ROCKY MOUNTAIN, Va. – Jake Paulson (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Jacob Parsons (Titusville, PA/Maplewood) took fourth and fifth place, respectively, on the final day of the Division III NCAA Southeast Regionals held by Ferrum College at Franklin High School on Saturday.
Paulson was one win away from punching his first ticket to the NCAA Championships at 184, but Francis Krauss narrowly defeated the freshman 5-4 in the third-place match. He started the day in the championship bracket, falling to Derek Beitz of Messiah (3:50) in the semifinals to drop down to the consolation. Paulson made his way into the third-place bout with a 6:39 pin over Nickolas Bord of Delaware Valley, before suffering the one-point loss for fourth place.
Parsons was able to take fifth place at 197, pinning all four opponents over the weekend. He started the day with pinning Carlos Martinez of Delaware Valley in 1:07. He then was pinned by Hasan Alic of York in 3:52 to get a chance to battle for fifth place. He defeated Edward Merrill of King's in 1:53 to cap his senior season.
As a team, the Lions finished 12th out of 18 teams with 39 points.