That match epitomized toughness."
Linahon lost his semifinal match 11-6 against the No. 1 seed and eventual champion Cody Baldridge of North Central before battling back with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket. He started with an 8-3 decision over Treyton Steffen of Cornell College before winning the third-place bout 4-1 over Loras College's Brady Vogel.
"Gage has made a big commitment over the last six months to transform his body and mind into a 197-pound wrestler after wrestling at 220 pounds in high school," Van Kley said. "He's put the work in on and off the mat. I just couldn't be any more proud of him."
Samuel Zook (senior, 285 pounds, Oak Harbor, Wash.) and
Peyton Hammerich (junior, 184 pounds, Princeton, Ill.) came up one win short of a trip to the national meet after each lost in the third-place match.
Brock Beck (junior, 141 pounds, Grinnell) ended his season by winning 3-2 decision in the seventh-place match over Luther College's Ryan Cripe.
"Our team really emphasizes how important toughness and family are," Van Kley said. "We showed of them at the highest of levels. Everybody stepped up in a big way. I can't thank everyone involved with our program enough, it was just an awesome weekend for the Central wrestling family."
The national meet is set for Friday, March 12 and Saturday, March 13 in Cedar Rapids at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.
