WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- No. 22 Central Missouri Wrestling had four Mules place in the top three of their respective weight classes at the NCAA-II Super Region IV Tournament Saturday, March 1 inside the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center, qualifying them for the NCAA-II Wrestling Championships.
No. 4
Jakason Burks, No. 10
John Ridle, No. 13
Damon Ashworth, and
James Wright all placed high enough in their weight classes to advance to the national tournament. The four qualifiers mark the most for Central Missouri wrestling since the 2009 season.
Burks, a 125-pound senior from Omaha, Neb., went undefeated to reach the championship match. He won his first-round match over Quincy University's Brian Farley by technical fall (16-1), and defeated Maryville's Sam Shafer by fall (2:42) in the second round. In the championship match, Burks picked up the victory over UCO's All-MIAA First Team selection and No. 1-ranked Studd Morris by a 5-3 decision to finish first.
Wright, a 133-pound sophomore from Algonquin, Ill., made a comeback through the consolation bracket after losing his second match to Ouachita Baptist's James Anderson. Once in consolation rounds, Wright won the semifinal match over Newman's Jevin Foust by a major decision of 9-1. He won his final match of the day by sudden-victory (4-1) over Maryville's Evan Binder, to claim third place.
Ridle, a 157-pound redshirt-senior from West Dundee, Ill., went undefeated to reach the championship match. He won his first-round match over Drury University's Joe Kuster by fall (6:02), and a second round 7-2 decision over Ouachita Baptist's Jaylon Otero. In the championship match, Ridle lost to UCO's All-MIAA First Team selection and second-ranked Gabe Johnson by a 4-1 decision. Ridle walked away with runner-up honors and a ticket to the NCAA championships for the second time in his career as a Mule. Ridle also picked up his 100th career victory in the first-round contest against Kuster. He is just the seventh wrestler in program history to win at least 100 career matches.
Ashworth, a 184-pound redshirt junior from Excelsior Springs, Mo., also went undefeated to reach the championship match. He won his first-round match over Drury University's Tristan Staat by fall (2:21), and a second round 8-5 decision over McKendree University's Zeke Waltz. In the championship match, Ashworth lost to UCO's All-MIAA First Team selection and No. 7-ranked Garrett Wells by a 6-3 decision to finish runner-up and secure his second straight ticket to the NCAA championships.
In the final team standings, the Mules placed third out of 10 teams with 112.5 points. Central Oklahoma won the Super Region IV Championship with 147.5 points.
The NCAA-II Wrestling Championships are being held in Indianapolis, Ind., March 14-15 at Corteva Coliseum.
