FINAL BRACKETS
TEAM STANDINGS

MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Otterbein University wrestling team saw its inaugural season come to a close this weekend, concluding the 2016-17 calendar of action at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Tournament.

The Cardinals ultimately finished 10th out of 16 schools, earning 48 points as a collective group and placing three student-athletes on the podium in Jake Vaughan (149 lbs.), Corbin Bunsold (184 lbs.) and Drew Kasper (197 lbs.) Each member of the trio finished in fifth place.

Five Otterbein wrestlers survived Friday's action as Vaughan, Bunsold, Kasper, Jackson Lakso (125 lbs.) and Tyler Norris (133 lbs.) advanced to Saturday's placement matches. Vaughan and Bunsold each tallied a pair of pins to remain in their respective brackets.

Lakso and Norris were unfortunately eliminated early on during the second day, leaving three Cardinals left standing.

Vaughan eventually hit the podium by avenging a previous loss to Mason Deary of UW-Lacrosse. Deary beat Vaughan by major decision, 10-0, earlier in the tournament but Vaughan responded with a pin in the closing seconds of the first round during the fifth-place rematch edition.

Bunsold recovered quickly from an opening-round loss by ripping off three-straight pins, and then ultimately posting an 11-0 major decision over Jason Lynch, competing for The University of Chicago, in the fifth-place showdown.

Kasper, ranked 10th in the country at one point this year, began his tournament with a bye and then delivered an 11-4 triumph in his first time on the mat. He then unfortunately endured a pair of close decision losses before finishing his stay with a technical fall (18-2) over Michael Otomo of UW-Lacrosse.

Heavyweight (285) Gage Archer was also very competitive during the tournament, dropping a close 11-7 decision in his opening bout before posting a 15-3 major in his second outing. He was then bounced after a slim 4-3 match against Nate Barcaskey of Ohio Northern.

Otterbein finished 13-7 in dual meets during its resurrection season, as the Cardinals featured wrestling for the first time since the program was cut back in 1974. The group also turned in a 13th-place finish out of 34 teams at the Wheaton Invitational.