Copeland, a returning All-American, is just the second Grizzly in Jason Ramstetter's coaching tenure, now in year seven, to have placed at the tournament. The Grizzlies, currently ranked ninth in the nation, have finished in the top 10 at each of the past three NCAA Division II National Championships, a sign of how tough the tournament really is.
The Grizzlies ended up 32nd amongst 52 teams with 21.5 points. The University of Michigan Wolverines, ranked third in Division I, crowned four individual champions and repeated upon their 2004 team tile with 145 points, 29 clear of runner-up Cornell.
One of Michigan's individual winners was 2-time All-American Ryan Churella, who pinned Copeland at the 4:03 mark of their semifinal match on Saturday. Churella, the tournament's top seed, then defeated Missouri's Matt Pell by an 8-2 count in the finals.
After suffering the setback to Churella, ranked third in Division I according to TheWrestlingMall.com, Copeland dropped into the consolation bracket to face Cornell's Steve Anceravage. Anceravage, the seventh seed, posted a 6-3 win over Copeland before Illinois' Mike Poeta, the sixth seed, scored a 9-6 tiebreaker win over Copeland in the fifth place match.
Copeland, ranked second in the NCAA Division II preseason rankings, is now 6-5 on the year but has already faced nine NCAA Division I wrestlers, posting a 4-5 record in those matches.
The other eight Grizzlies at the tournament had been eliminated on Friday.
Now senior Kortney Lake (Craig, Colo.) had been the only other Grizzly to place at the tournament. He finished eighth in 2004 after finishing fourth in 2003.
ASC finished higher than 12 NCAA Division I teams in the tournament.
The Grizzlies are now off for most of the month before a handful of ASC's top grapplers compete at the just as tough Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Ill.
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