On February 26, at Newtown Athletic Center, two West Branch alumni, Derek and Ethan Yingling, wrestled for their spot at a national collegiate competition. Derek and Ethan both wrestle for Slippery Rock University Club Wrestling. The NWCA Mid-East conference championship would take six placers from each weight class to Nationals. For the 184 weight class, Derek passed through the quarter-finals to earn a place in the semi-finals. Derek fell at the finals, where he then placed second, advancing to the Texas national tournament. Ethan wrestled for the 235 weight class and won his quarter-final match, but then fell in the semi-finals. Ethan dropped down to the consultation match, where he injury-defaulted out and ended in sixth place. Since both Derek and Ethan placed in the top six, they both traveled to Nationals. The NCWA National tournament was held at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas, on March 10th, 11th, and 12th. Derek Yingling began by pinning his opponent on his first round of 64. In the follow-up, he also pinned his opponent in the round of 32. Once he moved on to the round of 16, Derek wins one last time to move on to the quarter-finals round. During the quarter-finals round, he then fell to the consultation round of 8. Derek finished in the top 12 at Nationals. Ethan started his round of 32 with a forfeit, advancing him to the round of 16. He then got pinned in the round of 16. Ethan dropped to the consultation round of 16, where he fell and finished in the top 16. Ethan explains, “The trip to Texas was an exciting opportunity to have, and couldn’t have been done without our coach. The journey to qualify for Nationals was hard, but the work we put in at practice made it all possible. The support from our teammates was what gave us the want to grow stronger and do better things like going to Texas to wrestle for the all-American title.”
Outside of wrestling, Derek and Ethan are both currently working to earn bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Science. We wish Derek and Ethan luck with their academic and athletic careers!
