Beard an All-American; Wood exits before final day
The trio of local qualifiers had mixed results at the NCAA Wrestling Championships over the weekend in St. Louis.
Experiencing the best result was Penn State’s Michael Beard, a Pottstown native and Malvern Prep graduate.
Beard, the No. 15 seed at 197, placed seventh to achieve All-American status in his first NCAA Championships.
Beard won the seventhplace match, posting a backand-forth, thrilling 10-8 sudden victory decision over No. 8 Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming. He went 4-2 with three majors and was 10-6 on the season.
Boyertown graduate and Lehigh senior Jordan Wood was unsuccessful in becoming a three-time All-American. After dropping into consolations with a 12-2 loss to Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet, Wood’s second day began with a 6-0 decision over Sam Schuyler of Buffalo but in his second bout of the day was unable to overcome a 6-0 deficit against Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force in a 7-6 loss in third round consolations. Wood finishes the season at 9-3. He placed fourth in 2018-19 and was the No. 9 seed last year before the cancellation of the NCAA finals.
Wood won his fourth EIWA title last month. He is expected to return for the 2021-22 season, according to the Lehigh athletics website.
Pittsburgh senior and Boyertown graduate Gregg Harvey went 1-2 in his first NCAA Championships. Harvey is a two-time qualifier, but missed the chance to compete a year ago due to the tournament cancellation.
The No. 30 seed at 184 pounds, Harvey dropped his opener to No. 3 seed Lou Deprez of Binghamton, rebounded with an 8-0 major over Sacred Heart’s Joe Accousti. Harvey was later eliminated in a 5-2 loss to Illinois’ Zach Braunagel.
Iowa won the team championship, led by 126-pound champion Spencer Lee. Exeter grad Austin DeSanto placed third at 133 pounds.
Penn State placed second, backed by Beard and four champions, junior Roman Bravo-Young, senior Nick Lee, freshman Carter Starocci and sophomore Aaron Brooks.