In dramatic and almost fairly tale fashion, Kent State Tuscarawas freshman wrestler, Elijah Nash, from Canton McKinley High School, captured fifth place and earned All American honors at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) National Championships in Dallas, TX, late Saturday afternoon.

Although ranked eighth nationally in the NCWA 125lb. weight class, Nash was the most inexperienced wrestler for the Golden Eagles in the tournament, but led the Golden Eagles on day one with a stellar 3-0 record recording two pins and forfeit. He lost his first match on day two however, which forced him into the consolation bracket where the odds are stacked enormously high against a wrestler making it back to the championship round. But he bounced back and in a big way.

He dominated the next match, 12-2, against Douglas Bittner of Penn State Fayette to earn a spot in the "blood round" where a wrestler knows it's one-and-done if you lose. Unfortunately, after gaining a little momentum, he was done for the day and had wait overnight to get back onto the mat.

On Saturday morning, Nash won an early 8-4 decision which guaranteed that he would finish no worse than sixth place and there was the possibility of finishing as high as third in the nation. In his second match however, he dropped an 11-10 heartbreaker to Grand Valley State University's Kameron Kempker, which placed him into an afternoon battle for fifth place.

Nash was put on the bracket opposite of Matt Gamble from Fresno State University and had to wait nearly six hours to wrestle in the final match of his freshman season. That chance never came, because Gamble had to withdraw at match time due to a medical issue which thrust Nash into the fifth-place spot in the podium. He was assured of finishing in the top six, but he made the top five and ended a very successful season with a 22-10 record.

As a team, the Golden Eagles finished 17th in a 77-team field with only four wrestlers at the championships.

Elijah Nash (second from right) stands in the 5th Place spot on the NCWA National Championship podium.

 A proud moment for Elijah and Golden Eagles wrestling.                                          Bill Meeks, Assistant Coach, Elijah and Head Coach Dave Schlarb.