La CROSSE, Wisc. – For the first time in school history, the Johnson & Wales University wrestling team took five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. The Wildcats continued to make history as all five assured themselves of All-America status after Friday's first day of competition.
Johnson & Wales sits in third place during the team competition with 41 points. JWU trails Augsburg by six points and is seven points ahead of Wabash. Wartburg leads the competition with 83 points.
Prior to this year, the most All-Americans Johnson & Wales has had in a single championship is three set during the 2014 season. That year's squad finished eighth, the best showing by the Wildcats.
Two wrestlers are in contention for a national championship as Stephen Jarrell and Jay Albis advanced to the semifinals. Bobby Jordan, Joe Ferinde and Mike Labell are all alive in the consolation brackets. The championships conclude on Saturday with the first session starting at 11 a.m. (EST).
Of Jarrell's (East Greenwich, RI) nearly 270 takedowns this year, none has been bigger than the one in the third period of his 165-pound quarterfinal match against sixth-seeded Nolan Barger of Lycoming. Jarrell, seeded third, broke a 1-1 tie with 30 seconds left for the 3-1 victory, a spot in the semifinals and the first All-America honor of his career. He'll face Anthony Arroyo in the semifinals after Arroyo upset No. 2 seed Ryan Vandall of Central.
It was business as usual for Jarrell in the first round. He posted his NCAA-leading 18th tech fall with a 23-8 decision over Olivet's Davon Jackson.
The sophomore Albis (Fishkill, NY) was the first Wildcat to secure All-America status. Seeded fifth, he was in complete control of his 133-pound quarterfinal match against No. 4 Ryan Flynn of York as Albis handed him an 11-4 defeat. Albis faced a whiley Sam Bennyhoff of Augsburg in the opening round and Albis finally got him to the mat for the pin at the 5:46 mark. Up next is Troy Stanish of Stevens, the only wrestler to beat Albis this season.
An overtime loss to the No. 3 seed, Zac Denny of Wisconsin-Whitewater, in the quarterfinals of 125 pounds sent Jordan (Woodbridge, NJ) to the consolation bracket. The sixth-seeded wrestler secured his All-America status when he pinned Millikin's Travis Jones in just 2:15. He'll face Brockport's Jonathan Hass on Saturday. Jordan wasted no time picking up his first victory. He pinned NYU's Jacob Donato at the 2:07 mark.
Facing the top seed and the hometown crowd, Ferinde (Nutley, NJ) dropped his quarterfinal match, 7-2 to UW-La Crosse's Dustin Weinmann. He rebounded to record a 13-4 major decision over Adam Presler from Concordia-Moorhead to assure himself All-America honors. His Saturday opponent is Brendon Seyfried from Williams. Three takedowns helped him post a 7-4 decision in the first round of 141 pounds against Mount Union's Alec Cotton.
The senior Labell (Stanhope, NY) earned his All-America award the hard way. He dropped his first match then had to come all the way back through the consolation bracket. He put an exclamation mark on the first night with a pin to beat Wabash's Dardan Schurg at the 2:08 mark. Labell faces Cortland's Colin Barber on Saturday.
After losing a close match to fourth-seeded Ben Schweiger in the first round, Labell avenged his loss to Jaison White of Ithaca from the finals of the NCAA Northeast Regional. Labell took control early then hung on for the 7-4 victory over White.
