Langley, Stewart place fifth to lead Simpson at regionals

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Shyler Langley and Zach Stewart took fifth place, Dylan McChesney added a seventh place finish, and the Simpson College wrestling team ended the weekend in 11th place in team standings at the NCAA Lower Midwest Regionals at the Five Flags Center.

Simpson competed alongside 18 other teams including the top-3 teams in the country and three others ranked in top-15 nationally. No. 1 Wartburg captured the team title with 158.5 points, No. 2 Loras finished in second place with 149.5, and No. 3 Coe was third with 148.5 points. 

All three of the Storm's placewinners won their opening matches, but fell to the backside of the bracket in the next round and returned for day two to compete for the third-place ticket to the NCAA National Championships. McChesney came up short in the third consolation round, while Stewart and Langley dropped out of the running in the consolation semifinals. The trio each won their final matches to end the season on a high note.

Langley scored 11 team points for Simpson in the 174 bracket, finishing with two major decisions and two decisions. His first match resulted in an 8-0 win over Luis Cruces (Luther), and he battled through two consolation rounds with 15-3 and 6-1 victories after falling to No. 9 Tristin Westphal (Coe) in the quarterfinals. Langley secured a 5-3 decision in the fifth-place bout to end his senior campaign with a career-high 27 wins.

Stewart went 4-2 at 141 pounds to tally 10 additional points for the Storm. The junior emerged victorious 13-0 in the opening round before No. 4 Zayren Terukina (Wartburg) won a slim 3-2 decision in the following match. Stewart advanced to day two with a 4-2 decision before avenging his regular season loss to Central's Brock Beck with an 11-7 overtime victory. He tallied his 22nd win of the season with an 11-8 victory in the fifth-place match.

McChesney (125) competed in one of three brackets with four top-10 wrestlers, and finished the tournament with a 3-2 record for seventh place. The senior advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 13-7 win over Byron Fleming (Buena Vista) but was defeated 9-1 by No. 6 Nathan Rankin (Ozarks) who was looking for his third trip to nationals. Simpson's pins leader tallied his 12th and 13th of the year on the backside of the bracket.

Meet Report
125 - Dylan McChesney: 3-2, 7th place
133 - Joe Weaver: 0-2
141 - Zach Stewart: 4-2, 5th place
149 - Sam McCoy: 1-2
157 - Robert Silva: 0-2
165 - Jakob Slavin: 2-2
174 - Shyler Langley: 4-2, 5th place
184 - Shane Mathias: 1-2
197 - Noah Kirtley: 0-2
285 - Colton Kinnison: 1-2