By: Drew Wilson/Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications & Administration
DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University men’s wrestling seniors Mason Barrett and Anthony Taylor finished as the region runner-up in their weight classes while punching a ticket to the national tournament Saturday as the NCAA Division III Region 4 Championships wrapped up in the E. Stuart James Grant Center on the campus of Averett.
Barrett and Taylor automatically qualified for the NCAA National Championships scheduled for March 14-15 in Providence, Rhode Island, by finishing in the top three of their respective weight classes. In all, Averett had seven of its 10 wrestlers place in the region, one shy of the program record set last season.
Barrett and Taylor advanced to the region finals at 125 pounds and 157 pounds, respectively, with semifinal wins early in the day on Saturday. Barrett, who is nationally ranked, earned a tough 8-7 decision over Roanoke College’s Isaic Paulino to get to the region finals for the third consecutive year. The reigning two-time region champion fell short of a three-peat in the first-place match with an 8-0 major decision loss to Ferrum College’s Zach Beckner. However, as runner-up, the two-time All-American Barrett qualified for his third consecutive NCAA national tournament. Taylor won his semifinal 9-5 over Washington and Lee University’s Colin Bridges to send him to the 157 finals, where he ran into two-time defending national champion Michael Petrella, who has won 112 matches in a row. Petrella won by technical fall, 19-1, but Taylor still earned his second consecutive trip to the national tournament.
Averett had five other wrestlers in contention to battle back from the consolation rounds when Saturday began, but none made it to the third-place match after falling either in the third round of the consolation or in the consolation semifinals. Sophomore A.J. Orlando III placed fifth at 133 and junior Xavier Swanson placed fifth at 165, while freshman Andres Cortes finished sixth. Fifth-year senior Mauricio Reyes placed seventh, and junior Nolan Gerwitz finished eighth in the region to round out the Cougars’ placers.
Averett, in the team scoring, finished fifth.
Averett hosted the two-day region tournament for the first time as 20 teams completed over the 10 weight classes to a packed arena.
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