CLEVELAND, Ohio — After this weekend, the Newberry wrestling team was able to prove that they can run with the big dogs in the country, especially Isiah Royal (141).

Isiah Royal (141 weight class) – 1-1 (second-place)

Royal was able to reach the National Championship finals for the first time in his young career, doing it in dramatic fashion. On the first day of the tournament, Royal went into extra time against Travis Swanson to advance to the semifinal round.

Royal would show his endurance once again in the semifinal round, facing the one seed Brandon Ball of Fort Hays St. Ball came in with an undefeated record and was looking to advance to the National Championship finals. The wrestlers were evenly match as neither was able to gain much of an advantage. Royal was down early but was able to fight his way back. Royal was able to draw even with Ball and was able to send the match into extra time. The two were locked together before Royal took his shot to try and seal the match. Ball looked to have countered Royal but Royal was able to gain control to get the 8-6 sudden victory.

Royal moved on to the National Championship finals where he would go against Jose Rodriguez of Notre Dame (OH). Rodriguez, an Ohio St. transferred and NCAA Division I qualifier, was the seven seed coming into the tournament. Rodriguez was able to attack Royal early and was able to take control of the match, earning a 16-5 major decision.

Royal was Head Coach Cy Wainwright’s first wrestler at Newberry to make it to the National Championship finals match in his tenure.

Austin Palmer (157 weight class) – 1-1 (seventh-place)

Palmer’s day started out with a match against Tyler Miles of Newman with the winner advancing to the fifth-place match. Miles came out on the offensive and gained control early and didn’t let up. Palmer fought hard to create some offense, but was unsuccessful as he was defeated by a 16-4 major decision.

Palmer moved on to the seventh-place match, going up against fellow South Atlantic Conference Carolinas member Kevin Almonds of Emmanuel. Earlier in the season, Palmer was able to defeat Almonds by a decision in conference action. This time around, Palmer was able to get the victory in dominating fashion. Palmer was able to catch Almonds off guard and got a fall in 2:19 to secure the seventh-place spot.

Patton Gossett (285 weight class) – 1-1 (seventh-place)

Coming into today’s first match, Gossett would be squaring off against Tristen Weirich of Ashland with the winner heading to the fifth-place match. The two were familiar with each other as they competed against each other at the Midwest Classic. Weirich was able to get a 9-7 decision the first time around.

The two wrestlers would battle in a very similar match once again. Weirich was able to be just to quick for Gossett as he was able to get a quick takedown. Gossett battled hard for the remainder of the match but was defeated by a 6-5 decision.

Gossett moved onto the seventh-place match, going up against Greg Wilson of Central Oklahoma. Going into the match, Gossett was able to use his size to his advantage to gain control of Wilson. Wilson was alone on an island once Gossett gained control as he would get multiple stall calls. With the match coming to an end, Wilson was able to escape. Gossett left everything out on the mat, shooting one last time to get the takedown for extra measure. Gossett came away with an 8-3 decision win to earn seventh-place.

The Wolves finished ninth in the overall team standings with 42.0 points.

Newberry wrapped up what will be a season to remember as they captured the inaugural South Atlantic Conference Carolinas Championship, Super Region 2 Championship, seven NCAA qualifiers, having three All-Americans and one National Runner-Up.

Isiah Royal (left) wrapped up the season as a national runner up while Austin Palmer (center) and Patton Gossett (right) finished in seventh place.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_WrestlingRunnerUp.jpgIsiah Royal (left) wrapped up the season as a national runner up while Austin Palmer (center) and Patton Gossett (right) finished in seventh place. Courtesy photo

Andy Rogacki for The Newberry Observer