CHAMPION! Wrestling’s Kaliner Wins 149-Pound Title to Become Program’s First National Champion
4 min readCEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (March 12, 2022) – Graduate pupil Brett Kaliner of the Stevens Institute of Engineering wrestling group turned the initially nationwide winner in method heritage Saturday, successful the 149-pound title on the final working day of competitors at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.
Kaliner’s historic 4-2 selection victory came about Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace, rated third in the event and the Central Region winner, and completes an undefeated year (29-) for the West Chester, Pennsylvania native. Kaliner was ranked No. 1 in the fat class through the 2021-22 year and concluded his career on Castle Point with 4 top-3 finishes at the nationwide championship tournament.



Some context for a 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘 moment:

To start with 5️⃣x All-American in system heritage

A fantastic 29- period

3️⃣ reward-point wins in the tournament

3️⃣1️⃣st DIII Champion to depict @gomacsports and the to start with at 149#AllRise #OneMore #d3wrestle #MACwrestle pic.twitter.com/2eCLzWnapo
— Stevens Ducks (@StevensDucks) March 13, 2022
Kaliner scored the initially factors of the match with a takedown in the opening moment and created up about a minute of riding time before Petrella escaped to get on the scoreboard.
Using a 2-1 lead into the 2nd interval, Petrella was in the down situation and Kaliner pushed his using time to approximately two minutes, even so Kaliner slice him free with a tiny more than a moment remaining in the body and Petrella gained the escape position to even the match at two.
Kaliner started off down to begin the 3rd and closing interval and swiftly gained the escape level. He held onto a one leg into the final moment of action and with the using time currently locked in, Kaliner was able to struggle off Petrella’s shot attempts to protected the championship.
Kaliner attained the championship match for the second time in his career by scoring his second tech drop of the event in the semifinals, dispatching Chicago’s two-time University Athletic Affiliation champion Ryan Fleck by a 19-3 margin at the time of the second-period of time stoppage. The Ducks’ 149-pounder notched a pair of takedowns and a four-stage in the vicinity of-tumble in the opening period, opening up an 8-2 direct, before scoring a further takedown and two four-issue close to-falls in a 48-second span around the end of the second stanza.
Kaliner will become the 31st Division III nationwide champion to symbolize the Center Atlantic Convention and the very first at 149. The conference experienced two countrywide champions at 150 (Mike Lee (Wilkes) in 1974 and Aaron Fitt (Lycoming) in 1997) before the fat lessons were being changed to their recent format in 1999. The conference did not sponsor wrestling involving 2007 and 2013 (the sport returned as a conference-sponsored activity for the 2013-14 year) and now does not include any national championships won by convention members in its formal archives. Kaliner is the initial meeting wrestler to contend in the 149-pound championship bout because 2001.
As a workforce, Stevens amassed 46.5 points to complete fifth in the group standings. Wartburg University totaled 79 points to get the workforce title, with Wabash (78), Augsburg (62.5) and North Central (62.5) rounding out the top rated-5.
Kaliner’s countrywide championship accomplished an superb event for the method. The Ducks’ fifth-position finish arrived with just 3 scholar-athletes in the discipline, all of whom gained All-The usa honors.
Junior Kyle Slendorn completed in fourth put at 141 to shut out his 3rd year in Hoboken with a 29-4 file. The Howell, New Jersey indigenous, who attained a pair of reward-place victories to arrive at the semifinals, dropped a tough-fought 9-8 conclusion to the bodyweight class’ top seed, Jordin James of Mount Union, with the using time level proving to be the variation in the contest.
Slendorn, who was the fifth seed in the bracket, swiftly bounced again in the consolation bracket, scoring a 14-7 decision victory about Elmhurst’s 2nd-seeded Jimmy McAuliffe. Slendorn would wrap up his tournament versus Ohio Northern’s Jacob Reed in the 3rd-area match, with Reed scoring a takedown in the closing seconds of the second time period to claim a 4-1 decision victory. The fourth-spot end at the countrywide event is the next of Slendorn’s career.
Competing in his very first NCAA Championship, junior Stefan Important concluded seventh at 147, scoring a 7-4 determination victory around SUNY Cortland’s seventh-seeded Demetrius Henry. Key jumped in front with a takedown in the to start with minute of action and took a 2- benefit into the second time period. Henry would knot the rating with a takedown early in the second, prior to Major scored the reversal to jump back in entrance.
The Ducks’ 174-pounder was awarded a penalty stage right after Henry was whistled for stalling for the next time to acquire a 5-2 direct into the last time period. Main upped his edge with an escape at the start off of the period of time and then additional a driving time issue to make the last margin.
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