Shawn Kitchner '07 and Levon Mock '08 competed last weekend in the NCAA Wrestling Championship at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan, where both wrestlers had tough draws in their first round. Despite their hard work, neither pulled the upset and could not advance further in the tournament.
As a result, Kitchner finished his college wrestling career with a record of 46-29, and Mock will head into his senior season with a career record of 38-32.
At 165 pounds, Kitchner first wrestled against fifth seed Nick Balma from Northern Iowa University. Kitchner lost by a 5-0 decision. In his consolation match, Kitchner faced off against another seeded wrestler, Johnny Galloway from Northern Illinois University, the twelfth-seeded wrestler in the weight class. Despite his effort, Kitchner could not take down his opponent and lost the match 8-2.
Kitchner said he was somewhat disappointed with his performance in the two matches.
"Although both of my opponents were seeded, I don't think I wrestled at my best. I was a little conservative on the mat - maybe it's because it was my first time at Nationals," he said.
Kitchner had not wrestled for seven weeks due to injury when he took fourth place at Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association and qualified for Nationals. He earned Wrestling All-Ivy Honorable Mention this year for his extraordinary comeback.
Though he could not fulfill his dream of becoming an All-American, his achievements at Brown were praised by the coaching staff.
"Shawn had a very successful college career," said Assistant Coach Mike Burch. "He is one of the most dedicated wrestlers, wasting no minutes in training. He is one of the best wrestlers and leaders Brown has had in the last 10 to 15 years."
After the last match of his college career, Kitchner said he thought it was "going to take some time for it to sink in. However, looking back, I don't think I would change anything."
Though Kitchner's competitive college wrestling career is over, he still plans on helping out the team next year - he has been accepted into Brown's one year master's program in innovation management and entrepreneurship engineering and is waiting to hear back from another graduate program at Brown.
"I am going to volunteer and help out the team as much as I can," Kitchner said.
Brown's other national qualifier had an even tougher draw in his first match - in the heavyweight class, Mock wrestled against second-seed Aaron Anspach from Pennsylvania State University, who eventually placed second in the tournament. Mock could not upset his strong opponent and lost to Anspach 13-4.
In his consolation match, Mock came close to a win. At the beginning of the match, his opponent, Reece Hopkin of Northern Colorado, took a 5-0 lead. But Mock came back and the two went back and forth in a high scoring match. Close to the end, Mock was trailing two points, but he was unable to take down his opponent in the last few seconds to even the score, and lost 15-13.
Though he was disappointed with the results, Mock said that going to Nationals added a lot to his experience.
"It helped me out a lot. I know what I need to work on in the off season and in the summer to win at that level," Mock said.
Mock, the only junior captain this year, led the team on the mat with 20 wins, including nine by fall and 11 bonus point victories. He earned Second Team All-Ivy honors this year at heavyweight. Mock will get right back on the mat in a freestyle wrestling tournament in Las Vegas in three weeks and, he said, maybe another tournament in Chicago.
"I'm ready to take the next step," Mock said.
