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Contact: Tyler Friel, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Team Standings
Brackets

Feb. 18, 2016 (Rock Island, Ill.) – Despite their regular season performance against conference opponents, the North Central College wrestling team placed third in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) conference tournament held at Augustana College.

The Bluejays of Elmhurst College took home first place with 69.5 total points, 1.5 points over second place Wheaton College. North Central finished with 59 points, followed by Millikin with 56 points and Augustana at 45. Jimmy Nehls of Elmhurst was awarded outstanding wrestler with his head coach, Steve Marianetti, receiving coach of the year honors.

The Cardinals final team standings featured one first place, four second place, and two third place finishes.

Brad Martens started things off for the Cardinals in the 125 weight class as he defeated Tristan Birt of Millikin on a 7-5 decision. Unfortunately, Martens would run into Augustana's Jimmy Panozzo, the number one seed, and lose a 10-4 decision to finish in second place. The 141 class featured two powerhouses in the Cardinals' Layten Binion and Elmhurst's Jimmy Nehls but this matchup would never occur as Binion dropped a 4-2 decision against Millikin's Chris Williams. In the consolation bracket Binion took care of the competition, defeating Eric Wales of Wheaton with a 14-5 major decision followed by taking third place on an 18-7 major decision. Ben Williamson would take a similar path as Binion after he lost his first match 6-0. He would also place third thanks to a 7-6 decision and 7-3 decision in the third place match.

The 165 class would be the only first place finish for the Cardinals as veteran Eric Kirkman took home the hardware. Kirkman stepped up and delivered gritty performances all evening, keeping his team in contention for the title. Given the fourth seed in the bracket, he was matched up against Augustana's Trace Timmons and took the match with a 6-1 decision. Kirkman would then have to face number one seed Keone Derain of Elmhurst, pulling off the 3-1 upset. In an exciting championship match, Kirkman and Frank Aiello of Wheaton traded leads all bout until Kirkman claimed a 14-12 decision.

The 184, 197, and 285 weight classes all contained second place finishes for North Central as the freshmen trio of Josh Bouie, Tyler Vittal, and Emonte Logan continued their success. Bouie would win a close first match by an 8-7 decision but would lose a heartbreaker in the championship on a 2-1 decision. Vittal took an 8-2 decision in the first match but would fall in the championship match to Wheaton's Mikey Swider. Heavyweight Emonte Logan would also make it to the championship match and have to face nationally ranked James Buss of Millikin. Logan could not bring home the win as Buss claimed a 4-2 decision.

Even though the Cardinals finished with one lone individual title, there is a lot of promise to the program. The four second place finishes were all freshmen and everyone competing this year will be back next year to help the Cardinals accomplish that main goal, a conference title.

The Cardinals now prepare to compete in the Midwest Region Championships held at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. on Feb. 27. Competition is set to start at 9 am.