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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Results
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Mar. 7, 2009) - For the second straight season, North Central College wrestlers Ben Youel and Gabe Youel have claimed NCAA Division III All-American honors, placing second and fourth, respectively, at the 2009 Division III National Championships, held Friday and Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center.
Both Youels were All-Americans in 2008, each placing fourth. Ben Youel was seeded third in the 165-pound division and Gabe Youel was seeded fourth at 184 pounds heading into this weekend's action.
Ben Youel began his ascent to the championship round on Friday by defeating his first-round opponent, Vincent Renaut of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (N.Y.), 8-6. Youel then handed sixth-seeded Michael Morin of the University of Southern Maine his first loss of the season, prevailing by a score of 11-4.
Youel's semifinal opponent was second-seeded Ben Hoover of Maranatha Baptist Bible College (Wis.), who defeated Youel in the finals of the Great Lakes Regional Championships, 9-7, on Feb. 21. Another encounter between the two occurred on Jan. 17, when Youel came out on the winning end of a 12-2 major decision in the North Central College Invitational.
Youel (41-4) secured his place in the championship by outpointing Hoover, 7-5, then moved on to face another previous opponent in top-seeded Justin Hanson of Wartburg College (Iowa), who awaited Youel in the final.
Youel and Hanson's first encounter occurred in the semifinals of the Concordia University (Wis.) Open on Nov. 22, when Hanson managed a 5-3 triumph. Youel evened the score at Wartburg's Dick Walker Invitational on Dec. 12, beating Hanson, 8-3, in the final.
Hanson, however, came out victorious in the championship, posting a 7-3 victory in the championship match.
Gabe Youel took the mat for his first-round match against Sam Leas of Lawrence University (Wis.), and turned in a 9-6 victory. He had defeated Leas, 10-6, in the championship match of the North Central College Invitational on Jan. 17.
In the second round, however, Youel was defeated, 5-2, by fifth-seeded Josh Zabel of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, forcing him to continue his quest for All-American honors in the wrestlebacks. He began that trek in his final match on Friday, beating Matthew Horn of Muhlenberg College (Pa.), 10-3.
As action resumed on Saturday, Youel faced off with eighth-seeded Dustin Baxter of St. John's University (Minn.), and the pair were deadlocked, 1-1, as time expired. Youel scored a takedown in the first sudden-victory period to secure a 3-1 win.
Youel secured his spot in the third-place match with another narrow victory over seventh-seeded Ben Engelland of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, winning by a score of 4-3. His opponent in the third-place match was Zabel, who was beaten in the championship semifinals by the No. 1 seed, Michael Wilcox of Delaware Valley College (Pa.)
Youel (41-5) was defeated by Zabel once again, this time by a score of 4-0.
The Youels' combined efforts led the Cardinals to a 14th-place finish in the team standings with 26.5 points. Wartburg came away with the team championship, totaling 117.5 points.
Ben Youel concludes his collegiate career with 139 victories, ranking him second in North Central's history.
