Air Force Wrestling Places Fifth at NCAA West Regional

March 7, 2015

FARGO, N.D. - Air Force wrestling placed fifth overall at the 2015 NCAA West Regional/Western Wrestling Conference Championships Saturday at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on the campus of North Dakota State. Senior Jesse Stafford was Air Force's top finisher, placing second at 165 pounds.

North Dakota State claimed its second-straight title with 67.5 points. Wyoming placed second (63.0), South Dakota State third (56.5), Utah Valley fourth (39.0), Air Force fifth (24.0) and Northern Colorado was sixth (23.5).

Joining Stafford with a top-three finish was sophomore Jerry McGinty, who placed third at 149 pounds. Air Force had four fourth-place finishes. Junior Josh Martinez at 125 pounds, sophomore Anthony McHugh at 133, freshman Zen Ikehara and 184 and senior Jack Carda at 197 all went 2-2 in competition to take fourth.

Stafford, the top seed at 165 and ranked 19th in the nation, defeated John Nething II of South Dakota State to advance to the title bout. Stafford injury defaulted in the title bout, conceding defeat to Mitchell Polkowske of Northern Colorado.

McGinty went 3-1 on the day, rallying back from a semifinal defeat. McGinty opened with win over Trevor Willson of Utah Valley before a loss to eventual champion Clay Ream of North Dakota State. McGinty then defeated Nick Adams of Northern Colorado Willson again in the third-place title bout.

Prior to the tournament, the West Regional received 19 automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, held March 19-21 in St. Louis, Mo. The breakdown of the 19 automatic bids per weight class for the West Regional is as follows: 125 (5), 133 (1), 141 (1), 149 (1), 157 (1), 165 (2), 174 (2), 184 (2), 197 (2) and 285 (2).

With his fourth place finish, Martinez qualified for his third NCAA bid in as many tries. Stafford will await an at-large selection later this week.

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