Ashland University junior Chandler Minnard earned a championship at 141 pounds on Sunday (Dec. 16) at the 40th Midwest Classic.
Minnard went 3-0 in his first day of competition at the Classic. He entered Day 2 needing to earn two more wins to finish first overall, and he did just that. In the semifinal, Minnard won by 8-4 decision over Lake Erie College's Forrest Gloguski to earn a spot in the first-place match. Minnard toppled Newberry's Isaiah Royal by 3-2 decision in the final.
Ashland had six more grapplers competing in the consolation bracket – freshman Luke Wymer at 133, sophomore Carson Speelman at 149, junior Bret Romanzak at 165, junior Christian Price at 174, freshman Daniel Beemer at 184, and sophomore Tristen Weirich at 285.
Wymer came into Day 2 at 3-1. He lost in a 3-1 decision to Chadron State's Brandon Kile in the fourth consolation round.
Speelman also came into the second day of the Classic with a 3-1 record, and also fell in the fourth consolation round, an 8-6 sudden victory for McKendree's Isaiah Kemper.
Romanzak earned a 3-0 decision against Shane Gantz from Wisconsin-Parkside, and an 8-3 decision over Northern State's Billy Holtan. Then, in the consolation semifinal, Rodney Shepard of North Carolina-Pembroke topped Romanzak by 5-2 decision. Romanzak finished in fifth place after winning his final matchup by medical forfeit over Dalton George of Ohio Valley.
Price lost his only match on day two by 12-2 major decision to Bellarmine's Andrew Sams.
In Beemer's fourth consolation round, he lost by fall to Bailey Kelly of Maryville University.
Weirich earned wins in the fifth round of the consolation bracket by 11-8 decision over Western Colorado's Sammy Deseriere, and 14-7 decision to beat Evan Loughman of Lake Erie College in the semifinals of the consolation bracket. In the third-place match, Weirich was beaten by fall against Jacob Robb of Mercyhurst, to finish in fourth place.
Ashland finished eighth overall as a team with 63 points. McKendree won the Classic with 127.5 points.
The No. 14 Eagles have wrapped up competition until the new year, when they will compete at Mount Union on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.
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