CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - The Warhawks will send a group of six wrestlers to the NCAA Division III Championships set for March 14-15 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. UW-Whitewater's team total of 130 bested the competition by 22 points for their second consecutive regional title. Three Warhawks won their weight classes, two were runners-up and another took third in the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by Wabash College Saturday to advance. The top three in each weight class advance to the national championships.

Complete Results/Brackets

Jimmy Nehls (Downers Grove, IL/North) went 3-0 after a first round bye to win the 133 pound weight class. Nehls, the number two seed in the regional and ranked seventh in the NWCA, opened with a major decision over Stevens Point's Lance Fabry, 15-1. In his second match of the day, Nehls topped Miguel Venecia of Elmhurst 3-2 to advance to the championship. Nehls topped La Crosse's Dustin Weinmann 6-2 in the title bout to earn the team's first individual regional title of the day. He advances to nationals with a 22-5 record.

The next individual champ for Whitewater came in the 165 pound weight class. Cedric Gibson (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield North), the number one seed, won all three of his matches Saturday to improve to 22-5. He opened with a 9-3 decision over Logan Hermsen of Stevens Point followed by a 6-3 decision over Tyler Schneider of La Crosse. Gibson overpowered Wabash's Josh Sampson to win by major decision, 14-3, in the title bout to repeat as regional champ.

Top seeded Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel) notched his second straight regional title at 197 pounds after going 4-0 Saturday. He won three of his four bouts by fall, including the championship match. Siefert opened with a pin of Michael Conner (Trine) in 2:28 and stopped the clock in 1:58 with a pin over Mario Palmisano of Chicago in his second match of the day. A 5-0 decision over Mike Minske of La Crosse sent Siefert back to the championship. He recorded the fall in 2:31 over the number two seed, Elmhurst's Danny Balderas to improve to 37-4 this season and take the team lead in pins with 10 this season. 

Matt Adcock (Bloomingdale, IL/Lake Park), the number two seed in the 141 pound weight class, was the regional runner-up Saturday. He opened with a pin of Wesley Cummings (Trine) in 2:22 followed by a 6-3 decision of James Spangler (Elmhurst). A 10-2 major decision over North Central's Andrew Rodawold sent Adcock into the title bout where he fell to top seeded Justin Holm of Olivet 5-3. Adcock is 26-9 this season heading into the final competition of the season.

Top seeded Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon) was upset by the number two seed, Jacob Minske of La Crosse, 5-2 in the championship match at 285 pounds to finish second in the regional. Edgren won his first three matches of the day opening with a technical fall over Alma's Eric Mason. A 3-0 decision over Dustin Kult of Manchester was followed by a 5-3 overtime decision over Trine's Mackenzie Green to send Edgren into the title bout. Edgren is 28-7 this season and is ranked fifth in the NWCA.

Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall) punched his ticket to nationals with a 16-0 technical fall in 5:46 over John Roycraft of Stevens Point to finish third in the 149 pound weight class. Perkin, the number three seed won by fall in 5:33 over Chicago's Jacob Smith to open Saturday. He followed with a major decision, 10-0 over North Central's Nathan Segal. Perkin fell to the number two seed, Gage Pederson of Olivet 7-4 in a semifinal matchup. He came back with an 8-0 major decision over Nick Bova (Wabash) to advance into the battle for third. Perkin will head to nationals with a 26-9 record after going 4-1 in the regional.

Zac Denny (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) narrowly missed advancing to the national championships at 125 pounds. As the number two seed, Denny opened with a bye followed by a decision over Point's Ryan Osse, 7-2. Tommy Poynter (Wabash), the third seed, upset Denny in a semifinal match 12-6. Denny advanced in the wrestleback to the battle for third but fell to fifth seed Nicolas Santos (North Central) 3-2. Denny ends the season 29-14. 

Andrew Pettit (Hoffman Estates, IL/Hoffman Estates) and Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago) each went 2-2 Saturday to finish fifth in the 174 and 184 pound weight classes respectively. Cam Loomis (River Falls/River Falls) represented UW-Whitewater in the 157 pound weight class going 0-2 in the regional tournament.

Team scores were: UW-W 130, UW-La Crosse 108, Wabash 106, Olivet 97.5, Elmhurst 74.5, UW-Stevens Point 65.5, North Central 57, Wheaton 55, Alma 40, Trine 27, Chicago 14 and Manchester 5.