USCGA Bears Send Program Record Four Wrestlers to National Championship

WORCESTER, Mass. – No. 24 Coast Guard sends a program record four wrestlers to the NCAA National Championship as the Bears finished up competition at the Northeast Regional Sunday afternoon at WPI.

Heading to the National Championship and earning All-Region honors for Coast Guard are sophomore Owen McClave (133), junior Nick Remke (165), sophomore AJ Aeberli (174) and freshman Jonathan Wagner (197). Senior Chris Sullivan (157) took fourth place and earned All-Region honors for the second year in a row.

As a team, the Bears finished in seventh place with 79.5 points while No. 4 Johnson and Wales won with 156.5 points.

After falling in his first match of the day to Matthew Noble of NYU, McClave earned a 4-2 decision over Stephen Jendritz of WPI before sealing his trip to Cleveland with a 11-1 major decision over Timothy McClinden of Western New England.

At 157, Sullivan made it to the third place match where he fell to Tyler Gazway of Roger Williams 11-2. Sullivan graduates with 101 victories, becoming the first wrestler since Nate Giorgio in 2015 to win 100 matches in his career.

Remke punched his tickets to nationals in dominating fashion pinning Jared Costa in 5:44 for his first trip to the NCAA Championship.

Aeberli earned Coast Guard's top finish taking second at 174 against Malik Settles of New England College after a review with three seconds left gave Settles the two deciding points. Aeberli earns his first ever trip to NCAA's and is the Bears top finisher at the Northeast Regional since  Nate Giorgio won the 133 title as a senior in 2015.

Wagner put his stamp on his freshman year holding on for a 6-4 decision over Brandon Cousino of Southern Maine and becomes the first freshman since Nate Giorgio qualified in 2012 after winning the 125 pound championship at the New England Championship.

The four wrestlers have two weeks before thy head to the NCAA National Championship in Cleveland, Ohio from March 9^th to the 10^th.