Ruhnke prepped for NCAA Championships

Friday, March 9

Cedar Rapids, IA

Millersville University

NCAA Division II Championships

Ruhnke prepped for NCAA Championships

3/6/2018 1:57:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Ryan Small, Athletic Communication Graduate Assistant

2018 NCAA DIVISION II WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
	Millersville Marauders 2017-18 Record: 7-7 Head Coach: Kerry Regner, 1st season Roster \| Schedule \| Statistics
	Tournament Information Date: March 9-10, 2018 Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Upper Iowa University) Tournament Central Live Results

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW
• 165-pound junior Shane Ruhnke placed third at the Super Region 1 Championships to become Millersville's first national qualifier at the Division II level.
• Ruhnke is one of 16 wrestlers in the 165-pound weight class set to compete for the national championship this weekend.
• Ruhnke has faced four wrestler in the national championship bracket before. Those wrestlers include Devin Austin of Pitt-Johnstown, Keegan Driscoll of Wheeling Jesuit, Rodney Shephard of UNC Pembroke and Nate Ross of Gannon.
• Early in December, Ruhnke claimed a 17-10 win over Ross of Gannon. Ruhnke and Shephard of UNC Pembroke went to overtime where Ruhnke scored a takedown to claim the 13-11 victory. In the second round of the Super Region 1 Championships, Ruhnke dominated his match against Driscoll for a 16-6 major decision win. Later in the championship, Ruhnke saw Driscoll again in the third place match, and Ruhnke scored a fall in 1:02.
• Austin has the season series lead over Ruhnke by winning two matches. Austin won the Super Region 1 match 12-8 and the dual match, 10-9. Ruhnke claimed a 14-6 major decision victory in the PSAC Championships. Ruhnke has a chance to tie the season matchup against Austin if both win two matches and face off in the semifinals.
• Ruhnnke posted a 24-6 overall record with a 13-3 tournament record. Ruhnke led the team in major decisions with seven.
• Last season, Ruhnke placed fifth at the super region championships, missing a berth to the NCAA Division II Championships by one place.
• In the national rankings, Ruhnke is ranked 10^th in the nation.
• All of the top 12 ranked wrestlers in the 165-pound rankings are in the NCAA Championships this weekend.
• Ruhnke will begin his NCAA run against No. 7 Blake Perryman of Northern State. Perryman has a 20-3 overall record. Runke could see the No. 1 ranked 165-pound wrestler, Bret Romanzak of Ashland, in the second round of the championship bracket.

RUHNKE'S JOURNEY TO NCAA'S
• Ruhnke earned a spot into the NCAA Championships by placing third in the NCAA Super Region 1 Championship.
• He started his super regional journey by winning 18-3 over Miles Mazik of West Liberty to advance into the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, he scored his first of two wins over Wheeling Jesuit's Driscoll. He suffered his first loss of the tournament (12-8) against Pitt-Johnstonw's Austin in the semifinal.
• In the consolation bracket, Ruhnke went up against Anthony Dailey of Notre Dame and scored an 18-7 major decision. Ruhnke and Driscoll earned another opportunity to face each other in the third place match, and Ruhnke won by fall.

MARAUDERS SEEKING HISTORY
• This is Kerry Regner's first season as Millersville's head coach but he has plenty of postseason success on his resume. He developed 23 national qualifiers and six All-Americans in just three seasons at NAIA Williams Baptist.
• Ruhnke broke the Millersville seven-year drought of reaching the NCAA Championships. The last time a Marauder went to the NCAA Championships was in 2010-11 season when Mike Greck qualified for the Division I Championships in the 141-pound weight class.
• Since the program moved to Division II in 2012-13, Millersville came close without a qualifier until Ruhnke in 2018. Ruhnke placed fifth last season and the super regional last season. 165-pound Ian Shannan did the same thing in the 2014-15 season. A year prior, 197-pound Aram Moffitt finished fifth at the super regional.
• While the Marauders have yet to achieve an All-America honor at the Division II level, Millersville has 19 All-Americans all-time, starting with Walter Kottmeyer in 1962. The last, however, was Tom Barley (Division I) in 1991. From 1975-80, six Marauders won national championships at the Division III level.