J-M grad Howard earns All-American wrestling status at UPJ
Jefferson-Morgan graduate and Uniontown native Brendan Howard stands with University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown head coach Pat Pecora after Howard finished in eighth place in the 125-pound weight class on Saturday at the NCAA Division II National Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. (Submitted photo)
Submitted photo
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown junior Brendan Howard placed eighth in the 125-pound weight class on Saturday at the NCAA Division II National Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. Howard is a Jefferson-Morgan graduate and Uniontown native.
Jefferson-Morgan graduate and Uniontown native Brendan Howard made the most of his first trip to the Division II National Wrestling Championships with an eighth-place finish for the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in the 125-pound weight class on Saturday at The Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Howard (23-8) opened up the championships with a 9-6 decision over Upper Iowa鈥檚 Maleek Williams, who was a national finalist last season. The former Rocket dropped a 10-6 decision to eventual champion Carlos Jacquez of Lindenwood, Missouri, in the quarterfinals.
Howard came back with an 11-6 decision over Bellarmine鈥檚 Brandan Lucas in the second round of consolations to guarantee All-American status. He suffered an 8-3 decision to McKendree鈥檚 Marcus Povlick and dropped the seventh-place bout, 13-5, to Minnesota State-Makato鈥檚 Cole Jones, who was the No. 5 seed.
Howard, who was 156-35 for the Rockets and qualified for the state tournament twice and was seventh as a senior, is second in school history for career wins behind four-time state champion Gavin Teasdale, who was 162-2. Howard started his collegiate career at Clarion University before he transferred to the Mountain Cats. The junior came into the national tournament ranked No. 9 in the country.
Howard was joined on the medal stand by four UPJ teammates, including Chris Eddins, who won his second straight national championship with a 7-2 victory over Tiffin鈥檚 Trey Grine in the finals at 149. Eddins, the No. 1 seed who won the title at 141 last season, pinned Belmont Abbey鈥檚 John Gahagan in 2:41 in the first round. He edged Lindenwood鈥檚 Gavin Londorff, 3-1, in the quarterfinals before a 7-4 decision over McKendree鈥檚 Isaiah Kemper in the semifinals.
Eddins is one of 14 UPJ wrestlers that have won national championships. Pitt-Johnstown has a combined 22 national titles.
Devin Austin earned a 5-2 decision over Maryville鈥檚 Tyler Harrington, the fifth seed, to finish third at 165. Austin earned back-to-back decision over Ashland鈥檚 Bret Romanzak and Upper Iowa鈥檚 Brock Benitz in the first round and quarterfinals, but was pinned by Millersville鈥檚 Shane Ruhnke in the semifinals. Austin pinned No. 11 Devin Fitzpatrick of St. Cloud State in 1:49 in the consolations semifinals.
Brock Biddle placed fourth at 184. He dropped a 6-5 decision to SW Missouri State鈥檚 Griffin Osing in the first round, but battled back with two straight wins to guarantee a spot on the podium, and a third to move into the consolation semifinals, where he edged Kutztown鈥檚 Jeff Reimel in a 15-13 decision in sudden victory. Reimel was the No. 1 seed entering the tournament. Biddle鈥檚 run ended in the third-place bout when he dropped an 8-2 decision to Central Oklahoma鈥檚 Heath Gray, 8-2.
Joey Alessandro placed fifth at 141. The No. 2 seed opened up with a fall in 4:15 over Belmont Abbey鈥檚 Troy Gregor. He dropped a 10-6 decision to Lindenwood鈥檚 Danny Swan in the quarterfinals but bounced back with wins over Central Oklahoma鈥檚 Nate Keim and No. 3-seeded Joe Calderone of LIU-Post to advance to the consolations semifinals.
Alessandro dropped a 7-3 decision to top-seeded Brandon Ball of Fort Hays State, 7-3, but finished his season with a victory and avenged his quarterfinal setback to Swan with a 4-0 win in the fifth-place bout.
The Mountain Cats finished sixth out of 55 teams with 68.5 points. St. Cloud State won its second straight national title.