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A mainly sunny sky. High around 75F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
Sunny skies. High 76F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
Clear. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.
A mainly sunny sky. High around 75F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
PARK CITY, KS - Cumberland's Cole Smith rallied from an 8-0 deficit to pin Marty Margolis of Grand View, IA at 4:08 of the 165-pound finals Saturday.
PARK CITY, KS - Cumberland University'1 165-pound NAIA Champion Cole Smith.
PARK CITY, KS - Cumberland's Cole Smith rallied from an 8-0 deficit to pin Marty Margolis of Grand View, IA at 4:08 of the 165-pound finals Saturday.
PARK CITY, KS - Cumberland University'1 165-pound NAIA Champion Cole Smith.
Digs out of 8-0 hole in 165 finals -
PARK CITY, KS – Down 8-0 in the early going, Cumberland University's Cole Smith scored a dramatic come from behind victory in the Saturday's 165-pound finals of the 65th annual NAIA Wrestling National Championships held at the Hartman Arena.
Smith, a sophomore transfer from Old Dominion University, pinned No. 3-seeded Marty Margolis of Grand View (IA) at the 4:08 mark and completing a perfect 29-0 season on the mat.
Smith's victory marked the first time a Cumberland wrestler had won an individual National Championship since Jake Williams earned the gold in the 149-pound class back in 2015.
Margolis and Smith had met once before this season at the NWCA National Duals, where Smith won the match 5-2 by decision. Leading up to the National Championship match, Smith won his first two matches of the tournament by pin and the next two by decision.
Margolis had Smith's number in the first period, taking Smith down twice and recording a four-point near fall to lead 8-0.
"I just had a feeling after going down 8-0 that I was still going to win," Smith said. "I heard the Grand View fans getting really loud after the end of the first period, and I just had to get my head back in it."
He looked unfazed by the deficit to start the second period, and the momentum shifted in his direction quickly. Smith got up off the bottom to end Margolis' riding time and get an escape to trail 8-1.
Margolis started to get aggressive with his moves, leading to Smith putting him on his stomach with a takedown. Smith found a weak spot under the arm and flipped him on his back, pinning him at the 4:08 mark in the match to seal the National Championship victory.
The normally calm and collected Smith erupted into celebration and immediately ran to give Phoenix coach James Hicks and assistant Tyler Smith hugs, as the Hartman Arena erupted in cheers.
"He's a machine, no one in the country can stick with him for seven minutes," Coach Hicks said. "Once Cole got back to his feet and got that takedown, I knew we had him."
Smith went 5-0 in the tournament and reached the finals with a 7-4 decision over No. 5 seeded David Rubio of Corban University in the semifinals.
In the quarterfinals, Smith pinned Keller Rock of Embry-Riddle, AZ at 4:07.
Smith is the fourth Phoenix wrestler to win an individual title after Keith Cupp in 2005, Corey Bleaken in 2011, and Jake Williams in 2014 and 2015. He is also the first Individual National Champion for Coach Hicks since he took over the program in March 2015.
Smith's win in the finals catapulted the Phoenix up the team standings from 11th place to an eighth-place finish with 51.5 points.
Cumberland's Carter Cox went 3-2 in the 125-pound classification, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual national champion Esco Walker on a Technical Fall. Moving to the consolation bracket, the Mid-South Conference champion went 1-1.
Keshawn Laws, CU's 133-pound MSC champion and No. 8 seed, lost a tough 3-2 decision to Joseph Luton of Graceland University (IA) in the second round. Laws, who hails from Queens, NY, went 1-1 in the consolation bracket.
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