AU wrestler Daniel Waters had been through a lot before making it to last weekend's NCAA Championships in St. Louis. Before transferring to AU two years ago, the 28-year-old senior had to watch the title bouts from the sideline at Penn State, and before that he was even farther from the college mat as a Navy SEAL.
But Saturday the 174-pound Waters was right in the heart of it all. He became AU's first wrestling All-American by placing eighth and going 4-3 to lead the Eagles to their best national championship performance in history. A groin injury two rounds earlier forced him to forfeit the seventh-place match, but just to go this far is a boost for the program coach Mark Cody has been building since it was almost eliminated four years ago.
"Waters did everything right, the only coaching you have to do with him is in the wrestling room," Cody told aueagles.com. "I am very happy that Daniel made history today, he is a pioneer of this program and has laid the groundwork for future American wrestlers."
Waters was joined in Missouri by junior Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov and freshmen Josh Glenn and Adam LoPiccolo as AU finished 32nd in the field of 76, a few steps ahead of the 1999 team that placed 37th. Oklahoma State won it all for the third straight year as five Cowboys gathered individual titles.
With the tournament format making a non-factor of the forfeits that plagued the small AU team in the regular season, the Eagles placed ahead of six teams to which they lost in duels matches. This reinforced the sentiment that a full roster would elevate the program.
"When we get ten guys in our lineup, we will take AU wrestling to the next level," Cody said.
Waters (34-10) got to his final match after plowing through the consolation bracket. A pin and two decisions put him two wins away from the third-place match before he was blasted 15-0 by Jake Herbert of Northwestern. He entered the consolation bracket after losing a close second-round battle to Oklahoma State's top-ranked Chris Pendleton, 14-10.
Abdurakhmanov (29-3), who was seeded fourth and had been ranked nationally as high as third this season, had an early exit after going 2-2. The 157-pounder lost to Penn State's Nate Galloway in his second match in the consolation bracket. He fell out of contention for first place after following his win in the pigtail match with a first-round loss to The Citadel's Travis Piccard.
Glenn (29-8) also went 2-2 in the tournament at 184 pounds. He left the championship bracket after losing a one-point decision to Virginia Tech's Steve Borja in the first round, but won two matches in the consolation rounds before losing to Iowa's Paul Bradley.
LoPiccolo (21-10) lost both of his matches as he entered the tournament with the roughest road of all the Eagles. He dropped a major decision to top-seeded former heavyweight champion Steve Mocco and then was ousted for good in losing a decision to Penn State's Joel Edwards.
