{"id":4703,"date":"2017-03-13T11:36:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T16:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/?p=4703"},"modified":"2017-03-28T13:44:20","modified_gmt":"2017-03-28T18:44:20","slug":"nate-rodriguez-wins-national-wrestling-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/nate-rodriguez-wins-national-wrestling-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Champion! Rodriguez Wins National Wrestling Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senior\u00a0Nate Rodriguez has won the second national championship in Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPPSaints\u00a0wrestling<\/a>\u00a0history after rallying\u00a0to defeat Darren Wynn of McKendree 6-5 in the 141 finals at the NCAA Division II Wrestling National Championships in Birmingham, Ala.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez joins Matt Baker, who won the 197 national title in 2013, as Saints championship\u00a0winners.<\/p>\n

For the title, Rodriguez faced the defending champion in Wynn, who he had defeated four times this season. Rodriguez took the early 2-0 lead with a takedown in the first period. He chose\u00a0the down position to start the second and tacked on another point with an escape for a 3-0 advantage. Wynn rallied with a late takedown in the second to cut Rodriguez’s margin to 3-2 entering the final period. Wynn took a 4-3 edge on a reversal but Rodriguez drew even 4-4 with just over a minute left on an escape. The duo battled down the stretch before Rodriguez surged ahead on a takedown with 26 seconds remaining. Wynn escaped to pull to within 6-5 but Rodriguez kept Wynn at bay\u00a0for the thrilling comeback victory.<\/p>\n

In the semifinals, Rodriguez faced Nick Crume of Indianapolis. Neither wrestler scored in the first, but Rodriguez took a 1-0 lead after an escape. In the third, he had a takedown with 1:01 left in the third and held on for a 3-0 decision to reach the finals.<\/p>\n

Zeb Wahle<\/a>\u00a0began his day in the 184 class with two takedowns in a 4-2 victory. He then defeated Aero Amo by a 7-3 count to move into the third-place match. Wahle fell behind JaVaughn Perkins 2-0 but earned one point back with an escape. Starting down in the second period, he tied the match 2-2 with another escape. Perkins took bottom to start the third but Wahle turned around a small riding time deficit and rode Perkins out the duration of the final period to earn one point for riding time and the decisive point in a 3-2 win.<\/p>\n

In his first match of the day at 149,\u00a0James Krischke<\/a>\u00a0was narrowly edged out in a 4-3 decision. In the seventh-place match he used a strong second period and cruised to a 9-5 win to claim All-America honors.<\/p>\n

The Saints finished in seventh place with 42 team points and had three All-Americans.<\/p>\n

Watch the full event replay from the Championship Finals at the 2017 DII Wrestling Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch our Facebook Live interview with Nate and Coach Denney:<\/p>\n