Hargrove Wins Twice at Nationals

Park City, Kan.--Cameron Hargrove (Jr., Bolingbrook, Ill., Sports Management) fell a bit shy of placing as the William Penn men's wrestling team competed at the 67th Annual NAIA National Championship Thursday and Friday.

165-pounder Hargrove posted a 2-2 record at the Championship, beginning with an upset of #16 seed Elliott Rodgers of Marian (Ind.).  The junior overcame an early deficit to win 16-11 and advance to face the top seed in the bracket.

Unfortunately, Hargrove was unable to pull a second-straight upset, losing by a 22-7 technical fall to Steven Villalobos of Life (Ga.).

The junior, who was making his third trip to nationals, stayed alive in the consolation bracket with a 9-3 decision over Diego Machado of St. Ambrose.  His tournament run would end in the next round, however, as he was defeated by a 14-4 major decision at the hands of Jordan Komac of Providence (Mont.).  Hargrove finished two victories away from becoming an All-American.

Kael Bunce (Sr., Stockbridge, Mich., Mechanical Engineering) also grappled at 157 pounds, but was unable to pick up a win in his second trip to NAIA Nationals.  He dropped his opening match by a 19-5 major decision to #8 seed Keegan Luton (Oklahoma City) before also falling to Dylan Straley (Southern Oregon) by a 15-6 major decision.

WPU will finish in a tie for 43rd place (out of 55 programs) with 1.5 points.  After three of six total sessions, Grand View leads the standings with 112 points, while Life is a close second with 107 points.