Reed, Sumner, Hardrick secure All-American honors on Day 1 of NCAA III Wrestling Championships
By Wes Mayberry
| NCAA III Championships site | Ohio Northern Individual Results |
ROANOKE, Va. — Ohio Northern sophomore Jacob Reed (Lancaster), senior Chase Sumner (Ada) and fifth-year senior Jordan Hardrick (Dayton/Wayne) clinched All-American honors in their respective weight classes Friday night on the first day of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at the Berglund Center.
"You watch those guys work so hard, and to see them come out tonight and become All-Americans is special. They earned it," ONU head coach Ron Beaschler said. "Jacob is in the semifinals, which is where we need him to be, and the other two are going for third place."
The top eight wrestlers in each weight class earn All-American honors. ONU's three All-Americans this year ties the program's single-season record, matching 1970 and 1994.
Reed (42-0), who earned All-American honors with a third-place finish at 141 pounds last season, opened the 2023 national championships with a victory by 4-3 decision over Victor Perlleshi of Johnson & Wales (R.I.).
Reed, the No. 2 seed at 141 pounds, then defeated No. 7 seed Cameron Johnson of Aurora (Ill.) by a 5-4 decision in the championship quarterfinals.
He will face Sam Stuhl of Augsburg (Minn.) in Saturday's championship semifinals.
Sumner (38-5), the No. 8 seed at 149 pounds, opened with a win by 4-2 decision over Eli Sims of Brockport (N.Y.) before falling to top-seeded Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace via a 19-3 technical fall in the championship quarterfinals of the double-elimination tournament.
Sumner bounced back to pin Wisconsin-Whitewater's Jake Burford in 1:19 to secure a spot on the All-American podium. He will face Chase Parrott of Springfield (Mass.) on Saturday.
Hardrick (43-6) capped the night by giving the Polar Bears their third All-American.
Unseeded at 165 pounds, Hardrick opened with a narrow 2-0 decision loss to No. 2 seed Matt Lackman of Alvernia (Pa.) but responded with a pair of victories in the evening session.
Hardrick defeated Michael Angers of Castelton (Vt.) via a 7-4 decision and secured All-American status with a 3-2 decision win over No. 8 seed Luke Reicosky of John Carroll.
He will face New York University's Cooper Pontelandolfo on Saturday.
ONU's fourth national qualifier, sophomore Gavin Layman (Chesterton, Ind.), was unseeded in the 184-pound bracket and opened with a 5-0 decision loss to No. 2 seed Shane Liegel of Loras (Iowa) before falling to Kalyn Jahn of Wisconsin-La Crosse via a 3-2 decision in the consolation portion of the bracket.
Layman ends his season with a record of 34-8.
"It's awesome to get to nationals as a sophomore," Beaschler said. "Gavin took a big step from his freshman season to his sophomore season, and now he'll look to take that next step of becoming an All-American."
The second and final day of the tournament begins Saturday at 10 a.m.
