FINDLAY, Ohio -- The Lake Erie wrestling team competed today in the NCAA DII Super Regional III in Findlay, Ohio today. The Storm as a team finished seventh out of 12 teams with four wrestlers placing. Among them, was Carsen Richards who finished 3rd and punches his ticket to the NCAA DII National Championships.

133
The Storm's lone returning national qualifier, Anthony Sagaris, opened the day with a bye before falling 4-3 to Findlay's Nate Knowlton in the quarterfinals after battling back from an early deficit. In the consolation bracket, Sagaris responded with back-to-back dominant wins. He first earned a 14-3 major decision over Davenport's Shawn McGuire and followed up that performance with a 16-0 technical fall win against Davis & Elkins' Nicholas Daniel. His run ended with a 5-2 loss in the consolation semifinals, but a forfeit in the fifth-place match secured the Storm's first placer of the day.

141
Richards opened the day with a bye before defeating Tiffin's Bret Minnick, 7-3, in the quarterfinals. He then fell narrowly to #8 Khyvon Grace of West Liberty in the semifinals, shifting to the consolation bracket as a result. In the consolation semifinals, Richards shut out Grand Valley State's Preston LeFevre, 4-0, to keep his national hopes alive and advance to the third-place match. He closed the night with his strongest performance, earning a 10-3 decision over Findlay's Ashton Anderson to secure his spot as a National Qualifier.

149
Colin Roberts represented the Storm at 149 in his first season with the green and white. After a first-round bye, he dropped a 7-1 decision to #5 Hayden Kuhn of Ashland. Roberts responded with two dominant performances, pinning Emory & Henry's Isaac Hensley in 2:02 and moving past Tiffin's Antonio Hobbs with a 19-3 technical fall. In the consolation semifinals Roberts narrowly fell 4-3 to Findlay's Micah Cotrell but he bounced back and finished the day strong, earning a fifth-place finish by taking down Bluefield State's Enrique Sanchez by 23-13 major decision.

157
At 157, Josh Howey represented the Storm and opened with a 5-0 shutout of Emory & Henry's Levi Field. He followed with a gritty 8-5 sudden victory upset over Grand Valley State's Maclain Morency in the quarterfinals. Howey's run was slowed in the semifinals with an 11-5 loss to  #9 Nico Taddy of West Liberty, but he bounced back in the consolation semifinals with a 7-4 win over Findlay's AJ Parish. With a trip to nationals on the line in the third-place match, Howey battled hard in a rematch with Morency but fell just short, 3-1.

Looking Ahead
With his third-place finish, Richards punched his ticket to Sioux Falls, SD., where he will compete at 141 in the NCAA Division II National Championships. He extends the Storm's 15-year streak of national qualifiers and becomes just the fourth different wrestler in program history to represent the Storm nationally at 141.