Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Brackets

PELLA, Iowa (Feb. 15, 2020) – Less than 24 hours removed from winning the program's first American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Championship, the No. 3-ranked Loras College wrestling team sent a group of grapplers to the Last Chance Invite, hosted by Central College, and returned home with an individual champion in Derek Venteicher at 184 lbs.

The sophomore took his first match against Graceland University's Justin Outerbridge with an 8-0 major decision before following up with a 7-4 decision against Kaimana McCreadie from Morningside College. He capped off his day with an 11-6 win by decision against Joseph Deckert from Iowa State University to win the weight class.

Earning a third place finish was Matt Connolly at 157 lbs. He pinned Simpson College's Mason Kruljac at 1:42 in the opening match and defeated Jackson Gissell from Central by a 12-10 decision in the second round. He came up just short against Aurora University's Chase Clark, dropping a 6-4 decision but won against Central's Luke Condy, 6-2, in the consolation finals.

Nolan Noonan finished the day with a fifth place finish at the 141 weight class with two pins in the consolation rounds. His first pin came against Simpson's Isaac Romo at 2:07 and he tallied his second against Central's George GAlaz at the 1:47 mark in the fifth-place match.

The Duhawks now have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Division III Lower Midwest Regional Championship, hosted by Loras at the Five Flags Center. The first session kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 29 and the finals are set for Sunday, March 1.