Hult Takes Bronze, Hashimoto Finishes Fifth at NCAA Wrestling Championships
03/08/08
NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships Results
New York University senior Stephen Hult won the bronze medal and senior captain Takafumi Hashimoto took fifth place in their respective weight classes at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Saturday, March 8, at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, IA.
Hult, seeded #4 at 141 pounds, defeated #8 seed Travis Grawin of Luther College in the third-place match by a score of 6-2.
Hult earned All-America honors for the first time with his performance, and tied for the best finish ever at the NCAA Championships by an NYU wrestler.
Mat McClenahan, a two-time All-American, finished third in the 118-pound weight class in 1990.
Hult, who did not wrestle at all during the 2006-07 season, became the first NYU wrestler ever to earn All-America honors in the 141-pound weight class.
"I just went out and had fun. That's my motto," Hult explained. "If you're too cautious or too pressured, it's not a good thing."
Hult finished the season with a 32-6 record, tied for most wins on the team with senior captain Nick Coleman (32-7). Hult's overall career record stands at 97-23.
"This adds so much to my career after not wrestling for a year," Hult added. "This makes coming back all worth it."
In his first match on Saturday, in the championship semifinals, Hult was beaten 5-3 in the final second by top-seeded Michael Bonora of Rhode Island College.
Hult was trailing 3-2 in the final seconds of the third period, but would have received a tying point for riding time. However, Bonora, who came into the match with a 42-2 record, managed a takedown with one second remaining. That secured the win for the top seed and sent Hult into the consolation bracket.
In his first consolation match, Hult defeated #3 seed Matt Kelly of Wartburg College 8-2. That victory advanced him to the third-place match.
"Coach Haberli has always told me to wrestle loose and to let it all hang out," Hult revealed. "This win was for him, my dad, and for all the coaches. I wanted them all to be proud."
Hashimoto, seeded #6 at 157 pounds, earned a 6-3 decision over #4-seeded Jesse Milks of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville 6-3 in the fifth-place match.
In winning his first All-America honor, Hashimoto also became the first NYU wrestler ever to earn that distinction at 157 pounds.
Only three wrestlers in the program's history (Hult, McClenahan, and Jason Snow) have ever finished higher than Hashimoto's fifth-place showing.
In his championship semifinal bout on Saturday, Hashimoto fell to #2 seed Jason Brew of Olivet College by a score of 13-6. He then lost a tough 4-2 decision to the University of Debuque's Josh Terrell in his first consolation bout, before rebounding for the fifth-place win.
"'Tak' really had to dig deep and find something within himself to win that match," said NYU head coach Bruce Haberli. "He had just come off two tough losses. But, his performance was an example of battling and getting the job done when your technique isn't working like it normally does."
Hashimoto finished the 2007-08 season with an overall record of 28-5.
"Both wrestlers making it to the national semifinals and earning All-America honors is a great accomplishment for them and for NYU," Haberli added.
NYU finished in 12th place with 23.5 points, the team's highest-ever national finish.
"We want to be a top-20 team in the country, consistently," added assistant coach Corey Luce. "And having these two guys perform the way they did has put us on the road to that goal."
Wartburg won the 60-team competition with 147 points, followed by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (100) and Augsburg (87).
In addition to their accomplishments on the mat, NYU's wrestling team also displayed their academic prowess by earning several awards: