HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The King University men's wrestling team had a historic day at the NCAA Division II Super Region II Championships. The Tornado six placers, including their second-ever regional champion. Seventh-ranked Elijah Seay won all three of his matches at 197 pounds to take the title.
THE BASICS
KING RESULTS: 4th of 10 (71.0)
LOCATION: Deloach Center, Hartsville, S.C.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Seay started with a 2-0 victory over Marcus Montgomery of UNC Pembroke before earning a 17-0 technical fall over Newberry's Nick Weldon to clinch his spot in the final and the NCAA Division II Men's Wrestling Championships.
- In the final, Seay trailed Clif-Steven Decius before coming back to get a takedown the turned into a pin in 6:06 to take the title.
- At 125 pounds, Rylee Billings reached the quarterfinal with a technical fall over Breandan Coughlin of Alderson Broaddus University.
- He then fell to the consolation bracket where he defeated Austin Neal of Newberry College 11-7 to take fifth place.
- Josh Wynn also placed, taking fifth at 133 pounds with a win over Christopher Poland of Coker College. Wynn went 2-2 on the day.
- At 174 pounds, Kody Eichlin started with back-to-back wins to reach the semifinals. He earned a 9-0 major decision over Grayson Spell of Coker and 7-4 decision over Faris Teia of UNC Pembroke.
- After a defeat in the semifinals, he won his consolation semifinal match before dropping a 3-1 decision to Teia, giving Eichlin a fourth place finish.
- Joey Mammolenti finished fifth at 184 pounds with a 3-2 record. He fell in his opening match, but came back with back-to-back wins, the second by 17-0 technical fall over Kyle Graham of Emmanuel College.
- He dropped a consolation semifinal bout, but came back to pin Coker's Marco Mason in 2:39 to take fifth place.
- Cade Ridley dropped his first match of the day at 285 pounds, but came back with a 7-3 tiebreaker one victory of Preston Stell of Emmanuel.
- He dropped a consolation semifinal match, but ended up with a fifth place finish, going 2-2 on the day.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The six placers is the second most in school history. In 2012, King had eight placers.
- Seay becomes the second regional champion in program history, joining Tywan Claxton in 2012.
RESULTS BY WEIGHT CLASS
125 – Rylee Billings 3-2; 5th
133 – Josh Wynn 2-2; 5th
141 – Jacob Wynn 0-2
149 – Riley Alderman 0-2
157 – Tyler Williams 0-2
174 – Kody Eichlin 3-2; 4th
184 – Joey Mammolenti 3-2; 5th
197 – Elijah Seay 3-0, 1st
285 – Cade Ridley 2-2; 5th
UP NEXT
- Seay advances to the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships for the first time and will compete in Cleveland, Ohio on March 8-9.
