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The Stars had its most all-Americans with five. The Stars notched four all-American finishes each in the 2008 and 2012 national tournaments. OCU’s Zach Skates finished fifth place at 157 pounds to become a three-time all-American, while Derek Sivertsen reeled in fifth at 184. Adrian Gaines of the Stars notched a sixth-place finish at 133.
Sophomore wrestler Ricky McCarty became the NAIA 165-pound national champion March 7 in the NAIA wrestling championships at the Kansas Expocentre.
McCarty joined Kevin Hardy as national champion wrestlers from OCU. Hardy took the 165-pound crown in 2012 and senior Aaron LaFarge finished as 125-pound national runner-up.
The Stars equaled their finest team finish ever at fifth place with 71 points. Grand View (Iowa) rolled to its fourth consecutive national championship.
McCarty triumphed 7-2 over Michael Nord of Jamestown (N.D.) for the 165-pound national title. McCarty (35-11) made the national final by winning 13-3 over Brock Picard of Great Falls (Mont.) in the semfinals.
“It’s something I’ve worked for since I was 5 years old,” McCarty said. “I’ve trained hard and put everything I had into the win. It’s truly my greatest accomplishment, and the feeling is unexplainable. That’s one down, but I still have two more to get. This is the greatest feeling in the world.”
LaFarge fell 10-1 to Ryak Finch of Grand View in the 125-pound championship contest. LaFarge (39-12) recorded his second all-American nod after finishing fifth at 125 pounds in 2013 for Montana State-Northern. LaFarge became a finalist by defeating Jake Sinkovics of Cumberlands (Ky.) 13-5 in the semifinals.
Skates became OCU’s second three-time all-American, following Nik Turner, who earned all-American nods in 2009, 2010 and 2012. Skates (44-7) took fifth at 165 in 2013 and sixth at 157 in 2014. Skates fell one win shy of John Wilcox’s OCU single-season record of 45. Skates has a career record of 121-31.
In the fifth-place match, Skates pinned Shawn McGhee of Campbellsville (Ky.) in 3:23. Skates fell 3-2 to Dallas Houchins of Grand View to move into the fifth-place bout. Skates earned his second victory of the tournament with a 3-1 decision in a tiebreaker.
Sivertsen knocked off Grand View’s Christian Mays 3-1 in the 184-pound fifth-place bout. Sivertsen won his first three matches in the tournament before falling 6-3 in the championship semifinals to Michael Pixley of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.).
Gaines dropped the 133-pound fifth-place contest 20-10 to Indiana Tech’s Mitch Pawlak. Gaines won five times in the consolation rounds to finish as an all-American. Gaines posted a 6-4 win in the first sudden-victory round over Alberto Jaramillo of York (Neb.) in the consolation fourth round.
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