FINAL RESULTS
PHOTO GALLERY

ROANOKE, Va. – A highly-anticipated Saturday at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships saw mixed results for Otterbein junior heavyweight Drew Kasper, who woke up with sights set on a potential national title after his memorable Friday performances.

HOW IT WENT DOWN:

• Kasper opened day two in a winner's bracket semifinal showdown against mammoth Adarios Jones of Augustana, seeded No. 2 in the bracket. Jones was just a bit too powerful for Kasper in gaining early momentum with a few takedowns, ultimately pulling away for a 14-2 major decision.
   
• The consolation semis then saw Kasper pitted against top-seeded James Bethel of SUNY Oneonta, with Bethel working his way to a 16-2 victory.
   
• Kasper stayed the course and rebounded nicely in the fifth-place match, maneuvering past Bowen Wileman (Wartburg) by a final decision of 8-4. Wileman had previously knocked off Bethel on day one.

 
INSIDE THE MATCHES:

• Kasper, seeded No. 6, had a grueling path to the podium by facing the top-three seeds in his division. He went 1-2 in those bouts, including the 12-11 triumph over defending national champion Jake Evans of Waynesburg. Evans, a 30-year old ex-marine, holds the NCAA career record with 180 wins.
   
• Kasper now stands with an 88-13 record since arriving to Otterbein as a redshirt freshman, spending one year at Indiana Tech before coming to compete for his high school coach Brent Rastetter.
   
• This winter saw Kasper go 32-2 overall, including a remarkable 25 bonus-point victories by way of nine pins, eight majors and six tech falls.
   
• Adarios Jones, a Division I transfer from Northern Iowa, lost a sudden-victory decision in the national title match in his quest to go undefeated. He finished the year 26-1.

 
WHAT THEY SAID:

"I felt like I could have performed better, but a couple guys were just better than me today. They showed up and earned theirs, and I showed up trying to earn mine. I'll be ready for more next time." – Drew Kasper

"I had watched his matches multiple times online with the anticipation of facing him. We finally got to the point where it was the last match of the day to secure All-American honors and not have to wrestle again on Friday. I was confident I could win and went hard early, which led to me gassing in the last period and holding on. The picture of me laying on the mat afterwards is partially looking up at God with thanks and relief, and the other part of me was too tired to celebrate." – Drew Kasper after beating Jake Evans

"I love having the pressure to help lead and represent our program at Otterbein. All of this makes me push boundaries that I might not normally push mentally, physically and emotionally. There is laughing, yelling, crying, puking, anxiety, joy and determination. I know the WWE is potentially scouting me and I want them to know how much I love competing. My goal is to win a national title and then a professional title someday."

"We knew the matches were going to get tougher because they are supposed to, and Jones just wasn't a good style matchup. We took one on the chin and tried to wrestle back in a wild tournament that can go a lot of different ways. It felt good to see Drew walk off the mat with a win. He has written the record books on firsts for Otterbein and has another year for more chapters." – Coach Brent Rastetter