The Link 1999 4 Vol.pdf - DRC Home - Wilmington College

Winter sports round - up
The 1998 - 99 season was bittersweet for the Quakers. While the
men's basketball team had a down year, the wrestlers placed 14th
in the nation, women's basketball won the Heartland, a high jumper
was national runner - up and, in its first year, the swim team sent a
member to nationals.
WRESTLING
The 1998 - 99 season changed the way
Quaker fans talk about the WC wrestling
program. Conversations that used to contain
just the names Grammes and Keller, have
now expanded to hold names like Ray,
Wallace and Estell.
Gone are the talks of the one - man show
and mutterings of rosters with more holes in
them than an old pair of gym socks.
This past season the Quaker wrestling
team, under the direction of fifth - year
coach Jim Marsh, shed its callow label and
replaced it with a tag that reads, "beware."
The Quakers put together the school's
best season ever and finished tied for 14th in
the nation at the NCAA Division III Championships
held in Ewing, New Jersey.
On the road to the Championships, the
Quakers placed third in the Heartland
Collegiate Championship Duals and had
three individual champions. Junior Corey
Rudnick was the champion of the 133 -
pound class, senior Bryan Ray was champion
at 174 pounds and freshman Corey
Estell claimed the heavyweight title.
The following week, three WC wrestlers
tore up regional competition and qualified
for the national championship. That trio
included Ray, Estell and freshman Jimmy
Wallace, who wrestled in the 149 - pound
bracket.
At the NCAA Championship, Ray, who
wrestled his final two matches with a broken
nose, earned a third place finish. His only
loss came to the eventual champion, John
Newman of St. John's. Ray wrapped up his
season with an overall record of 43 - 1 and
established the new WC mark for career
wins with a 116.
Not to be outdone, Wallace made quite
an impression, too. He was pinned in his
16 SPRING 1999
Bryan Ray takes control of
his opponent during the
Heartland Conference
Championship Duals. Ray,
a 174 - pound senior, finished
third in the nation at
the NCAA Division HI
Championships. He had
a 43 - 1 record this season
and set the WC standard
with 116 career wins.
first national match, but came back to win
five of his next six matches and took home
a fifth place finish. Because Wallace and
Ray both placed in the top eight in the nation
they were named Ail - Americans. Wallace
completed his first season of collegiate wrestling
with a 26 - 5 record.
Estell couldn't produce the results of his
teammates, but like Wallace, he has three
more shots at making to the championships
again. Estell lost his first two matches by a
combined five points and was eliminated
from the tournament. His freshman campaign
closed with a 24 - 9 record.
In addition to team's physical prowess,
Quaker junior Todd Mustain showed what
the team could do academically. Mustain, a
141 - pounder with a 19 - 16 record, placed
forth at the regional and met the GPA
requirements to be named an Academic
Ail - American.
The Quakers had a dual record of 11 - 8.
SWIMMING
With low expectations in its first year of
existence, the fledgling swim program
proved to make more than one splash this
season.
Basing its first year on wins and losses
just wouldn't be fair, but the WC program,
under the direction of coach Trip Breen,
gave a couple of opponents a run for their
money. The women's team even collected
its first win, a 91 - 72 victory over Hiram on
Dec. 16.
Throughout the season times were
trimmed down, personal bests were repeatedly
smashed and records were set at almost
the same pace.
However, the biggest waves came from
the wake of senior Jason Keith. The Cincinnati
native clocked in at a season - best 58.30
in the 100 breaststroke and at 2:08.69 in the
200 breaststroke. Both times were quick
enough to qualify him for the NCAA Division
III Championships held at the University
of Minnesota.
All qualifiers for the national meet were
eligible to compete in three events, so Keith
chose the 200 IM as his third event.
In the trials of the 200 IM, Keith checked
in at 1:58.64, missing the cut for the finals
by four seconds. The next day, he competed