Another pair of nationally ranked Great Lakes Valley Conference opponents awaits the Bellarmine University wrestling team this weekend.
For the third straight Saturday, the Knights (0-4 GLVC) will engage in a set of GLVC duals, this time meeting No. 4 Maryville (3-1) and No. 6 McKendree (2-2) at host University of Indianapolis. Wrestling action starts at 10 a.m.
“This weekend will be another tough weekend, there’s no doubt,” Bellarmine Coach Spencer Adams said. “Our guys have seen (Maryville and McKendree) wrestle at the Midwest Classic earlier this year, so they know what they are up against.”
Bellarmine hosted its first-ever GLVC meet last Saturday when it faced current No. 5 Wisconsin-Parkside and current No. 18 Indianapolis. The Rangers and Greyhounds topped the Knights in the duals, but Bellarmine did tally four wins – two from sophomore Andy Dobben (157), one from sophomore Cole Tawney (141) and one from junior Brian Carman (197). Dobben leads Bellarmine with 18 wins, Carman has 17 and Tawney has 16.
“I was satisfied with how we performed,” Adams said. “Andy did very well beating the No. 9 guy in the nation (Wisconsin-Parkside’s Brett Scoles), and Brian got a head-to-head win over UIndy and had a battle with UWP’s No. 7-ranked wrestler in the nation (James Lehman) before getting caught on his back. Those two are our most competitive wrestlers this year and have the best shot at making All-American. Both had a good weekend.”
Maryville’s Dakota Bauer (133, No. 9), Nate Rodriguez (141, No. 1), Greg Hegarty (157, No. 4), Zeb Wahle (184, No. 7), Ethan Sheretz (197, No. 10) and Donnell Walker (285, No. 7) are ranked individually, as are McKendree’s Darren Wynn (141, No. 2), Ryan Strope (157, No. 3), Austin Geerlings (165, No. 9) and Colton Pease (285, No. 2).
Adams said success in dual matches will become more of a focal point next season after the first-year program’s initial recruiting class has joined the team but right now the Knights are zoning in on the NCAA Regional later this month.
“We have three weeks left until our national qualifying tournament, so we have transitioned from a team to an individual emphasis,” Adams said. “Our goal is to send one or more guys to Alabama to represent Bellarmine University at the NCAA Tournament. That would be huge for a first-year team to pull off and would be a bonus in terms of building our foundation for success in the future.”
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by Adam Pruiett