Upper Iowa crowns two All-Americans

C.J. MacNaught and Ralph Acosta wrapped up their collegiate wrestling careers as NCAA Division II All-Americans Saturday afternoon. MacNaught won five straight matches to place third at 174 pounds and Acosta finished fifth at 133 pounds. The two are the first D-II All-Americans in Upper Iowa history. Acosta was a conference champion and Division III All-American in 2002. Both Acosta and MacNaught qualified for the D-III National Tournament in 2003.

In its first season as a Division II institution, Upper Iowa placed 17th with 20 team points. Nebraska-Omaha won the team title with 117 points. Nebraska-Kearney (98.5 points) placed second and Shippensburg (66.5) finished third.

After MacNaught lost his first-round match to third-ranked Jared Hess of Central Oklahoma 2-0, he rebounded to win five straight matches. MacNaught started his roll with a 7-4 victory over James Reynolds of Adams State and advanced to Saturday with a 7-6 decision over Hudson Harrison of Mercyhurst.

Saturday, MacNaught won three straight matches to finish third. He defeated Central Missouri State's Jesse Sheets 14-5 before slipping past sixth-ranked Tom Clark of West Liberty State, 4-2. MacNaught claimed third place by defeating second-ranked Travis Krinkie (Minnesota State Mankato) 13-7.

Acosta also had to battle through the consolation draw after losing his opening match. Acosta opened with a 6-5 overtime loss to Western State's Marques Bravo. He then earned two hard-fought 3-2 wins to advance to Saturday. He picked up the first win over Matt Mossor of West Liberty State and followed with the 3-2 decision over Raymond Dunning of Adams State. Dunning is ranked third in the country at 133 pounds.

Acosta, ranked sixth, started Saturday with a 7-2 win over Nebraska-Omaha's Dan Hilario, ranked seventh. Fifth-ranked Earl Jones of Central Oklahoma forced Acosta into the fifth-place match after a 6-4 decision. Acosta concluded his Peacock career with a 3-2 win over Pitt-Johnstown's Brandon Reasey.

Two other Peacocks qualified for Nationals but saw their seasons end Friday. Red-shirt freshman Tyler Mumbulo opened the 125-pound weight class with an 11-7 win over Findlay's Craig Fechko. In the championship quarterfinals, Mumbulo lost 7-1 to top-ranked Trevor Charbonneau of Nebraska-Kearney. Mumbulo's tournament run came to an end after he was pinned by Ashland's Mike Compton in 5:32. Compton is ranked fourth while Mumbulo entered the tournament ranked sixth.

Junior Brian Black fell to seventh-ranked Chris Finn of Central Oklahoma 3-1 in first-round heavyweight action. He bounced back with a 10-1 major decision over New Mexico Highland's Charles Saguil. Black's season concluded with a 6-1 loss at the hands of Augustana's Criston Bietz, ranked fourth.