three all americans mwr
Kenneth Lenger

Men's Wrestling Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Fisler Takes Sixth Place, Leise Seventh and Nixon Eighth at National Championships

Gannon Finishes Tenth as a Team

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Gannon men's wrestling team wrapped competition at the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday at the Chaifetz Center in St. Louis. Three Golden Knights competed in Saturday's third session after earning All-American honors on Friday night. It marked the second straight year head coach Don Henry's team had three All-Americans. Evan Fisler (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) ended up finishing sixth at 165 lbs., with Joel Leise (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) capturing seventh place at 197 lbs. and Freddie Nixon (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) eighth at heavyweight.
 
Gannon finished in tenth place, marking the second straight year with a top ten finish after placing ninth a year ago. Nebraska-Kearney won the national championship with 127 points to outdistance second-place Central Oklahoma, who finished with 86 points. West Liberty finished third with 75.5 points, with St. Cloud St. (67) and Adams St. (65) rounding out the top five. Gannon totaled 30 points. The Golden Knights were the top team from Super Region 1. A total of 52 teams competed.
 
Fisler was the only Golden Knight to win in the consolation third round. The redshirt junior opened the day with an impressive 11-3 major decision over seventh-seeded James Penfold of Lake Erie. He led 4-1 after two periods thanks to a pair of takedowns, then opened things up in the third. After Penfield closed to 4-2 to start the third period, a Fisler takedown and two nearfall points made it 10-2. He would add a point for riding time.
 
Fisler moved on to face sixth-seed Cole Peterson of McKendree in the consolation semifinals. Peterson would dominate the bout to advance to the third-place match with a 16-5 major decision.
 
Fisler, meanwhile, met Drew Wiechers of Ashland in the fifth-place match. The two had met in the championship second round with Wiechers claiming a 3-1 decision. This match was close, as well, but Wiechers would again prevail by a 5-3 score. The Eagle opened the scoring with a takedown midway through the first period, with Fisler making it 2-1 after one period. The only scoring in the second period was a Wiechers' escape. Fisler closed to 3-2 with an escape early in the third period, but Wiechers came out of a scramble with a takedown 30 seconds into the period. Fisler ended the scoring with an escape. He ends the year with a 14-7 record after joining the lineup in early February.
 
Leise, seeded seventh, met eighth-seeded Gino Sita of Alderson Broaddus in the consolation third round. He would also lose by a 5-3 count as he kept battling from behind. Following a scoreless first period, Sita opened the scoring with an escape in the second period, and added a takedown early in the session for a 3-0 advantage. Leise closed to 3-1 midway through the second period with an escape.
 
A Leise escape closed the gap to 3-2 early in the third period. Late in the period he was forced to shoot and Sita countered for a takedown with 22 seconds remaining. Leise escaped in the final five seconds for the final score.
 
Leise ended his season with his 12th fall of the season while facing West Liberty's Logan Kemp in the seventh-place match. The redshirt built up a 7-2 lead with a pair of takedowns and two back points near the midway point of the first period. He would pin Kemp at the 2:36 mark to end the year with a 17-3 record.
 
Nixon met Weston Hunt of Colorado Mines in the consolation third round. As has been the case all year, the senior wrestled another tight match but he lost 3-1 on a takedown by Hunt in sudden victory. It was his eighth match this year that went into extra time. The two exchanged escapes in the second and third periods. With the two-minute sudden victory period coming to an end, Nixon took a shot, but Hunt fought it off and spun around Nixon for the winning takedown in the final five seconds.
 
Wrestling in the seventh-place match, Nixon faced AJ Cooper of Fort Hays State. After a scoreless first period, Nixon chose down to begin the second. He was battling for the reversal with the two getting to their feet in a bear hug. They went across the mat and Cooper was able to throw Nixon to the mat out of bounds while maintaining one foot in the circle. He would register the winning pin at 3:50. Nixon wrapped up the season with a 23-6 record.      
 
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Players Mentioned

Evan Fisler

Evan Fisler

Redshirt Junior
157
Joel Leise

Joel Leise

Redshirt Junior
184
Freddie Nixon

Freddie Nixon

Senior
197

Players Mentioned

Evan Fisler

Evan Fisler

Redshirt Junior
157
Joel Leise

Joel Leise

Redshirt Junior
184
Freddie Nixon

Freddie Nixon

Senior
197