2022 NCAA Division III Southeast Regional Results
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. Sophomore
Luke Kowalski (Derwood, Md./Saint John’s College) clinched a spot in the NCAA Division III Championship by earning a third-place finish at 133 pounds at the NCAA Division III Southeast Regional Championship hosted by Lycoming College.
Kowalski earned his spot at the national championship with two hard-fought wins in the consolation bracket on Saturday. After going 2-0 Friday, the sophomore matched up with third-ranked Dalton Rohrbaugh in the semifinals Saturday. Rohrbaugh scored a pair of reversals in the opening period and tacked on a reversal and riding time point in the third to get by Kowalski 7-4. The York grappler would go on to win the title at 133.
Relegated to the consolation bracket, Kowalski jumped all over Gustav Petruske from King’s College in the first period, rolling out to a 12-1 lead with a pair of takedowns and two near-falls. Petruske climbed back into the match with four takedowns in the second and third periods, but Kowalski escaped his clutches four times in the final period to pull out a 16-10 decision.
A win in the third place match would ensure Kowalski a trip to nationals and standing in his way was Luke Hoerle from Stevens Institute of Technology. Hoerle had no answer for Kowalski’s top game as the Gettysburg grappler pulled out a reversal to start the second period and rode out the final period to secure the riding time point and a 3-0 win.
Kowalski improved to 30-7 overall this season. His is Gettysburg’s first national qualifier since his brother Colin ’19 made back-to-back trips in 2018 and 2019. The 2020 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships are slated for March 11-12 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Senior Ray Martin (Downingtown, Pa./West Chester Henderson) and junior Eric Mougalian (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) each placed at the regional event with Martin grabbing fourth at 165 pounds and Mougalian taking sixth at 149.
Martin joined Kowalski with a loss to the eventual champion at his weight class, falling 2-0 to sixth-ranked Matt Lackman of Alvernia University in the semifinals. The senior bounced back with a strong final period against Harrison Hinojosa of Stevens in his first consolation bout, scoring an escape and takedown and tacking on the riding time point for a 4-0 win. In the third-place match, Jaden Datz from Washington and Jefferson College scored an early takedown, but Martin escaped just seconds later. The Gettysburg grappler scored another escape to start period two and even the score 2-2. Datz managed an escape in the first 20 seconds of the final period and held off Martin’s takedown attempts over the final 1:41 to pull off a 3-2 win.
Martin closed the season with a 31-8 record with 13 pins. He finished 80-38 in his career and finished tied for third all-time at Gettysburg with 37 career pins.
Mougalian dropped his three matches on Saturday after going 2-0 on Friday. He fell by decision 13-9 to Hunter Campbell of Averett University in the semifinals at 149. In the consolation semis, the Gettysburg junior scored a reversal at the start of the third period to pull even with Roanoke College’s Jarrod Pominville 6-6. Pominville managed a quick escape just seconds later and held on for a 7-6 decision. Mougalian was pinned by Alvernia’s Jason Rezac in the fifth-place match.
The Centennial Conference champion and Most Outstanding Performer, Mougalian closed the season with a 19-17 overall record.
As a team, Gettysburg finished 13th out of 20.
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.