CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A heart-breaking 3-2 quarterfinal loss took Lycoming 165-pounder Nolan Barger out of title contention at the 2016 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships in the U.S. Cellular Center Friday, but the Warrior junior from Clearfield refocused to rack up a major decision in his next bout and clinch All-American honors for the second year in a row.
The No. 3 seed opened with the quickest fall of the first session, countering a single-leg takedown attempt by Cole Sladek of Concordia-Moorhead and eventually engineered a cement mixer to flatten him in 31 seconds, according to the Lycoming College wrestling website article.
However, the Mideast Region runner-up’s hopes of bettering last year’s third-place finish were dashed by sixth seed Colin Navickas (45-4) of Stevens Institute of Technology.
Against the East Region runner-up, Barger was the early aggressor and executed a duck under for a takedown with 53 seconds left in the first period.
After Navickas went down to start the second period, Barger piled up a big riding time advantage before surrendering an escape. He continued to attack, only to come out on the wrong end of a scramble at the edge of the mat as time expired.
That takedown proved pivotal when Barger could not break away in the third period as Navickas offset his time advantage.
Barger then took out his frustrations on Delaware Valley’s Benjamin Schweiger in the second round of consolations to secure a spot on the winner’s stand Saturday afternoon.
He established control with two takedowns in the first period and made it a major decision in the second period with a quick escape, takedown, two-point nearfall and four-point nearfall.
A point for 4:24 in riding time set the final at 14-0.
“It’s a good feeling to come back and get a win,” Barger was quoted in the Lycoming website article. “A lot of guys have fallen apart after not reaching their goals, so it was good to get back on the podium and (Saturday) I will get to come back and try to get to third place.”
That will require three more wins, and the first one might be the toughest, for he’s paired against defending national champion Farai Sewara (28-3) of Coe College.
Sewara was upset 5-4 by Connor Brummett of Wabash in the first round. Brummett came out of the Midwest Region only after averting a first-period fall and then turning a 9-3 deficit into a 13-12 win propelled him through the next three consolation rounds to a third-place finish.
The championship semifinals and all of the remaining consolation matches will be contested during Saturday’s 10 a.m. session