Aholelei and Maschmann Qualify for Nationals: Grapplers Finish 8th

Crete, NE – The Hastings College men's wrestling team competed at the Great Plains Athletic Conference wrestling championships on Friday and Saturday as the Broncos finished eighth overall.

Kavika Aholelei began his tournament run at 133 by defeating Ben Schmitz of Midland via pin at the 2:01 mark advancing him to the semifinal round. There he faced off against No. 1 seed Taylor Vasquez of Midland where he would lose 9-2 to move into the consolation bracket.

In the consolation semifinal, he faced off against No. 3 seed Devin Avedissian of Doane where he absolutely dominated the match with the 13-1 major decision victory. This propelled him into the third place match where he would face off again with Schmitz. He would fall behind early only to get a take down in the period two as they were tied 2-2 heading into the third period. Aholelei decided to take the down position and it paid off in a big way getting a reversal and then worked Schmitz into a tough position and garnered four more back points and eventually brought home third place with the 9-2 victory. This win also propels him to nationals for the first time in his career.

Jake Patterson (149) had to do a lot of work on the consolation bracket as he picked up his first win over Degan Linne of Jamestown via an 11-3 major decision. He then faced off against Noah Parmelee of Northwestern where he won that hard fought battle 5-3 to move into the consolation semifinals where he would lose to Aric Williams of Dakota Wesleyan to move into the fifth place match. He would bring home fifth place due to a medical forfeit.

Cole Maschmann (165) also lost his first match of the tournament and battled through the consolation bracket as well. He first defeated Garrett Arment of Briar Cliff due to a forfeit  but would lose to Zander Ernst of Midland in the consolation semis. This moved him into the fifth place match as he would win that due to a forfeit. Maschmann then went on to win his true fourth place match against Ben Dobler via a 13-5 major decision of Dakota Wesleyan propelling him to a national qualification as well.

Aholelei and Maschmann are the two Broncos to qualify for nationals as the NAIA National Championships will be March 3-4 in Wichita, KS at the Hartman Arena.