2012 NAIA Wrestling All-Americans Announced

By Amanda Dahl, 2012 NAIA Wrestling National Championships Media Coordinator

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the 2012 Wrestling All-Americans. Honors were bestowed to the top-eight finishers of each weight class at the 55th Annual NAIA Wrestling National Championships that were held March 1 - 3 at the Jacobson Exhibition Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

Headlining the 80 wrestlers that earned the honor is Evan Hinebauch of Montana State-Northern. The senior capped off his career with his fourth All-America honor by placing third at 184 pounds and closing out with a record of 36-10. Hinebauch twice appeared in the 184-pound title bout, winning it all as a junior and placing second as a freshman. As a sophomore he placed fourth.

Four grapplers became three-time All-Americans, including two-time champion Mitchell Lofstedt of Southern Oregon. Lofstedt pinned his way to the 125-pound title with a 1:06 fall in the championship bout for his 10th fall of an 11-match win streak to cap off his campaign. The junior stuck four of his five opponents in Des Moines in a total of 7:37. For his dominating performance, Lofstedt was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler with the Gorriaran Award and also took home the Most Falls in the Least Time award. He has appeared in the finals each of the three years he has wrestled at the National Championships.

Also earning their third All-America accolade were Larone Madison of Cumberlands (Ky.) (125), Great Falls’ (Mont.) Myles Mazurkiewicz (141) and Spencer Adams of Campbellsville (197).

First-year programs Indiana Tech and Bethany (Kan.) each took home All-America hardware. Travis Barroquillo placed fourth at 133 and Tanner Martin was sixth at 174 for the Warriors, while Colby Crank to a fourth-place finish at 157 for the Swedes.

There were 14 individuals that earned the distinction of All-American for a second time, while 61 placed among the top eight of their weight class for the first time.

National champion Grand View (Iowa) had nine wrestlers place among the top eight of their weight class, followed by Campbellsville (Ky.) with seven. Southern Oregon placed six and Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) tallied five placewinners. Six teams had four All-Americans and five took home a trio. In all, 25 different programs earned at least one honor.

2012 NAIA Wrestling All-Americans