Southern Oregon finished second with 121.5 points and McKendree climbed to third with 113 points. Missouri Valley, Notre Dame, Dickinson State and Campbellsville rounded out the Top Seven in the tournament.
Lindenwood's Matt Cauley, the reigning 174 pound national champion, has some new hardware to display. Cauley won the Gorriarian Award for the outstanding wrestler of the year and NAIA-NWCA wrester of the year in the NAIA National Championship in Oklahoma City.
Lindenwood Head Coach Joe Parisi took home his third coach of the year award and his fifth championship since taking over the reigns at Lindenwood's wrestling program.
Lindenwood brings three national champions back with them to St. Charles: Matt Cauley (174), Ray Stephens (133) and Jeremy Powell (157) all can claim to be the best in their weight classes.
Finishing second for the Lions were Sam Schmitz (149) and John Murray (165).
Rounding out the All-Americans: Chris Chionuma (165), Jon Lloyd (133) and Ryan Moyer (149) earned fifth place honors in the tournament.
Day Three
Stephens successfully defended his national championship with a major decision over Southern Oregon's Trevor Lofstedt by a score of 19-9. Using his quickness and veteran savvy Stephens out maneuvered Lofstedt with a series of takedowns and reversals. The only points Loftsted earned were escape points.
Cauley also successfully defended his national championship winning by pin over Missouri Valley's Alex McKinney. Cauley barely broke a sweat earning a pin victory in 2:50. Prior to the pin, he earned eleven points consisting of four takedowns and one near fall. Cauley pinned three opponents and had one winning decision in the tournament.
Powell upset top ranked Joe Cornejo from Missouri Valley with a 5-1 decision in the 157 pound championship. Powell was close to pinning Cornejo but failed to gain complete control. The only scoring came in the first round where Powell scored a takedown and near fall.
Murray fell to third-ranked Aaron Winning by pin in the finals. Murray had a pin, two major decisions and decision to claim second-place.
Schmitz went 4-1 and earned runner-up in his weight clas. His only loss came in the championship match against Matt Burns from Grand View. Schmitz wrestled beautifully in Oklahoma City earning two tech falls and two decisions.
After being pinned in his first match, Lloyd proved that turn about was fair play when he pinned his opponent.
Chionuma fell in close decision in his first match of the day 3-2. He bounced back and earned a major decision against Dickson State's Stanton Schlecht 13-3.
After dropping his first match, Moyer earned eight quick points with a takedown and two near falls in the first round. After that he simply wore down Missouri Valley's Brian Graham for the two remaining rounds. The former national champion's knee had been nagging at him for the entire tournament; if not for that he might have been able to defend his national championship.
Day Two Recap
The Lions have five wrestlers still in the hunt for a championship. Matt Cauley (174), Ray Stephens (133), Sam Schmitz (149), Jeremy Powell (157) and John Murray (165) all were victorious in the semifinals.
Powell collected another pin today after winning his quarterfinal match by a 3-2 decision. He has three pins in the tournament.
The 133 pound semifinal featured Lindenwood's Stephens and Jon Lloyd battling it out to make the finals. The first round was a stalemate with the two grapplers fighting for any edge they could. Stephens broke out in the second earning eight points to Lloyd's three. A Stephens' pin then ended the match.
Schmitz used his raw aggression combined with skillful finesse to move on to the finals. Schmitz was down 4-1 before taking down Missouri Valley's Brian Graham twice. Schmitz scored a near fall good for three points and won the match 8-4 by decision.
Cauley won by major decision defeating Northwestern's Tom Eaton 19-9. He defeated Oklahoma City's Dillion Blackmon by pin in the quarterfinals.
Murray defeated teammate Chris Chionuma (165) by decision.
Lloyd, Chionuma and Ryan Moyer (149) compete in the consolation round tomorrow.
Brian Oechsner (157), Alptekin Oziclic (141) and Neil Kemp (184) won both matches in the consolation round before falling in the next round, all by one point. Elliot Martin (125) was eliminated by pin.
Day One Recap
Lindenwood has eight wrestlers move on to the quarterfinals in the first day of action. Ray Stephens (133), Jon Lloyd (133), Ryan Moyer (149), Sam Schmitz (149), Jeremy Powell (157), and John Murray (165) all won two matches, while Chris Chionuma (165) and Matt Cauley (174) each won once after a first-round bye.
Powell had the best day collecting two pins and Schmitz ended his matches early with technical falls. Stephens and Murray each had one fall and one major decision, Cauley had a pin, and Moyer had a major decision.
Elliot Martin (125), Alptekin Oziclic (141), Brian Oechsner (157), and Neil Kemp (184) all won their first matches of the day before falling. All four losses were close decisions in low scoring matches.
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