ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Not one, but two Bellarmine University wrestlers claimed individual championships at the Southern Conference Wrestling Championships this weekend in junior Jeb Prechtel and redshirt junior Grant O'Dell as the Knights took third place in Kimmel Arena.
"I'm very proud of our entire team and the 10 guys that represented us this weekend did an outstanding job," said head coach Ned Shuck. "Building this program into something special has been a huge joy in my life."
In just its second season of postseason eligibility, Bellarmine doubled its SoCon Champions already after Devan Hendricks was the lone victor last season.
Prechtel, wrestling at 157, entered the tournament as the six seed. The Jasper, IN native won both of his first two matches by fall, pinning No. 3 seed Joeseph Giordano (Gardner-Webb) in 6:53 in the opening round and No. 2 seed Cavarius Liddie (Chattanooga) in 1:54 in the second round. In the finals, Prechtel outlasted No. 1 seed Kyrel Leavell (The Citadel) for an 11-10 decision win, becoming the second SoCon Champion in program history.
"I am incredibly grateful for our team and the clear vision and purpose that drives me. I love this team," said Prechtel. "I thought my mindset was very clear throughout and before every match and that ended up having good results."
Two weight classes later at 174, O'Dell etched his name in the record books. Wrestling as the four seed, O'Dell started his run with a 4-1 decision over Davidson's Marc Koch, the five seed. In the semi-finals, the North Liberty, IA native gutted out a 2-1 decision over the top seed Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga) before moving on to defeat No.2 seed Jacob Silka (The Citadel) by 4-3 decision in the championship bout.
"Our team fought hard and supported each other all the way through the tournament and the year. I think what I'm most proud of is that everyone continued to fight, even if they weren't still competing for first," said O'Dell. "Thinking that this team is only about wrestling would be naive and far from an authentic way of describing this experience and this year. I love my coaches I love this team. Swords up and go Knights!"
With their championship wins, both Prechtel and O'Dell have earned automatic bids to compete in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
"Jeb and Grant earned every part of their performances, and I couldn't be more excited for them. We fell a little short on the team race in the end, but we made it very interesting," Shuck said. "We
are excited to represent Bellarmine University at the D1 NCAA tournament."
As a team, Bellarmine finished third in the event, a huge improvement over its sixth place finish a year ago. The Knights scored 88.5 team points and were in the hunt for the team win for most of the championship. Bellarmine's eight placers were tied for the most by any team in the tournament. BU was also one of just three teams to have multiple individual champions (App State, 3; Chattanooga, 2). As a result of the team's incredible improvement and overall performance, Ned Shuck was named the SoCon Coach of the Year.
Overall, the Knights had 10 wrestlers compete in the SoCon Championships with every one of them making it to the second day of action.
"These guys wrestled with a tremendous effort and fight. They had resiliency after defeat and had toughness in some very big moments," added Shuck.
Behind Prechtel and O'Dell, redshirt sophomore AJ Rallo (141) and redshirt freshman Joe Calvin (125) earned second-place finishes in their respective weight classes.
Three Knights earned bronze medals in redshirt junior Trayce Eckman (133), redshirt senior Nate Higley (149) and redshirt sophomore Andrew Liber (197). Redshirt freshman Noah Hall, who was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team earlier this week, rounded out the group with a fourth-place finish in the 165-pound weight class.
Appalachian State won its fourth consecutive team title, scoring 94.5 points. Chattanooga came in right behind the Mountaineers in second place with 93 points. The team championship was ultimately decided by the final heavyweight bout of the day.
Up next, Prechtel and O'Dell will represent Bellarmine as they compete at the NCAA Division I National Championships in Cleveland, OH March 19-21 at Rocket Arena.
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