(INDIANAPOLIS) - Blake Glogouski (Sr., New Paris, Ind. / Fairfield) and Chris Droege (Jr., Austintown, Ohio / Austintown Fitch) are headed to the national championships after a day that was full of accomplishments for Lake Erie at the Super Region III championships. Not only did the Storm finish fifth in the team standings, but they also had wrestlers place in all 10 weight classes in a loaded field.
"We are excited to be heading to Sioux Falls for the NCAA tournament," said Head Coach Jeff Breese on the team's return trip home. "Big picture we are very happy with the direction we are trending. We doubled our national qualifiers and regional placers from a year ago. We're also returning all but three wrestlers from this team next year."
Even though this season isn't over, it's easy to see why Breese is so excited for next season already, especially when four of the aforementioned placers are freshmen. Pair that with Droege returning with senior leadership and Breese appears to have a recipe for success.
Droege opened the tournament with a 4-2 decision over West Liberty's Ronnie D'amico and proceeded to win his semifinal pairing against Notre Dame's Mike Viramontes 7-5. In the finals he faced a familiar foe in Tiffin's Nicholas Mason, but was defeated as Mason scored a fall.
"Chris Droege has come so far during his time at Lake Erie. He has willed his way to success," added Breese. "I'm very proud of what he accomplished today. We're thrilled to have him on the national scene in two weeks."
While it will be his first trip to the big dance, Glogouski is heading there for a third time. The seasoned veteran opened up with falls against West Liberty's Corey Secrist and Davenport's Robert Altland before squaring off with Notre Dame's Hunter Bray in the semis. It was a low scoring affair that saw Bray edge out a 5-3 decision en route to a regional championship.
"Blake Glogouski is a winner and a gamer," Breese said. "He is a guy that, way more often than not, finds a way [to win]. This was the best version of Blake I have seen in my time at Lake Erie. Blake has been a huge part of Lake Erie Wrestling success. He is top 10 all-time in wins and is now a three-time NCAA qualifier. We hope to cap off his awesome career on the podium at NCAA's."
Lake Erie finished fifth with 87.5 points. The four teams that finished ahead of the Storm are all highly ranked, and three of those teams are ranked in the top 10. Notre Dame won the region with 127.5 points. The Falcons were followed by Tiffin, Ashland, and host UIndy. No. 21 West Liberty finished sixth giving the Storm their second victory over the nationally ranked Hilltoppers after defeating them in a dual earlier this season.
Jacob Johnson (So., Plain City, Ohio / Jonathon Alder), Jacob Potok (Fr., Tallmadge, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary), James Penfold (Fr., Metamora, Mich. / Goodrich), and Devin Uzelac (Sr., Bloomdale, Ohio / Elmwood) all added fifth place wins. Johnson did so by defeating Tiffin's Raymond Adams III in a high scoring 14-12 decision. Potok finished his year with a fall over West Liberty's Blake Miller at 157. James Penfold had little trouble in an 8-1 decision over the Hilltoppers' Chase Morgan at 165.
Also helping the Green and White rack up points were sixth place efforts by Andrew Lieb (Sr., Pataskala, Ohio / Watkins) at 141, Brandon Tenney (Gr., Buckhannon, W.Va. / Buckhannon Upshur), John Penfold (Jr., Metamora, Mich. / Goodrich) at 174, and Brylan Clouse (Fr., Barnesville, Ohio / Barnesville) at 184.
The national championships will begin on Friday, March 13, and conclude the next day. Augustana University will serve as the hosts with all competition taking place in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
