Logo
Logo
Logo
Twitter   Facebook
Gin Takes Seventh At NCAA Championships, Captures All-American
Senior Craig Gin concluded a brilliant career with an All-American finish at the NCAA National Championships.

Cedar Rapids, IA — For the first time since 2003, Messiah College has an All-American wrestler.

Senior Craig Gin accomplished the feat at this weekend’s NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships, finishing seventh among all 157-pounders to claim the honor.

“This is just an awesome finish for Craig Gin’s career,” said Bryan Brunk, Messiah head coach. “He’s worked so hard for the last four years. I can’t think of a kid who deserves it more.”

Gin started the weekend off with a bang, defeating the seventh seeded 157-pound wrestler — Matt Baarson of St. John’s University — by a 5-2 score Friday night. He then fell by a 7-2 count to second seed and eventual runner-up Jason Brew (Olivet College), but responded with a dominant, 11-3 win over Luther College’s Johanson Quist in the third-place bracket, guaranteeing Gin All-American honors at the conclusion of Friday’s nights activities.

Gin — who entered the 16-man bracket unseeded — would return to U.S. Cellular Arena Saturday morning guaranteed no worse than an eight-place finish among the nation’s top 157-pound grapplers.

“It was an exciting night,” Brunk said. “To know that he would finish anywhere from eighth place to third place (pending Saturday’s results) was outstanding. He was emotional. I was emotional. It was a great moment.”

Gin returned to the mat Saturday morning to suffer perhaps the only heartbreak of the weekend, falling to fifth-seeded Jesse Milks of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville by a 4-2 score in overtime. That loss moved Gin into the seventh-place bracket by the slimmest of margins.

“It was a tough one,” Brunk said. “Craig over-pursued in the overtime and got taken down.”

The senior from Lambertville, Mich. would finish his career with a win, however, defeating eighth-seeded William Horwath of Ithaca Colleg by a 4-0 score in the seventh-place bout. It was his second decision over Horwath in the course of two weeks, as Gin pinned the Bombers’ top 157-pounder in the Empire Wrestling Conference Championships title match Feb. 21.

Gin finished the season with a 33-13 record overall. He became the Falcons’ first All-American wrestler since 2003 graduate Andy Vogel captured the honor three straight times, finishing seventh in 149 as a junior and senior and second as a sophomore.

“The best part about all of this is how unexpected it was,” Brunk said. “If you would have asked anyone, including Craig Gin himself, if he expected to be an All-American at the midway point of our season, he would have said no way. It’s a testament to his work ethic and his desire to keep getting better. I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Wartburg College won the team national championship, finishing with two individual national champs and seven All-Americans en route to 117.5 team points. Augsburg College finished second (105 points), while the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse finished third (87 points).

Gin’s All-American honor gave Messiah 6.5 team points, tying the program for 36th place overall. Fifty schools were represented at the two-day event.

The 2009 national championships were co-hosted by Coe College and Cornell College, with all bouts taking place at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.