KING WRESTLING RETURNS TO BRISTOL WITH THREE ALL-AMERICANS

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – King Wrestling returns to Bristol with three All-Americans The King College Wrestling team travelled to the NAIA national wrestling tournament last weekend in Oklahoma City, OK. The tournament was a three day competition featuring the nation’s best NAIA wrestlers.

Nine wrestlers qualified to compete for the Tornado. Of those nine were 125lbs freshmen John Erickson and Eddie Long, 133lbs sophomore Caleb Myers, 141lbs junior captain Shad Rissler and freshman Nic Stella, 157lbs senior Shayne Funk, 165lbs senior captain JaVonte Ashford, 174lbs freshman Brandon Tressler, and 197lbs sophomore Frankie Morgan. The first day started strong with King picking up bonus points as Erickson, Myers, and Rissler advanced in the championship rounds. The day began to look grim following a loss due to a serious high Ankle sprain by returning 2008 All-American Ashford. Day two of competition started off in a similar fashion as the previous night, as King picked up some tough losses including an injury default from Ashford. Morgan was the only wrestler to advance in the championship rounds to 197lbs semi-finals. Following a 3 hour break between sessions, the remaining King grapplers Erickson, Rissler, and Morgan returned to the mat ready to wrestle. “The second session on Day two went about as good as it could go,” said Coach Moorman. Erickson and Rissler both score pins against their opponents in the round to become all-Americans, while Frankie Morgan picked up an overtime victory to be King College wrestling’s first National Finalist. Erickson went on to place 6th in the National tournament, while Rissler battled to 5th place despite a bout with food poisoning. Morgan would go on to lose in the National finals in triple overtime. “It’s tough to come this far and see it all come to end in triple overtime, “ says Morgan. “But, this will definitely make me work harder to be a National Champ.” The King college wrestling team ends it’s 2009 season 13th in Nation.