CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Notre Dame wrapped up a sixth place finish in the 2009 National Duals on the campus of Northern Iowa on Sunday. Overall at the two-day tournament, the Falcons went 3-2. NDC was victorious over Briar Cliff (Iowa), Cumberland (Tenn.), and No. 17 Morningside (Iowa). The Blue and White's two defeats came to top-ranked Lindenwood (Mo.) and No. 7 Missouri Valley. (Results Brackets )
Junior #Adam Koballa#, freshman #Jared King#, and senior #Chris Tripp# led the way for the Falcons by going undefeated on the weekend.
Koballa, currently ranked No. 1, went 5-0 in his 141-pound bouts with one pin, two tech falls, and one major. Koballa's record is now 17-3.
King, seeing his first action of the season, went 4-0. Wrestling at 165-pounds, King won with one pin and two majors.
Tripp went 4-0 in his 197-pound bouts with one pin and one major. Tripp has now won ten bouts in a row, six of those coming by pin. With the victories, the senior from Cleveland ran his overall record to12-2.
Freshman #Jeffrey Pelton# also had a strong showing in the 149-pound weight class. Although Pelton lost his first match of the season, a tough 8-5 decision to No. 1-ranked Ryan Moyer from Lindenwood, he finished strong to go 4-1 on the weekend, with all four of his victories coming by pin. One of those pins came over Missouri Valley's Brian Graham, who came into the match ranked No. 2. Pelton is now tied for the team lead in pins (seven) with Tripp. Pelton's record is now 15-1 on the season.
Sophomore #Thomas Straughn# also went 4-1 in his 157-pound bouts with one pin, one tech fall, and one major. Straughn's overall record is now 16-3.
Sophomore #Tyler Savage# had the toughest draw of any Falcon. The No. 6-ranked Savage faced three opponents ranked in the top ten. Although he came up on the short end against No. 4-ranked John Olanowski from Lindenwood and No. 8-ranked Travis Taylor from Morningside, Savage rebounded in his final match of the weekend to beat Billy Exline from Missouri Valley, who came into the bout ranked No. 2. Savage's record is now 17-6.
“We definitely had some tough draws this weekend, especially Tyler,” said head coach #Frank Romano#. “We wrestled extremely well though, and showed we can wrestle with anybody.”
The Falcons will be back in tournament action next Sunday at the Purple Raider Open on the campus of Mount Union. Start time is at 10:00 a.m.
NOTES FROM THE NEST…
BETTER THAN LAST TIME: In last year's National Duals, the Falcons lost their first two matches to be eliminated on the first day. NDC dropped decisions to Southern Oregon (24-16) and Morningside (31-15) in the tournament also held in Cedar Rapids.
TOURNEY CHAMPS: The National Duals champions in each division were: Iowa in D-I, Nebraska-Omaha in D-II, Augsburg (Minn.) in D-III, and Southern Oregon in the NAIA bracket. … Notre Dame's early season foe, Ohio State, finished in fifth place in D-I.
