Latimer Advances to Semifinals; Earns All-American Honors
PARK CITY, Kan. – ACU wrestler Jack Latimer highlighted the Firestorm’s first day at the 64th-Annual NAIA Wrestling Championships by becoming the program’s first-ever All-American by advancing to the semi-final round that begins tomorrow morning.
Latimer:
Latimer is guaranteed a top-six finish and All-American status as he advanced to the semifinal round set for tomorrow morning. He will face returning nationals finalist Denver Stonecheck of Life University (Ga.) tomorrow at 9 a.m. Arizona Time. To get to the semis, he defeated the No. 1 Seed in the round of 16 and the No. 9 seed in the quarterfinal round.
Gonzales lost a 7-4 battle to eventual All-American Crowell from Southeastern (Fla.). He then defeated conference rival Luciano Faculo from Eastern Oregon 5-4 in the consolation round before being eliminated by No. 12 Arguello from Reinhardt (Ga.) to end his tournament and a great sophomore season.
Kelly drew a challenging match right off the bat with the No. 8 seed and returning national finalist Austin Wallace-Lister from Warner Pacific (Ore.). He fell 5-1 in that match and in consolation, he was locked in a close match with Nortje from Hastings (Neb.) before getting thrown in the final minute to end his stellar freshman season.
Newberry opened the tournament in a big way, winning by Fall over SAC Conference champion Drake Vannoy of Oklahoma City. He lost tough matches to All-American Tanner Abbas from Grand View (Iowa) and Ben Peters of Briar Cliff (Iowa) to end his tournament and a great freshman year.
Torres also drew a tough match to start his tournament. He fell in a close match to semifinalist and All-American Sid Ohl from Life University (Ga.), then to All-American Gavin Smith of Campbellsville (Ky.). Overall he wrestled a great tournament and had a great first year at ACU.
Thoughts from Coach:
After the first day of competition, Head Coach Travis Patrick said, ” I am incredibly proud of these guys. Each one of them competed with heart and represented ACU with pride today. I’m fired up for Jack. He had arguably the toughest draw of the group wrestling the No. 1 seed in his first match. For him to not only be our first-ever All-American, but to also be a semi-finalist is a huge accomplishment. We appreciate all of the support and prayers from the Firestorm family today and ask for continued support and prayers tomorrow!”
Next Up:
Latimer faces Denver Stonecheck of Life University (Ga.) in the semifinals of the NAIA Wrestling Championships at 9 a.m. Arizona Time inside Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan. Click here to follow the event live.
