March 10, 2012

LA CROSSE, WI -- Freshman Paul Bewak (125) placed seventh and junior Reid Mosquera (197) finished eighth on the final day of the 2012 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. The two earn All-America honors with their top eight finishes to become the second and third All-Americans in school history.

Bewak and Mosquera's finishes helped the Blue Jays to a program-best 27th-place finish in the final team standings with 13.0 points.

Both Bewak and Mosquera had already secured their All-America honors entering Saturday's final day of competition. Both had advanced to the consolation quarterfinals on the first day and were assured of no worse than an eighth-place finish; the top eight finishers earn All-America status.

Bewak drew third seeded Jimmy Gotto of Coe in the consolation quarterfinals and dropped a 4-2 decision to fall into the seventh-place match, where he met Charlie Frankel of Delaware Valley. Bewak closed the finest season in Johns Hopkins wrestling history with an 8-0 victory. He finishes his freshman year with a record of 30-9 and his seventh-place finish is the highest ever for a Johns Hopkins wrestler.

Luther's Trent Flegel, the number five seed in the 197-pound bracket, topped Mosquera, 7-3, in the consolation quarterfinals and Elizabethtown's William Meaney defeated him 6-4 in the seventh-place match. Mosquera had one of the toughest paths of any wrestler in the tournament as he was matched against wrestlers seeded fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. Four of his five matches at the NCAAs were decided by four points or less.

- 30 -