All-American Kyle Kwiat named D3Wrestle.com Freshman of the Year

Kyle Kwiat

By Tim Glon

| D3Wrestle.com |

ADA — Ohio Northern All-American Kyle Kwiat was named the D3Wrestling.com Freshman of the Year for 2009-10.

Kwiat posted a school record 41 victories this season and finished fourth at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at 174 pounds last weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

He won in a thrilling 6-4 overtime decision over No. 5 seed Frank Heffernan of Wilkes (Pa.) in the championship quarterfinals Friday evening and began his Championships competetion with a solid 5-0 decision over Sam Engelland of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the first round on Friday afternoon.

Kwiat defeated Chris Wade of Oneonta State (N.Y.) 8-4 in the consolation semifinals Saturday afternoon after falling 4-3 semifinals match to top-ranked and defending national champion Evan Brown of Dubuque (Iowa) in the semifinals on Saturday morning.

He then fell by decision 5-1 to No. 2 seed Zach Molitor of Augsburg (Minn.) in the third place match Saturday afternoon.

Kwiat shook off an early takedown against Wade and posted an 8-4 decision in the consolation semifinals.

A reversal by Kwiat tied the match at 2-2, Wade escaped to make ot 3-2 and Kwiat got a takedown to take a 4-3 lead.

A Kwiat escape to start the third period made it 5-3 and a takedown gave the Polar Bear a 7-3 lead.

Kwiat nearly pulled off the upset against Brown in the semifinals.

Trailing 4-0 and down more than three minutes of riding time late in the second period, Kwiat got a reversal to pull within 4-2 and turned the tide of the match dramatically.

Kwiat then controlled Brown the remainder of the match, eliminting the riding time point and getting a late stalling call to pull within 4-3.

As time ran out, Kwiat turned Brown and was just moments away from two near-fall points and a victory.

Kwiat reached the NCAA Championships by winning the 174-pound title at the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 20.