Malychewki Earns Nationals Berth, Leads Boxers In West Region Tourney
Tournament Results (PDF)
MINNEAPOLIS – After finishing just short in two matches last year of a trip to the national tournament,
Caleb Malychewski (Jr., Camas, Wash.) made sure that he would not miss out as a junior.
The 184-pounder became Pacific's first national meet qualifier in seven years Saturday, placing second in his weight class to lead the Boxers at the NCAA Division III West Regional, held at Augsburg College's Si Melby Hall.
Malychewski's performance, along with a fourth place finish for
Bruce Balcita (Jr., Myrtle Creek, Ore.) at 165 pounds and a fifth place finish for
Eric Harder (So., Bethesda, Md.) at 133 pounds, allowed their best team finish since 2006. The Boxers placed eighth with a total of 41.5 points.
Unlike the previous year where he wrestled six matches in a fourth place finish at 174 pounds, Malychewski needed just two victories to advance to final and punch his ticket to nationals. After a first round bye, Malychewski opened the day with a 7-1 quarterfinals victory over Wis. Platteville's LaQuan Hightower.
The junior secured his trip to nationals with his 30th win of the season in the semifinals, scoring a 3-1 decision over Wis. Eau Claire's Matt Rieckhoff. The victory made him the Boxers' first 30-match winner since Nick Locke won 31 matches during the 2007-08 season. Malychewski finished just short of the Boxers' first individual regional title since 2002, falling to Mitchell Hagen of St. John's (Minn.) in a third round fall.
By virtue of the runner-up finish, Malychewski earns the right to compete at the NCAA Division III National Championships, which takes place Mar. 15-16 at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He will enter the tournament with a 30-8 record.
Balcita rebounded from a loss in his opening match to compete for a nationals qualifying position at 165 pounds. He took a hard-fought 8-7 loss to Augsburg's Justin Bowland in the quarterfinals, and then proceeded to win three straight to earn a spot in the consolation final. He took a pair of 12-1 major decisions from Russell Carey of the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Alex Evan of St. Olaf, and then fought back to score a 12-10 overtime victory over Concordia Moorhead's Josten Coleman to advance to the third place match.
It was there that Balcita faced a rematch with Bowland, but the result was the same as the Auggie claimed the nationals qualifying position with a 4-1 decision. Balcita concludes the season with a 22-13 record and gave Pacific three 20-plus match winners for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
Harder, who entered the meet ranked No. 10 in the NWCA Division III Individual Rankings, went on a tear in his first two matches. He needed just 30 seconds to dispatch St Olaf's Nichola Chrisner in the first round with a pin and then finished off Concordia's (Wis.) Kevin Amborcio with a pin with four seconds left in the second round.
Falls would come back to knock down Harder over the next two matches. He took a 5 minute, 32 second pin from Augsburg's Tossaporn Surparat in the semifinals and then suffered a 2 minute, 20 second pin by Austin Birich of the Milwaukee School of Engineering in the consolation semifinals. Harder returned to the win column in the fifth place match, beating Wis. Platteville's Mason Bohm 10-7. Harder finishes the season with an impressive 26-13 record.
Three other Pacific wrestlers scored one win in the tournament, including Daylin Ruggerio (Fr., Ely, Nev.) at 125 pounds,
Ryan Baxter (So., Craig, Alaska) at 141 pounds and
Dillon Ford (So., Montesano, Wash.) at 157 pounds.
NCAA DIVISION III WEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
At Si Melby Hall, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minn.
TEAM SCORES: Augsburg (Minn.) 143.5, Concordia-Moorhead 133, St. John's (Minn.) 127, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 79, St. Olaf (Minn.) 72, Concordia-Wisconsin 63, Wisconsin-Platteville 47, Pacific (Ore.) 41.5, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 41, Milwaukee School of Engineering 37.5, Lakeland 23, Maranatha Baptist 3.
RESULTS OF PACIFIC WRESTLERS
DAYLIN RUGGERIO (125, 1-2)
1st Round: lost by fall to Wesley Azariah (St. Olaf), 2:27
Consolation 2nd: win by fall over Benjamin Roohr (Maranatha Baptist), 2:44
Consolation Quarters: lost by maj. dec. to Cole Ferguson (Wis. Platteville), 12-3
ERIC HARDER (133, 3-2, 5th Place)
1st Round: win by fall over Nichola Chrisner (St. Olaf), 0:30
Quarterfinals: win by fall over Kevin Amborcio (Concordia, Wis.), 4:56
Semifinals: lost by fall to Tossapour Suparat (Augsburg), 5:32
Consolation Semis: lost by fall to Austin Binish (Milwaukee School of Engineering), 2:20
5th Place: win by dec. over Mason Bohm (Wis. Platteville), 10-7
RYAN BAXTER (141, 1-2)
Quarterfinals: lost by dec. to Matthew Ostovich (Milwaukee School of Engineering), 4-1
Consolation 2nd: win by dec. over Evan Guffey (St. John's, Minn.), 6-3
Quarterfinals: lost by dec. to Chase Austvold (Concordia-Moorhead), 9-3
WILL PATRICK (149, 0-2)
1st Round: lost by fall to Greg Sanders (Concordia, Wis.), 1:12
Consolation 2nd: lost by tech. fall to Jacob Maechtie (Lakeland), 19-4
DILLON FORD (157, 1-2)
Quarterfinals: lost by dec. to Matt Weber (Lakeland), 4-0
Consolation 2nd: win by fall over Oliver Klein (Maranatha Baptist), 0:32
Consolation Quarters: lost by dec. to Mike Uliana (Wis. Platteville), 8-2
BRUCE BALCITA (165, 3-2, 4th Place)
2nd Round: lost by dec. to Justin Bowland (Augsburg), 8-7
Consolation 2nd: win by maj. dec. over Russell Carey (Milwaukee School of Engineering), 12-1
Consolation Quarters: win by maj. dec. over Alex Evan (St. Olaf), 12-1
Consolation Semis: win by dec. over Josten Coleman (Concordia-Moorhead), 12-10 (ot)
3rd Place: lost by dec. to Justin Bowland (Augsburg), 4-1
MICHAEL TYNER (174, 0-2)
1st Round: lost by fall to Joshua Willaert (St. John's, Minn.), 2:11
Consolation 2nd: lost bye dec. to Wes Colton (Lakeland), 6-5
CALEB MALYCHEWSKI (184, 2-1, 2nd Place, National Tournament Qualifier)
Quarterfinals: win by dec. over LaQuan Hightower (Wis. Platteville), 7-1
Semifinals: win by dec. over Matt Rieckhoff (Wis. Eau Claire), 3-1
Championship: lost by fall to Michael Hagen (St. John's, Minn.), 6:34
CHRIS HARLIN (197, 0-2)
1st Round: lost by dec. to Tyler Wefenkamp (Wis. Oshkosh), 11-4
Consolation 2nd: lost bye dec. to Jeremy Kroeger (Lakeland), 9-4
EVAN SCHREURS (285, 0-2)
Quarterfinals: lost by fall to Chad Johnson (Augsburg), 1:26
Consolation Quarters: lost by maj. dec. to Zack Gibson (St. Olaf), 14-3
