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Andrew Perelka at Regionals
Noah Tylutki

JCU Wrestling Notches 2 All-Americans for First Time Since 2004

| By: Joe Ginley '16, SID
Luke Reicosky and Andrew Perelka won two matches apiece on Friday to earn All-American honors. 
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- For the first time since 2004, John Carroll Wrestling can lay claim to two All-Americans at the NCAA Division III National Championships. 

In dramatic fashion, Luke Reicosky and Andrew Perelka cemented their status amongst the greats in the lengthy history of JCU Wrestling.

Reicosky and Perelka can count themselves amongst the best, as both earned their stars today at the 2022 NCAA D-III Championships, securing spots amongst the top eight with two victories apiece today.

In conquering two foes, Reicosky and Perelka become the program's first All-American duo since Mark Hawald and Derek Ankey in 2004. 

"This has been a climb," said Hawald, in his seventh season as JCU's head coach. "We want instant gratification in everything we do, but that's not a reality. We lost the two national championships, and I like to think we picked up where we left off. We've made progress every year, and this is a good sign of it."

All-American at 133: Andrew Perelka
Perelka opened the day with a strong start with a win over Diego Santiago of New England College in the first round. A takedown near the 1-minute mark of the first period gave him an early lead, and he padded it with an escape and a penalty point, pushing ahead 4-0 after two. He extended the advantage with another takedown early in the third. Santiago got a couple late points, but Perelka's cushion was enough for a 7-3 decision.

Perelka's second match was also against a fierce foe, the No. 3 seed, the aptly-named Joe Pins of Wartburg. Pins got out to a 2-0 start after the first period with a takedown. But a reversal and takedown by Perelka in the second period pushed him ahead entering the third, 4-3. Pins tied it with an escape, but Perelka tallied a clutch takedown to soar into the semifinals with a 6-4 conquest. 

All-American at 157: Luke Reicosky
The last two times that Reicosky and the University Of Chicago's Darian Estevez have met, it's taken overtime. In the first match from earlier this year, Reicosky came out on top. In the grudge match, Estevez won out. Estevez tallied a second-period escape and Reicosky got an escape point in the third, so the two took to overtime. In the first sudden victory period, Reicosky was defeated, as Estevez got him for an escape. 

In his consolation opener, Reicosky bounced back with a 5-2 victory over Joe Chapman of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Reicosky controlled things from the start, getting out in front with a takedown. The North Canton native carried a 5-1 advantage into the third, and preserved the lead.

The All-American match would prove to be much more daunting. Baldwin Wallace's Stanley Bleich stood in Reicosky's path to All-American status. Bleich dealt Reicosky a 3-2 decision defeat back in January, and has beaten several Blue Streaks. The bout played out slowly, with Reicosky tallying a second-period escape and Bleich responding with a 1-pointer in the third. Overtime would be needed. 

And it all came down to riding time. The sudden-victory period yielded no winner, so it came down to the tiebreaker period. Reicosky managed to escape Bleich quicker than the Yellow Jacket could escape him, so Reicosky walked away the winner. 

"It's really a flip of a coin," Hawald said. "One mistake can end it because it's all about who gets more riding time. Luke got out in six seconds, so he had to keep him for more than six seconds. Luke grabbed him, walked him around, and held him around 10 seconds. From there, he just had to survive the last 20 seconds of the match, and he did.

"We knew it was a winnable match, and that it would be a slow-paced, close match. We knew what we were in for. Luke has worked really hard for this, and he deserves it."

165: Patrick McGraw
In McGraw's rematch with Isaac Mathews of Oswego State, the Chardon native won out. Mathews did start strong, carrying a 2-1 lead after the first period. But McGraw owned the second period, with an early escape followed by a later takedown. And what would be a clinching move, McGraw notched a 4-point nearfall with 12 seconds left in the stanza. McGraw finished out his conquest well, moving on with an 11-3 major decision.

McGraw then run into a buzzsaw, facing No. 1 seed Bradan Birt of Millikin. McGraw lost by fall to drop into the consolations. And unfortunately, the Chardon native couldn't bounce back, losing via a 10-0 major decision to NYU's Cooper Pontelandolfo. 

It ends a marvelous season for him at 31-8, and spells a bright future for him. 

174: Daniel Devera
Devera had no beginner's luck on Friday. No. 8 seed Charlie Grygas (Oswego State) opened up an early lead in the first round bout with a takedown. Devera escaped, narrowing the gap to 2-1 after one period. Devera allowed an escape in the second, but was very much in it entering the third, down 3-1. The Parma native tallied an early escape in the third, but Grygas got two takedowns to preserve the win, a 7-3 decision. 

Devera lived to fight another day in the consolations, conquering Yousseff Ait Boulahri of Delaware Valley University via a 9-4 decision. But then, he lost to the No. 7 seed via a late first-period pin to Demitreus Henry of SUNY Cortland. 


"Having 2 young guys lose in the All-American round is a good sign for the future," Hawald said. "They'll lead us moving forward. Unfortunately they didn't win two, but I'm still very proud of them."

Saturday's Matches
Luke Reicosky will do battle with Ryan Luth of Washington & Lee. The two have never faced off before. With a win, Reicosky would move along to the consolation semifinals. With a loss, Reicosky would drop into the seventh-place match.

Andrew Perelka will face Dalton Rohrbaugh of York College. The two have no history at the collegiate level. With a win, Perelka would head to the championship bout vs. the winner of Robbie Precin (North Central College) and Matt Berlin (UW-Stevens Point). With a loss, Perelka would drop to the consolation semifinals. 
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