Posted: Nov 06, 2021

Simpson led by eight placewinners at Luther Hill Invite

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Highlighted by runner-up finishes from Dylan McChesney, Zach Stewart, Nathan Keating and Andrew Wolff, the Simpson College wrestling team concluded its own Luther L. Hill Invitational with eight placewinners on Saturday.

Anthony Criscione (141) and Robert Silva (157) both placed fourth and Chris Martinez (141) and Shyler Langley (174) each had fifth-place efforts to round out the Storm's placewinners.

The Storm welcomed nine teams inside Cowles Fieldhouse for the tournament including five NAIA programs, two NJCAA schools, NCAA Division II Upper Iowa, and fellow American Rivers Conference member Buena Vista. No team scores were kept.

McChesney (125) pinned his way to the finals with victories over Seth I'nama (Briar Cliff), Korey Mendoza (Grand View) and Taywone Mcnack (Graceland). In the championship match, he dropped a close 7-6 decision to CaRon Watson from Briar Cliff. McChesney was able to tie the match at 6-all with an escape in the final seconds of the third period, but Watson amassed enough riding time to earn the win.

At 141 pounds, Stewart started the day with a major decision over Ben Murphy of Grand View before edging Axel Hernandez (Buena Vista) 4-3 in the semifinal round. He was later outscored 4-1 by Blake Haney (Grand View) in the finals for a second-place finish.

Along with McChesney and Stewart, Keating (184) and Wolff (197) each finished runner-up in their weights. The duo competed in the freshman/sophomore brackets of their respective weights and both went 2-1. Keating won by fall over Cayden Rowell (Iowa Western) and advanced to the finals following a medical forfeit, while Wolff worked through the front side of his bracket with a fall and a major decision.

Criscione (141) collected the most victories on the team with four on his way to a fourth place finish in the freshman/sophomore division. Meanwhile, Silva battled his way through the consolation bracket after an opening loss to Ryan Steffen (Upper Iowa). He won by fall over Luke Hardy (Briar Cliff) and picked up two decisions before toeing the line with Steffen once more in the third-place match that ended in a 19-4 tech fall.

The Storm's final place winners were Martinez (141) and Langley (174). Martinez dropped his first match but used an injury default and 10-1 major decision to place fifth. Langley also finished fifth after defeating Colter Bye on the back side of his bracket. In his first bout of the day, Caleb Swalla from Grand View came back from a 5-1 deficit to force the match into overtime where he defeated Langley 7-5.

Meet Report
125 - Carter Logue: 2-2
125 - Dylan McChesney: 3-1, 2nd place
133 - Caleb Bower: 0-2
133 - Jason Padilla: 0-2
133 - Joe Weaver: 0-2
141 - Anthony Criscirone: 4-2, 4th place
141 - Chris Martinez: 2-1, 5th place
141 - Zach Stewart: 2-1, 2nd place
149 - Josh Bower: 1-2
149 - Sam McCoy: 0-2
157 - Robert Silva: 3-2, 4th place
165 - Jakob Slavin: 0-2
174 - Shyler Langley: 1-1, 5th place
184 - Nathan Keating: 2-1, 2nd place
184 - Shane Mathias: 0-2
197 - Noah Kirtley: 0-2
197 - Andrew Wolff: 2-1, 2nd place