DEARBORN, Mich. - DEARBORN, Mich. - With Henry Ford College’s wrestling program moving to the National Junior College Athletic Association next season, the Great Lakes Conference agreed to give HFC a send-off by allowing them to showcase wrestling on their campus. With top-five finishers earning auto-bids to the National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships and an additional eight wildcards to be awarded by the conference coaches, the stakes were very high. With fifteen teams from four states, the National Duals runner-ups in Grand Valley State University, and eight returning All-Americans in the brackets, the GLC put on quite a show.

In the team race, GVSU ran away with its third consecutive conference championship and 13th in 16 tries. They scored 207 points to runner-up University of Wisconsin Wrestling Club’s 86.5. Rounding out the top-five were University of Toledo with 81.5, The Ohio State University Wrestling Club with 73.5, and Henry Ford College with 70.

The Lakers of GVSU put eleven wrestlers in the finals, including both finalists at two weights, claiming six conference titles. Champions for GVSU were Brendan Hazelton (125), Mitch Hrnyak (133), Zach Cooper (141), Gabe Stepanovich (157), Bailey Bischer (174), and Eric Dietz (184).

In only their second full year in the NCWA, the University of Wisconsin Wrestling Club was led by conference champion Lucas Finnel at 149. The Badger earned three technical falls on the day including a 19-2 win in the finals.

Other conference champions were Taylor Workman (University of Toledo, 165), Kyler Slade (The Ohio State University WC, 197), William Vincent (Mott CC, 235), and Darian Holmes of Henry Ford winning the final bout of the night to claim the title at 285. Holmes’ win solidified a top-five finish for HFC and put an exclamation point on an excellent event for their growing program.

In their first full season in the NCWA, Ferris State University qualified three athletes for the national tournament. In their return to the postseason after a several year absence, the University of Notre Dame also qualified three wrestlers. With the emergence of these programs and all fifteen programs in attendance qualifying at least one athlete, the GLC continues to expand in footprint and depth.

The GLC will enter 63 wrestlers at the NCWA National Tournament, including these eight returning All-Americans:

133 - Zach Vatalare U of Mwc (3rd at 133, 2015; 8th at 133, 2014)
141 - Zach Cooper GVSU (NJCAA 3rd at 133, 2015; NJCAA 3rd at 133, 2014 at Muskegon CC)
157 - Gabe Stepanovich GVSU (5th at 149, 2014)
165 - Austin Geerlings GVSU (4th at 165, only year in NCWA)
174 - Bailey Bischer GVSU (6th at 157, 2015)
174 - Tyler Thomas SVSU (7th at 174, 2015)
184 - Eric Dietz GVSU (7th at 174, 2014)
235 - William Vincent MOTT (7th at 184, 2009, only year in NCWA)

Additionally, these two wrestlers, competing in their first NCWA post-season, recorded head-to-head wins over a returning All-American:

133 - Mitch Hrnyak GVSU who defeated Vatalare in the finals
174 - Shane Brown Akron who beat Thomas in the semifinals

GVSU’s Rick Bolhuis was voted GLC Coach of the Year by his peers, his fifth such award in ten years at the helm of the Lakers. The wrestlers will be back in action at the National Tournament hosted at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida March 10-12. For more information on the tournament, visit http://www.ncwanationals.org/.

Links to results:

PDF Brackets: https://goo.gl/FaHt9k

Team Scores: https://goo.gl/ECfyzt

Full Results: http://www.trackwrestling.com/opentournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=216013