Skillings, Waples earn NCAA bids as Oles are seventh at regional

February 20, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS - Justin Skillings (157) and Joseph Waples (165) each earned trips to the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships by finishing second at Saturday's NCAA Great Lakes Regional. St. Olaf finished seventh as a team.

Skillings lost a 5-0 decision to top-ranked Jason Adams of Augsburg in the winner's bracket final. He then picked up a 6-4 win over Dan Hamilton of Elmhurst in the runner-up match to earn the trip to the NCAA's.

The fourth-seeded Waples, who upset top-ranked Matt Baarson of Saint John's 11-10 in the semifinals, lost a 14-6 major decision to Augsburg's Orlando Ponce in the final. Because Baarson won the loser's bracket, Waples did not have to wrestle again.

St. Olaf also had a strong performance from Ryan Timmermann at 133. Timmerman lost his quarterfinal match but battled back and won the fifth place match and was 4-2 in the event.

Skillings and Waples will compete at the NCAA's on March 5 and 6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.