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Several Overtime wrestlers competed for their college wrestling teams at the NCAA Division I National Championships in the past few weeks, winning six individual NCAA Division I All-American honors to go with two NCAA Division III All-American awards and an NAIA All-American medal. Overtime wrestlers who competed at their respective 2011 national collegiate championships included:
NCAA Division I
Brandon Precin, Northwestern Wildcats (Senior, 125) - Winning third place for the Wildcats was Brandon Precin, who ended his collegiate career by matching his third place finish in 2009 (Brandon red-shirted in 2010). Precin was the highest-placing and highest-scoring wrestler with 16.5 team points for the Wildcats, who finished in a tie for 12 th place as a team http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031911aae.html
Andrew Howe, Wisconsin Badgers (Junior, 165) - Howe won third place individually. Fighting through a crippling hamstring injury, the defending NCAA National Champion put up a strong performance, suffering his only loss of the tournament in the third top/bottom overtime period in the semifinals. Andrew netted 14.5 team points to lead the Badgers squad to a 10 th place finish as a team http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031911aag.html
Tyler Graff, Wisconsin Badgers (Junior, 133) - Joining Howe on the 10 th place Badgers was Tyler Graff, who has trained extensively with Overtime during his college career, especially during freestyle season. Graff scored 14.0 team points, including two major decisions, en route to a fifth place finish http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031911aag.html
Jimmy Kennedy, Illinois Fighting Illini (Senior, 141) - In his final season, Kennedy earned his third NCAA Division I All-American honor by taking fifth place for the Fighting Illini and scoring 14.0 team points. Kennedy was the highest-placing and highest-scoring wrestler for Illinois, which earned 25 th place as a team http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031911aab.html
Andrew Nadir, Northwestern Wildcats (Senior, 149) - Nadir capped off a successful career with a sixth place All-American finish and 11.0 team points. Nadir trained with Overtime during his collegiate career. He joined fellow senior Brandon Precin on the medal stand for the Wildcats http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031911aae.html
Jason Welch, Northwestern Wildcats (Sophomore, 157) - Yet another Northwestern All-American, Jason Welch climbed onto the stand for the first time in his career with a sixth place finish and 10.0 team points. Like Nadir and Graff, Welch began training with Overtime after high school. Welch will anchor Northwestern's lineup next season as the team's only returning All-American. http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031911aae.html
Mike Benefiel, Oklahoma State Cowboys (Junior, 174) - Benefiel went 3-2 at NCAA Division I Nationals, but came up one win shy of winning All-American honors. Mike still contributed 4.0 team points towards the Cowboys fourth place finish as a team http://www.okstate.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031911aaa.html
Ben Apland, Michigan Wolverines (Sophomore, 285) - The starting heavyweight for Michigan went 1-2 at NCAA Division I Nationals. Apland only secured one team point for the Wolverines, but it ended up making a difference in the standings, as the Wolverines 15 th place finish was just one-half point ahead of 16 th place Oklahoma http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031811aaa.html
Jon Morrison, Oklahoma State Cowboys (Freshman, 125) - Along with teammate Mike Benefiel, Morrison made sure that one-fifth of John Smith's starting lineup this March was former Overtime wrestlers who qualified for the NCAA Division I National Championships. Morrison qualified out of the very difficult Big 12 Tournament, but he went 0-2 at nationals http://www.okstate.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/031911aaa.html
Collectively, wrestlers who have trained extensively with Overtime scored 85.0 team points at the NCAA Division I National tournament. This includes 50.0 team points from wrestlers who trained at Overtime in high school: Brandon Precin (16.5 points); Andrew Howe (14.5 points); Jimmy Kennedy (14.0 points); Mike Benefiel (4.0 points); Ben Apland (1.0 points); and Jon Morrison (0.0 points). Great job, guys! Final team standings and bracket: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-wrestl/auto_pdf/2011ncaabrackets-final.pdf
NCAA Division III
Congratulations also to Joe Rau, Elmhurst Bluejays (So, 184) and Frank Savegnago, Elmhurst Bluejays (Sr, 174) who competed at the 2011 NCAA Division III National Championships. The two former Overtime wrestlers won 7 th place and 8 th place, good for 7.5 team points 4.5 team points, respectively, on an Elmhurst team that won 10 th place at NCAA Division III Nationals http://www.elmhurstbluejays.com/news/2011/3/12/WREST_0312111824.aspx?path=wrestling
NAIA
Also getting on the medal stand was NAIA wrestler Ryan Jahn, McKendree Bearcats (Sr, 149), who won 4 th place at the 2011 NAIA National Championships. Jahn contributed 18.0 team points to the Bearcats third place finish as a team http://www.mckbearcats.com/news/2011/3/5/MWREST_0305112934.aspx
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