Edinboro would finish 17th for its sixth straight finish in the top 25 at Nationals. Penn State made it back-to-back national championships, with Minnesota finishing second, Iowa third, Cornell fourth and Ohio State fifth.
The 197 lb. championship was a matchup between the top two seeds, with each wrestler losing just once all year. Honeycutt, the second seed, had lost just once previously and he had avenged that loss yesterday with a 6-3 decision over Pittsburgh’s Matt Wilps, the third seed. He was looking to become just the fifth Division I national champion at Edinboro.
Honeycutt would open the scoring with 27 seconds left in the first period with a takedown for a 2-0 lead. Simaz opened the action with a single leg attempt, but Honeycutt defended it well and won out in a scramble for the takedown. Simaz would escape with 11 seconds remaining to make it 2-1 after one period.
Honeycutt began the second period on the bottom, and just as he did twice against Wilps on Friday, he reversed Simaz to grab a 4-1 lead with 1:41 remaining. Simaz would escape at 1:30 to make it 4-2.
The match would change with just over a minute remaining in the period when Simaz converted an ankle pick into a takedown with 1:07 to go. That knotted the score at 4-4, and the Cornell senior would ride out Honeycutt.
Simaz started the third period on the bottom, and would escape at 1:46, although Honeycutt was able to wipe out riding time. Leading 5-4, Simaz would answer a Honeycutt short with a reshot, and would record his second takedown at the edge of the mat with 1:24 remaining.
Honeycutt escaped at 1:14 to make it 7-5, but he was unable to finish several takedown attempts in the final minute. A shot with 30 seconds to go ended in a stalemate. Another shot at the edge of the mat failed with four seconds to go. Simaz, a four-time All-American, would end the year at 31-1.
Honeycutt ends the year at 40-2, just the 12th time an Edinboro wrestler has reached the 40-win plateau. His brilliant career ends with two All-American certificates, just the 14th
multiple All-American at Edinboro, and a 130-22 career record. That is good for seventh in career victories. Honeycutt finished fifth at 184 lbs. a year ago.
Unfortunately for Honeycutt, instead of becoming the fifth Division I All-American at Edinboro, he now joins the impressive list of Fighting Scots who finished as runners-up. That list now numbers eight. The last Boro wrestler to finish second was Paul Donahoe at 125 lbs. in 2009.
Honeycutt was recognized by the NCAA at the end of the night as the Division I leader in technical falls with 11, tying Buffalo's Mark Lewandowski.
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