After a long two-days at the 2018 NCAA Division III Central Regional Championships, three Waynesburg University wrestlers emerged from the tournament with a bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships.

Senior 125-pounder Tristan Buxton and sophomore 197-pounder Ken Burrs both earned their first career bids to the National Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, March 9 and 10, with third place finishes, while junior Jake Evans rolled easily to the 285-pound title to grab his second-straight National Championship appearance.

Given that it is his final campaign as a Yellow Jacket, Buxton knew going in that all of his hard work over the past four years needed to come together in the tournament.

“Going into the tournament, I had this looming thought that this could be the last one,” said Buxton. “So I felt kind of like an animal trapped in a corner—a little survival instinct kind of thing. So every time I stepped on the mat, it’s like, ‘I’ve got to dominate, I’ve got to score points.’”

After advancing to the second day with a pin and 4-3 decision, Buxton found himself squaring off with second-seeded senior Chris Doyle of Baldwin Wallace in his first match of the second day of the regional tournament.

Buxton went on to lose that match 12-4, and that knocked him into the consolation bracket where he needed two wins to qualify for nationals. After responding by defeating Heidelberg sophomore Mason Brainard 6-3, Buxton found himself ready to battle for third place and a chance for his final season to continue.

“I was pretty nervous going in,” Buxton said. “I knew if I didn’t do this, all my goals would be out the window. It was like, ‘I just have to go out there and dominate this kid.’”

Buxton saw a familiar opponent in sophomore Seth Transue of Ohio Northern University in the bout, a man he beat 4-3 on the first day of the event. The rematch wasn’t as close, as Buxton didn’t allow Transue to score a single offensive point and pulled out a 7-1 decision to punch his ticket to the national stage.

“After beating him, I was just overwhelmed with emotion,” he said. “So many people have been pulling for me and supporting me. Just being able to achieve that goal of making it is just amazing because I know all the hard work I put in wasn’t a waste.”

Head coach Ron Headlee was elated to see Buxton finally reach his goal of reaching the national tournament, especially after coming up one-win shy in his junior campaign.

“He works so hard and it’s been a goal for him for a long time, he just always gives 100 percent,” Headlee said. “He always been in a tough weight class, so just to see him make it was really exciting for our team along with [Burrs] and [Evans]. I think he can stay with everyone [at the National Championships].”

Burrs’ run at 197-pounds paralleled that of Buxton’s in the sense that he won both matches on the first day before losing the first match of the second day, finding himself in the consolations.

Needing two wins to qualify, Burrs gutted out a 6-3 decision to advance to the third place bout, where he promptly came out with a 7-5 decision and a bid to the National Championships.

What makes Burrs’ run all the more extraordinary, according to Buxton, was that he came down with an illness the day before the regional tournament, which was just another obstacle the standout sophomore had to overcome.

“For him to pull it off and still make it to nationals like he did, it’s just a very, very impressive run,” Buxton said. “With [Burrs], I think he’s going to go and show his stuff and it will be fireworks at nationals for him, and same with Evans. I’m excited to see what they’re going to do.”

Headlee is confident that the Yellow Jackets’ 197-pounder will be a force to be reckon with at nationals.

“[Burrs] being there the first time—he will have some nerves, but if he opens up he can wrestle with anybody,” said Headlee. “He was right there with No. 1 seed…I haven’t seen anybody really dominate him this year. If he goes out with right attitude, he can make some noise [at nationals].”

For Evans, who is now 45-3 on the year, it was business as usual at regionals. In his first match of the event, he pinned his opponent in 35 seconds. His second match was a 21-6 technical fall that lasted just 3:24 to advance the Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, native to the second day.

In the second day of the event, Evans pinned his first opponent in 3:38 to solidify his place at nationals and give him a chance to win his weight class. The championship bout saw Evans line up against Ohio Northern sophomore Nathan Barcaskey, a man who beat him 6-5 earlier in the year. Evans quickly gained revenge on his counterpart, pinning him in just 1:18 to take the regional 285-pound title.

“It was really cool seeing that,” Buxton said. “It was great from a teammate standpoint to watch a teammate go out there and get revenge and dominate someone that had previously beaten him,” Buxton said.

Two other Waynesburg wrestlers found themselves advancing to the second day of the regional tournament, but came up just short in grabbing a national championship bid. Freshman 133-pounder Josh Kuslock won his first two bouts of the tournament before dropping his third match and falling into the consolations. Kuslock bounced back with a 20-2 technical fall to advance to the third place match, but was pinned by Baldwin Wallace sophomore Dante Ginnetti to come up just short.

Senior 165-pounder Derek Hull also found himself with a chance to advance despite dropping his first match of the tournament. Hull won two matches in the consolation bracket to advance to Day two, but saw his career as a Yellow Jacket come to a close in his first match of the second day.

Overall, Waynesburg placed fourth among 18 teams at the regional tournament thanks to the collective team effort. In the event, each wrestler that competed for the Yellow Jackets got at least one win.

“I was really pleased with our performance,” Headlee said. “Going there and everyone getting a win is really good, especially in a new region with new teams. Overall I thought we wrestled real well…our guys were fighting the whole time.”

Looking forward to the National Championship, Buxton is excited to make the most of an opportunity he has worked his whole life for in his final season with the Yellow Jackets.

“For the national tournament, I’ve been there twice as a spectator. The atmosphere is amazing,” Buxton said. “Just to think that I’m actually going to be down on the mat competing is just an amazing thought to me…No matter who steps on the line across from me, whether it’s the returning national champ or a returning all-American, I just have to believe that these guys aren’t better than me…You can’t hold back at tournaments like this, if you do that’s where you go two-and-out and you’re going to fall short.”