Waynesburg’s Evans wins D-III national championship
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Waynesburg University junior heavyweight Jake Evans scored a takedown and four back points in the third period to rally for a 10-5 victory over James Bethel of SUNY-Oneonta and win the NCAA Division III wrestling national championship Saturday night at the Cleveland Auditorium.
Evans, a graduate of Elizabeth Forward, is the first national champion from Waynesburg since it joined Division III. The Yellow Jackets’ other wrestling national champions have been at the Division I and NAIA levels.
The fifth-seeded Evans (50-3) started quickly, scoring a takedown 15 seconds into the title matchup. Bethel (34-4), however, escaped and scored a takedown to take the lead. A second stalling call against Evans gave Bethel a 4-2 lead after one period.
An escape pushed Bethel’s lead to 5-2, but with only six seconds left in the second period Evans scored a takedown that changed the momentum.
Trailing 5-4 entering the third period, Evans scored his third takedown of the bout and added the near-fall points.
Evans reached the semifinals by upsetting top-seeded Lance Evans of Wartburg (Iowa), 8-6, in the semifinals.