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

Team Results
Brackets
Finals Summary

WHEATON, Ill. (Feb. 9, 2017) – The North Central College wrestling team finished fourth at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships, including a first place finish from Layten Binion, held at Wheaton College Thursday in King Arena.

Elmhurst College defended their title, winning the Championships with 98 points. Augustana College followed with 96.5 points followed by Wheaton College at 96. The Cardinals were fourth at 92, with Millikin University at 91, Concordia University Wisconsin at 86.5, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) at 76.5, and Lakeland University at 21.

The Cardinals finished with one first place finisher, three third place, two fourth place, three fifth place, and one seventh.

Number one seed Binion opened competition with an 8-4 decision in the 141 weight class and followed it up with a 9-5 decision against Augustana College's Freddy Terranova. Binion would be matched up against Elmhurst College's Ronny Hauser, an opponent he defeated three times this season. Thanks to a crucial takedown and four point near-fall, Binion broke a 3-3 tie and changed the momentum drastically. He then added three points to his total and earned his third CCIW champ honor with a 12-3 major decision.

Anthony Rink, Tyler Vittal and Emonte Logan all finished third in their respective weight classes. Rink opened up as the two seed in 125, taking an easy 15-3 major decision in the first round but falling to eventual champion Anthony Munoz. Rink then pinned his first opponent in the consolation bracket and defeated Augustana's Trenton Jackson with an 11-3 major decision. Vittal earned a first round bye at 197 but also fell to the eventual champion in the second round. Vittal then earned a 5-2 decision before earning a well-fought 2-1 decision against Deionntte Honorable in the third place match. Heavyweight representative Logan was dealt a similar hand as he started with a commanding 14-6 major decision before falling to the two seed and eventual champion from MSOE, Austin Bellile.

Marc Fleenor and Matt McGowan both earned fourth place finishes for the Cardinals at 133 and 149, respectively. Fleenor would be knocked to the consolation bracket after falling to Brendan Gould of Augustana. Fleenor then defeated Ramiro Vasquez of Concordia with a 5-4 decision but would have to face Gould again, falling in the first period. McGowan opened with a 5-0 decision over Concordia's Miguel Betancourt. After falling victim to losing to another eventual champion, McGowan earned a 13-3 major decision to compete for third place. He would unfortunately lose to Augustan's Matt Sears and finish fourth.

The Cardinals travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. on Feb. 24 and 25 for the NCAA Division III Midwest Region Championships beginning at 11 am.