DANA CAPTURES FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
SIOUX CITY, Iowa. - Dana College (Neb.) won their first national championship in record fashion, scoring 193 points in the 49th Annual NAIA Wrestling National Championships. They broke the previous tournament record of 180 points prior to tonight's championship matches. The previous record was set in 2002 by defending national champion and this year's runner-up Lindenwood University (Mo.). The 2006 event was contested in the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa.
After falling in the championship match last year, Delrico Choates of the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) defeated Embry-Riddle University's (Ariz.) Richard Byrd 9-2. Choates finishes his junior season with a 30-1 record.
In the 133 lb. weight class, Jimmy Rollins of Dana won the national title when his opponent, McKendree College's (Ill.) Kyle Jahn had a medical default. Rollins fell in the championship match last year.
Joe Garcia of Menlo College (Calif.) captured the 141 lb. national title after a close 3-2 decision against Brad Cooper of Cumberlands (Ky.). Garcia finishes his senior season with a 30-5 record.
In the 149 lb. championship match, Lindenwood's (Mo.) Mark Dickman scored late in the match for a 7-2 win over Dana's Anthony Haukenberry. Haukenberry won the 2004 national title while he was competing for Montana State University-Northern.
Mike Rio of Lindenwood (Mo.) became the only wrestler to defend his national title when he captured the 157 lb. title over Hayden Harrison of Embry-Riddle University (Ariz.). Rio pinned Harrison late in the third period to capture his second national title; he also won the 149 lb. title last year. Rio pinned his way through the entire event this year, with his fastest pin of 23 seconds coming in the semifinals, and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 2006 national championships.
After finishing as a runner-up last year in the 157 lb. weight class, Jake Dieffenbach of Lindenwood (Mo.) captured the title in the 165 lb. weight class. He defeated last year's national champion, Tyson Springer of Dickinson State University (N.D.) 9-4.
After being tied at 5-5 at the end of the third period, Newman University's (Kan.) Curtis Chenoweth defeated Mike Kummer of the University of Great Falls (Mont.) 7-5 in sudden victory.
Dana picked up another individual title when Willie Parks had a 16-8 decision over Rick Story of Southern Oregon University in the 184 lb. final. With the win, Parks finished 36-1 on the season and he was named the NWCA-NAIA Outstanding Wrestler of the Year.
Last year's third-place finisher, Justin Schlect of Dickinson State won the 197 lb. title after a 7-1 decision against Eric Flinchum of the Cumberlands (Ky.). It was the first loss of the season for Flinchum in 24 matches.
In the final match, Mikhail Abdul-Latif of Simon Fraser University (B.C.) pinned Alex Becerra of Lindenwood (Mo.) in 1:10 for the 285 lb. national title.
Lindenwood (Mo.) finished in second place in the team competition with 164 points. They were followed by Cumberlands (Ky.) with 105 points and Dickinson State (N.D.) with 95.5 points. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and Southern Oregon finished fifth and sixth, respectively, with 83 and 82 points.
Dana had all 12 of their wrestlers finish no lower than seventh place in their respective weight classes. Overall, the Vikings had two wrestlers capture national titles while Lindenwood (Mo.) had three individual champions, the most in the tournament. It is the first team national championship in any sport for the school from Blair, Nebraska.
The 2006 Coach of the Year Award was presented to Steve Costanzo of Dana (Neb.), while Northwestern College (Iowa) was given the Team Sportsmanship Award. The top four finishers in each weight class earn all-America honors while the fifth through eighth place finishers receive honorable mention status.
For more information and complete results, visit the NAIA website at www.naia.org.
Final Results and Team Scores
