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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Vance Finishes Second, Gray Places Fourth at NCAA Div. II National Wrestling Championships

Indianapolis, Ind.

3/15/2025 10:32:00 PM

 
Vance, IsaiahGray, TrevonIsaiah Vance was the national runner-up at 285 lbs. and Trevon Gray placed fourth at 125 lbs. to lead a group of five of Head Coach Tyler Reinhart's Pitt-Johnstown wrestlers who qualified for 2025 NCAA Division II National Wrestling Championships at the Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis.  Vance and Gray are now two-time NCAA All-Americans
 
Nebraska-Kearney won the team title with 115 points.  Augustana (63 points), St. Cloud State (57.5 points), Lander (56.0 points), and Central Oklahoma (55 points) rounded out the top-five in the field that featured more than 40 teams.  Pitt-Johnstown placed 13th with 33.5 points.
 
After earning a spot in the semifinals with a pair of decision wins on Friday, Vance, seeded fifth at 285 lbs. and a fifth-place finisher in 2024, ran out to a 7-2 lead, then used bonus points to secure a spot in the finals with an 11-2 major decision over Kutztown's Freddie Retter. 
 
Following a scoreless first period in the title bout, Maryville's No. 2 seeded Ryan Herman got an escape to start the second period.  Vance got a reversal with just over a minute to go in the third period to take the lead, but Herman escaped to tie it at two and send it to overtime.  Neither one scored in sudden victory and it went to a rideout and Herman rode Vance the full :30 seconds.  In his half of the rideout, Vance chose neutral but wasn't not able to score and suffered a 3-2 loss.
 
Vance won a 9-6 decision win over Cale Gray (Indianapolis) in the first round, then defeated Gannon's Dorian Gray, 8-2, to earn his spot in Saturday's semifinals.
 
Gray, the No. 8 seed at 125 lbs., reached the quarterfinals and went 2-1 on Friday.  On Saturday, he dealt fifth-seeded Dayson Torgerson (Colorado-Mesa) a 7-2 loss in the consolation quarterfinals and Shane Corrigan (Wisconsin-Parkside) a 16-7 major decision loss in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place bout.  However, third-seeded Jaxson Rohman pinned Gray at 2:19, giving him a fourth-place finish in 2025 to go along with his seventh-place finish in 2024.   Gray began the tournament with a 9-3 win over Glenville State's Colton Drousias, then fell to top-seeded Jackson Burks (Central Missouri) by major decision, 9-0.  Gray came back with a 10-2 major decision win over No. 7 Isaiah Gamez (Adams State) to reach Saturday's action.
 
Gray (125 lbs.), sixth-seeded Dakoda Rodgers (197 lbs.), and Vance (285 lbs.) all won first round matches, and Chad Ozias (149 lbs.) won a pigtail match and an opening round match to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.
 
Vance won his quarterfinals match to reach the semis, and Gray suffered a loss in the quarterfinals, but bounced back with a win in the wrestle backs to lock up All-America honors.
 
Ozias and Rodgers both lost their next two bouts, and were eliminated from the tournament.
 
Noah Gnibus (184 lbs.) also wrestled for Pitt-Johnstown, but took decision losses in both the first round and first round of the consolations and was also eliminated.
 
149 lbs. – Chad Ozias defeated Hayden Kuhn, 10-9, in a pigtail match to start the tournament before he held off seventh-seeded Jackson Hoover (Indianapolis), 10-9 to lock up a spot in the quarterfinals against second-seeded Cael Larson (Augustana).  Larson pinned Ozias at 6:31 sending him to the second round of the consolations, before Ozias fell to King's Brennan Watkins, 10-4 in the second round of the consolations.
 
197 lbs. – Sixth-seeded Dakoda Rodgers dealt Ashland's Kaine Morris a 14-3 major decision loss in the first round to record his 100th career victory, then faced Indianapolis' defending National Champion and third-seeded Derek Blubaugh in the quarterfinals.  Blubaugh used a minute of riding to force overtime then took down Rodgers with :23 second remaining in the extra period to secure a 6-3 win and send Rodgers to the second round of the consolations.  Rodgers then fell to Grand Valley State's Wyatt Miller in the second round of the consolations.
 
184 lbs. – After a narrow 2-0 setback in the first round to Augustana's No. 4 seeded Cade Mueller, Noah Gnibus fell to Nebraska-Kearney's Jacari Deal, 7-2, in the first round of the consolations and was eliminated from the tournament.
 
 
125 lbs. – No. 8-Seeded Trevon Gray
--First Round – Won by Decision over Colton Drousias (Glenville State), 9-3
--Quarterfinals – Lost by Major Decision to #1 Jackson Burks (Central Missouri), 9-0
--Consolation RD 2 – Won by Major Decision over #7 Isaiah Gamez (Adams State), 10-2
--Consy Quarterfinals – Won by Major Decision over Shane Corrigan (Wisconsin-Parkside), 16-7
--Third-Place Match – Lost by Fall to #3 Jaxson Rohman (Augustana) at 2:19
 
149 lbs. – Chad Ozias
--Pigtail Match – Won by Decision over Hayden Kuhn (Ashland), 10-9
--First Round – Won by Decision over #7 Jackson Hoover (UIndy), 10-9
--Quarterfinals – Lost by Fall to #2 Cael Larson (Augustana) at 6:31
--Consolation RD 2 – Lost by Decision to Brennan Watkins (King), 10-4
 
184 lbs. – Noah Gnibus
--First Round – Lost by Decision to #4 Cade Mueller (Augustana), 2-0
--Consolation RD 1 – Lost by Decision to Jacari Deal (Nebraska-Kearney)
 
197 lbs. – No. 6-Seeded Dakoda Rodgers
--First Round – Won by Major Decision over Kaine Morris (Ashland), 14-3
--Quarterfinals – Lost by Decision to #3 Derek Blubaugh (UIndy), 6-3 SV
--Consolation RD 2 – Lost by Decision to Wyatt Miller (Grand Valley State), 5-1
 
285 lbs. – No. 5-Seeded Isaiah Vance
--First Round – Won by Decision over Cale Gray (UIndy), 9-6
--Quarterfinals – Won by Decision over #4 Dorian Crosby (Gannon), 8-2
--Semifinals – Won by Major Decision over Freddie Retter (Kutztown), 11-2
--Championship Lost by Decision to #2 Ryan Herman (Maryville), 3-2 TB-1


 
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