GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Washington and Lee wrestling team produced two regional champions and qualified three wrestlers for the NCAA Division III Championship en route to a second-place finish out of 20 teams at the NCAA Southeast Regional hosted by Messiah College on Friday and Saturday.
 
Senior 184-pounder Rexx Hallyburton (Bishop, Ga. / Oconee County) and sophomore 157-pounder Ryan Luth (Milford, Conn. / Joseph A. Foran) both won their respective weight classes, while senior 165-pounder Shane Conners (Mount Airy, Md. / South Carroll) finished third in his bracket.  All three qualify for the NCAA National Championship, giving W&L three NCAA qualifiers for the first time since the 1977-78 season.  It is also the first time W&L has had two regional champions.
 
All told, eight W&L wrestlers finished on the podium.  Sophomore Charlie Cunningham (Pequannock, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) placed fourth in the 133-pound weight class, first-year Riley Parker (Virginia Beach, Va. / First Colonial) finished fifth in the 125-pound weight class, junior Nick Konovalchik (North Andover, Mass. / Brooks School) placed fifth in the 174-pound weight class, junior Bryce Crew (St. Mary's, Ga. / Camden County) placed sixth at 141 and first-year Alex Winant (Chester, N.J. / West Morris Mendham) finished eighth at 149 pounds.

In the team competition, seventh-ranked Stevens compiled 163.5 points to finish first overall.  W&L had 130.0 points for second, while 16th-ranked Messiah recorded 123.5 points for third-place.
 
Hallyburton won the regional 184-pound title for the second-straight season.  He finished the tournament with a 4-0 record, taking down Bruce Parola of Stevens in the semifinals by a score of 5-3.  He then notched a 3-2 victory over David Stevens of Messiah in the title bout.
 
Luth was especially dominant in producing his 4-0 record.  He added to his two tech fall wins on Friday with a pin of Messiah's Stephen Maloney in 2:01 to advance to the title match.  There, he registered a 15-8 win over Dylan Van Sickel of Stevens for his first regional championship.
 
Conners had to earn his trip to nationals by advancing through the consolation bracket after he dropped a 15-1 major decision to Thomas Poklukuha of Stevens in the semifinals.  He downed Waynesburg's Zach Mackall with a 12-4 major decision to advance to the third-place match against Jared Walker of Washington & Jefferson.  Conners had fallen in the third-place match each of the last two seasons and was facing his final opportunity to advance to NCAA Nationals.  He was tied 2-2 with Walker in the final seconds, but Walker had tallied enough riding time to win the match.  Facing a third straight near miss, Conners scored a takedown with just seven seconds remaining to pull out an exhilarating 4-3 victory and qualify for the National Championship.
 
Cunningham also had an opportunity to qualify, advancing through the back draw to take on Ferrum's Levi Englman in the third-place match.  Cunningham battled the 2019 All-American and regional champion to the wire, but fell by a score of 2-0.  He finished the tournament with a 4-2 record and finished his season with a 19-7 overall record.
 
Parker very nearly qualified as well, dropping his semifinal match to Messiah's Sean Redington by a score of 16-13.  He eventually finished in fifth-place with a forfeit win over Emanuel Dovshel of Washington & Jefferson.  Parker went 3-2 in the tournament to finish with a 25-13 mark in his rookie campaign.
 
Konovalchik spent the end of the season wrestling up a weight class at 174 pounds.  He finished with a 4-2 mark on the weekend, posting a 16-0 tech fall over Wilkes' John DeVito to place fifth overall.  He completed the year with a 22-13 overall record.
 
Crew matched up with Stevens' Troy Stanich in the 141-pound semifinals and fell to the top-ranked wrestler in Division III by a score of 17-3.  He eventually forfeited the fifth-place match to finish with a 2-2 record on the weekend.  He went 23-11 for the year with 15 wins by fall.
 
Winant dropped a 15-4 major decision to Austin Smith of Ferrum in the seventh-place match.  He completed the tournament with a 3-3 record, finishing his rookie campaign with a 22-20 overall record.
 
Sophomores Brad Basham (Burlington, Mass. / Buckingham Browne & Nichols) and Clay Chadwick (Arlington, Va. / Yorktown) were both eliminated on Friday after posting a 1-2 mark for the tournament.  Basham finished with a 25-17 season record at 197 pounds, while Chadwick completed his season with a 24-19 record at 285 pounds.
 
Luth, Hallyburton and Conners will all advance to the NCAA Division III National Championship, which will be held on March 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Action begins at 11:00 am CST.
   
125 Pounds
Riley Parker (W&L) d. Austin Ryan (Waynesburg); Forfeit
Riley Parker (W&L) d. Shane Casey (Lycoming); Fall 5:00
Sean Redington (Messiah) d. Riley Parker (W&L); 16-13
Jared Kuhns (York) d. Riley Parker (W&L); Fall 6:08
Riley Parker (W&L) d. Emanuel Dovshek (W&J); Forfeit (Fifth-Place Match)
 
133 Pounds
Charlie Cunningham (W&L) d. Jack Bauer (Wilkes); Fall 2:48
Levi Englman (Ferum) d. Charlie Cunningham (W&L); 5-2
Charlie Cunningham (W&L) d. Paul Bauberger (Greensboro); 8-1
Charlie Cunnigham (W&L) d. Joseph Jones (Averett); Fall 2:03
Charlie Cunnigham (W&L) d. Josiah Gehr (Messiah); Forfeit
Levi Englman (Ferum) d. Charlie Cunnigham (W&L); 2-0 (Third-Place Match)

141 Pounds
Bryce Crew (W&L) d. Tyson McDuffy (York); Fall 0:59
Bryce Crew (W&L) d. Ryker Eckenbarger (McDaniel); Fall 5:15
Troy Stanich (Stevens) d. Bryce Crew (W&L); MD 17-3
Garret Cornell (Messiah) d. Bryce Crew (W&L); MD 8-0
Ryker Eckenbarger (McDaniel) d. Bryce Crew (W&L); Forfeit (Fifth-Place Match)
 
149 Pounds
Colin Devlin (Gettysburg) d. Alex Winant (W&L); MD 12-2
Alex Winant (W&L) d. Jace Guy (Waynesburg); 9-5
Alex Winant (W&L) d. Evan Widing (Delaware Valley); 9-5
Raymond Kable (McDaniel) d. Alex Winant (W&L); 5-3
Alex Winant (W&L) d. Jack Albin (Johns Hopkins); 6-3
Austin Smith (Ferrum) d. Alex Winant (W&L); MD 15-4 (Seventh-Place Match)

157 Pounds
Ryan Luth (W&L) d. Cole Ruffo (PSU-Behrend); TF 19-1
Ryan Luth (W&L) d. Alexander LaVeck (McDaniel); TF 16-1
Ryan Luth (W&L) d. Stephen Maloney (Messiah); Fall 2:01
Ryan Luth (W&L) d. Dylan Van Sickel (Stevens); 15-8 (Championship Match)

165 Pounds
Shane Conners (W&L) d. Peyton Hearn (Thiel); TF, 15-0
Shane Conners (W&L) d. Matt Pangle (Messiah); MD 12-2
Thomas Poklukuha (Stevens) d. Shane Conners (W&L); MD 15-1
Shane Conners (W&L) d. Zach Mackall (Waynesburg); MD 12-4
Shane Conners (W&L) d. Jared Walker (W&J); 4-3 (Third-Place Match)

174 Pounds
Nick Konovalchik (W&L) d. Noah Wienclawski (Averett); MD 12-0
Brian Shermeyer (Messiah) d. Nick Konovalchik (W&L)
Nick Konovalchik (W&L) d. Brandon Miller (PSU-Behrend); TF, 16-0
Nick Konovalchik (W&L) d. Joe Paul (Johns Hopkins); 4-3
Malik Barr (Ferrum) d. Nick Konovalchik (W&L); 6-3
Nick Konovalchik (W&L) d. John DeVito (Wilkes); TF 16-0 (Fifth-Place Match)

184 Pounds
Rexx Hallyburton (W&L) d. Dan Verhovsek (Waynesburg); 9-2
Rexx Hallyburton (W&L) d. William Myers (York); MD 13-4
Rexx Hallyburton (W&L) d. Bruce Parola (Stevens); 5-3
Rexx Hallyburton (W&L) d. David Stevens (Messiah); 3-2 (Championship Match)

197 Pounds
Brad Basham (W&L) d. Brody Keefe (Lycoming); Fall 6:32
Michael Dooley (Stevens) d. Brad Basham (W&L); MD 8-0
Michael Reinhart (York) d. Brad Basham (W&L); Fall 8:30
 
285 Pounds
Clay Chadwick (W&L) d. Roger Horton (Wilkes); MD 11-0
Rocky McGeary (Waynesburg) d. Clay Chadwick (W&L); 5-4
Henri Behaeghel (Johns Hopkins) d. Clay Chadwick (W&L); Fall 1:28