Vikings Place Five All-Americans

Dana College sent 12 wrestlers to the 51^st Annual NAIA wrestling championships in Sioux City, Iowa, over the weekend and came out with five All-Americans.

Leading the way for the Vikings were two runner-up finishes.  Burke Barnes (SR, Lake Stevens, Wash.) earned his second straight second-place finish at 133 pounds.  Barnes opened up the tournament with a 13-3 major decision over Dante Rini of Notre Dame College.  He then won a high scoring third round match-up against Rudy Justo of Menlo, 17-10.  Barnes picked up a pin in 1:22 in the quarterfinals over Lindenwood’s Jonathan Lloyd. 

Wade Lowe of McKendree College was next up in the semi-finals.  Barnes pinned Lowe in just 54 seconds to reach the finals.  Barnes’ run ended in the championship match.  Raymond Stevens of Lindenwood defeated Barnes by major decision, 18-7, in the finals.

Wade Jordan (SR, Coulee City, Wash.) brought home a runner-up finish for the Vikings at heavy weight.  Jordan defeated Notre Dame’s Nick Terifai 5-1 to open the tournament.  In the quarterfinals, he defeated Marcus Moore of Southern Oregon, 5-1. Jordan defeated Karter Kleeman of Dickinson State in the semifinals, 11-8.  His great run ended in the finals to Jesse Ruiz of Menlo, 10-3.

Ryan Tuzon (SO, Maui, Hawaii) defeated Aaron Palacios of William Penn, 16-9, to open up the 165-pound weight class.  Aaron Winning of McKendree was Tuzon’s opponent in the quarterfinals.  The two put on a back-and-forth match that Tuzon ended up winning, 6-4.  He then lost his semi-finals match-up against Robert Davis of Menlo.  Davis defeated Tuzon, 5-3, before winning the national title.  

Tuzon made the most of the wrestle backs as he defeated King College’s JaVonte Ashfors 10-2.  The consolation finals pitted Great Plains Athletic Conference foe Tony Duarte of Dakota Wesleyan.  Tuzon earned an 8-5 win to take home third.

Jason Bilinski (SR, Pittsgrove, N.J.) finished in fourth place at 157 pounds.  He lost his opening match, 9-2, against Missouri Baptist’s Matt Collum.  Bilinski had a second chance in the wrestle backs to earn All-American status.  In the first round of the wrestle backs, he pinned David Wiese of Cumberlands in 38 seconds. 

Next up in an elimination match was teammate Dan Pray (SR, St. George, Kan.).  Bilinski took a hard fought 9-3 decision to advance to the consolation quarterfinals.  Jason Spencer was next up for Bilinski.  The match would end up with Bilisnki on top with a 12-5 victory.  Menlo College’s Lee Morrison was next up in the semi-finals.  Bilinski captured a victory via pin in 3:19.  The consolation finals pitted Bilinski against Matt Collum.  Collum came away with his second win over Bilinski.

Tony Ponce (SR, Derby, Kan.) was the final All-American for the Vikings.  Ponce picked up a 6-5 win over Cumberland University’s Johnny Sinchok to open the 174-weight class.  He then took a close 4-3 decision over Tyson Campbell of Oklahoma City University.  Ponce lost a 10-2 major decision to Great Falls’ Brendon DeCock in the semi-finals.  Hayden Harrison of Embry-Riddle University pinned Ponce 5:28 in the wrestle back semi-finals.  Ponce had one more match to determine fifth and sixth place.  He lost a 12-3 major decision to Northwesterns’ Enock Francois.

Dana placed fifth overall in the team standings with 91.5 points.  Lindenwood University won its second straight team title with 130 points.  The Vikings were the highest scoring GPAC school in the National Tournament.  This is the fourth straight year Dana has placed in the top five in the team scoring race.

Other Dana Results 

Kevin Gray                   125 pounds                  2-2

Matt Jacobson              133 pounds                  1-2

Ty Costa                      141 pounds                  0-2

Adam Manz                 141 pounds                  1-2

Dan Pray                      157 pounds                  2-2

Josh Ghobadpoor         174 pounds                  2-2

Ross Milam                  197 pounds                  2-2

Dana College is a private, Lutheran college located in Blair, Nebraska.  The Vikings participate in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and are members of the NAIA.  Dana College is a place where all students actively participate.

For more information please contact:

 Shad Beam, Sports Information 402-426-7389