The Wayne State College wrestling traveled to Shreveport, Louisiana on Thursday, March 13 to compete in National Collegiate Wrestling Association's Nationals and finished 18th out of 89 competing teams.
    The Wildcats sent ten wrestlers to Shreveport to compete in the effort. Five of those competitors were able to walk away with three wins to their name. More importantly, six wrestlers were named Academic All-Americans. They are as follows: Zachary Bongers, Brodie Lane, Micah Noel, Anthony Scala, Chance Sjulin, and team President and Captain Gavin Zoucha.
    The Wildcat that made it the furthest was Lane (235 lb.) who battled in the heartbreaks before being knocked out of the tournament. Caleb Berg (149 lb.) and Zoucha (165 lb.) made it to the consolation round and Sjulin (174 lb.) and Tristan Grimm (285 lb.) made it to the round of 24 in the consolation bracket.
    "I genuinely believe this tournament is going down the right path," Zoucha said. "Competition is getting more and more respectable every year. That's a good thing, even though I know it isn't ideal to lose."
    18th is the best team finish the club has ever had at National, with the previous best being 25th in 2023. The Wildcats finished 33rd at this event a season ago.
    "The team is also going in the right direction," coach Mike Borer said. "This is the most competitive WSC has wrestled in a tournament. Everyone wrestled to the best for their abilities and were mentally sharp every time they stepped on the mat. Even when they lost, their attitudes were able to keep them alive a little longer in the consolation rounds."
    This event concludes Wildcat wrestling for the 2024-25 season. WSC will be back on the mat next semester.

Original publication date was March 18.