CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – Baldwin Wallace University sophomore 125-pounder Jesse Gunter (Akron/ Coventry) won three straight matches this morning (Saturday, March 15) and finished third at the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament at the U.S. Cellular Center to earn Division III All-America status. The top eight in each weight class earn that honor.
Gunter, who had a 5-1 record this weekend, entered the tourney ranked fifth in the final NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) Brute-adidas Division III poll and seeded fifth in the national tourney. His two losses the last two weekend's were to the two finalists, No,.3-seed Lucas Malmberg of Messiah (Pa.) College in last weekend's Mideast Regional Championship match and yesterday to No.4-seed Mike Fuenffinger of Augsburg (Minn.) College in the second round.
Gunter won his first match 5-3 in sudden victory against Kevin Corrigan of the College of New Jersey. In his second match, he faced Fuenffinger and lost 8-3. That moved Gunter into the consolation bracket where he defeated Nick Santos of North Central (Ill.) College in an 11-0 major decision.
In the consolation quarterfinal this morning, Gunter defeated top-seeded Paul Bewak of Johns Hopkins (Md.) University in a 15-4 major decision. In the semifinals, he then beat No,2-seed Gilberto Camacho of Wartburg (Iowa) College, 2-0, to advance to the consolation final. In that match, Gunter pinned the No.6-seed, Olivet's Robert Bidlingmaier, in 1:36 to earn third place. He ended his season with a 32-5 record and is 61-7 in his two-year career, including a 29-2 slate as a freshman.
In addition to Gunter, senior 133-pounder Andrew Taylor (Columbus/ Worthington Kilbourne) and sophomore 165-pounder David Shapiro (Beachwood) also competed at the national tourney.
Taylor lost his first match to No.4-seed Jeremy Border of the University of Mount Union in a 14-3 major decision. That moved him into the consolation bracket where he was eliminated by Marcus Lubner of Concordia (Wisc.) in a 14-2 decision. Taylor, who had three 20-win seasons during his career ends his season with a 31-17 record and a 91-70 career mark.
Shapiro lost his first match to No.2-seed Cole Welter of Wartburg (Iowa) by a pin at 3:48. That moved him into the consolation bracket where he lost to 5-3 to Jake Krogstad of Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) to end his season at 39-13 overall. His 39 wins led the Yellow Jackets this season. He will enter his junior season with a 66-26 career mark.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.comand we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
