On February 25, Stevens Wrestling captured its third straight Southeast Regional title at the M&T Bank Field House. The team amassed 181 points over the two-day event to finish atop the 21-team standings. The Ducks will send seven wrestlers to the NCAA Division III National Championships, matching a program record.
Wrestlers headed to nationals include first-year Nico Diaz, senior Hunter Gutierrez, first-year Ryan Smith, junior Stefan Major, and graduate student Michael Dooley. All five were crowned regional champions. In their respective weight classes, Junior Luke Hoerle finished third and senior Kyle Slendorn finished second to join the regional champions in the national championships as well.
Diaz secured his spot at nationals by defeating Jack Bauer of Wilkes with a four-point near-fall in the first sudden-victory period. He then won the championship match after Dalton Rohrbaugh of York withdrew from the tournament due to a medical forfeit.
Gutierrez dominated the 149-pound bracket, winning all four of his matches with bonus points, including two first-period pins over Peyton Hearn of Thiel and Hai Siu.
Smith overcame national No. 10 Jesse Alvarado in his first match, securing an 8-3 decision win with a four-point near-fall in the third period. He then defeated Jason Rezac of Alvernia in the championship with a 6-3 victory and the riding time point.
Major captured his second consecutive regional title at 174 pounds, pinning Kade Kravits of King’s College in the semifinals and securing a 5-4 victory over Colby Morris of Waynesburg in the final with a third-period reversal.
Dooley, the fourth seed at heavyweight, earned two tough decision wins to capture the regional title, defeating Austin Williams of Delaware Valley 4-2 and Brandon Williams of Greensboro 2-0 with the riding time point.
Slendorn finished second at 141 pounds after defeating Mark Samuel of Roanoke with a 16-5 major decision and falling to the bracket’s second seed, Wilson, in the championship.
Hoerle secured his spot at nationals for the first time with a 12-4 major decision over top-seeded and 11th-ranked Riley Parker of Washington & Lee in the third-place match. He also bounced back from a loss to Mason Barrett of Averett with a 6-4 decision over Jared Kuhns of York.
In terms of the outcome of the matchup, head coach Joe Favia stated, “Sending seven wrestlers to Roanoke is a powerful statement, but our mission isn’t over […] we are focused on finishing strong by taking an army to Virginia to battle for the national title.”
The seven national qualifiers will make their way to Roanoke, Virginia for the NCAA Division III national championships, which are set to begin at 11 a.m. on March 10. Best of luck to the team during nationals!
