UMBC's Alex Broadwater (left), shown during an earlier victory over McDaniel College, earned the National Collegiate Wrestling Association title at 149 pounds over the weekend.
Broadwater, a graduate of nearby Catonsville High School where he was a
Baltimore County champion and a state placewinner, scored a 7-5 overtime
victory over Clay Goodloe of Newman University in Kansas for the championship.
A junior and defending NCWA All-American, Broadwater went 5-0 at the
three-day event, scoring two decisions and two pins before his finals bout. The
wins improved his record to 23-4 on the season.
With the title, Broadwater joined Steve Kessler, Derrick Asbell and JJ
Holmes as college national champions produced out of the Owings Mills Junior
League program coached by hall-of-famer Guy Pritzker.
UMBC finished 13th at the event, the highest finish in school history,
thanks to individual victories and pins by Mount St. Joseph graduate Jason Lanciotti (174), Glenelg graduate John Lapoint (235) and Seneca Valley graduate Billy Hesch (285)
In addition to Broadwater, three other Maryland natives from other schools
earned All-American honors at the nationals.
Navy Prep's Luke Rebertus (174), a former McDonogh High School and Caravel Academy of Delaware student and three-time
high school state champion, was named the event's Outstanding Wrestler after winning
his title in dominant fashion.
Rebertus' teammate, Navy Preps' Collin Leadbeter (149), formerly of Northern-Calver County and former two-time high school state champ, placed third after losing, 8-5, to Goodloe in the semifinals.
Placing seventh was Blair Academy's Andy Lowy (141), formerly a three-time high school state champion from Sherwood of Montgomery County.