Indiana Sends Five to NCAA Championships
Indiana Sends Five to NCAA Championships
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Hoosier Wrestling is sending five grapplers to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa from March 21-23. The NCAA office released brackets today and a pair of Hoosiers earned wild card selections, Luke Sheridan (184 lbs) and nationally-ranked Taylor Walsh (157 lbs). Forty-four at-large bids were awarded to fill out the final field of 330 student-athletes competing (33 in each of 10 weight classes).
Joe Duca (125 lbs), Ryan LeBlanc (165 lbs) and Adam Chalfant (285 lbs) seized automatic bids to the nationals by placing top-seven at the Big Ten Championships. Chalfant will enter the NCAA Championships as the 12-seed in the heavyweight division.
JOE DUCA • 125 lbs
Placed seventh at the Big Ten Championships to qualify for the NCAAs ... defeated NorthwesternÂ’s Dom Malone for the second time in three weeks and #19 Camden Eppert at the conference tournament ... advanced to the semifinals and placed fourth at the Hokie Open ... finished the regular season with a win over #22 Dominick Malone of Northwestern ... swept the SIUE Duals ... tied for the team lead with two tech falls ... sat out Midlands with the flu ... started all 19 duals.
TAYLOR WALSH • 157 lbs
Ranked 18th nationally entering the NCAA Championships (at-large bid) ... finished 14th/12th in the final RPI/Coaches Panel Rankings ... defeated three seeded (two nationally-ranked) wrestlers en route to a fourth-place showing at the Midlands ... advanced to the championship bout of the Hokie Open ... placed fifth at the Keystone Classic ... has totaled five victories over nationally-ranked competition ... paces the team with 29 wins, eight pins and a +50 dual match point differential ... tied for team lead with a pair of tech falls ... swept both the Huskie and Hoosier Duals and finished with 14-2 mark in dual-match competition (6-2 Big Ten).
RYAN LEBLANC • 165 lbs
Ranked 17th nationally entering the NCAA Championships, qualifying for nationals with a seventh-place showing at the Big Tens ... finished 11th/19th in the final RPI/Coaches Panel Rankings ... runner-up at the Hokie Open, picking up three pins en route to the championship bout ... placed third in the Keystone Classic ... sat out the Midlands with the flu ... swept the Huskie Duals ... returned to the line-up at Purdue.
LUKE SHERIDAN • 184 lbs
At-large selection to the NCAA Championships ... ranked 31st in the final Coaches Panel Rankings ... placed sixth at the Hokie Open ... concluded the regualr season a winner of five consecutive Big Ten duals and eight bouts overall ... the eight-match win streak included a pair of triumphs over nationally-ranked opponents (#12 Tony Dallago - Illinois; #25 Patrick Kissel - Purdue) ... started all 18 duals ... swept the Hoosier Duals and SIUE Duals.
ADAM CHALFANT • 285 lbs
Ranked 10th nationally entering the NCAA Championships, where he will be the 12th-seeded heavyweight ... qualified for nationals by placing fifth in the Big Ten Champinonships ... finished 18th/15th in the final RPI/Coaches Panel Rankings ... the 2012 Keystone Classic heavyweight champion ... also advanced to the finals of the Hokie Open ... owns five wins over nationally-ranked opponents ... won two bouts before bowing out of the Midlands with an injury ... leads the team with seven major decisions ... swept both the Huskie and Hoosier Duals.
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