UNCP Sends Three Wrestlers to NCAA Championships for 10th Consecutive Year
Cooper Davis, Logan Robinson, and James Bankston will be representing UNCP wrestling at the NCAA Championships.
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke will send three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Cooper Davis, Logan Robinson, and James Bankston each grabbed third-place finishes at NCAA Super Region II on Saturday. They clinched their spots at Horne Arena in Greenwood, South Carolina.
Davis went 5-1 in the 125-pound division. This marks his first trip to nationals. He dominated throughout the tournament with a major decision, two technical falls, and a pin. Davis claimed third with a 10-0 major decision over Belmont Abbey's Kyle Simpson.
Robinson posted a 4-1 record at 133 pounds and will compete in his third NCAA Championships. All four wins came with bonus points. He crushed King's Alex Fernandez 22-6 by technical fall in the third-place match.
Bankston dropped his opening match in the quarterfinals. Then he roared back. Three straight wins brought him to 3-1 at his weight class. He pinned Mount Olive's Slade Watkins in the third-place bout, punching his ticket to his first national tournament.
The Braves accumulated 111.5 team points. They placed fifth at the event. Three other wrestlers came close to qualifying but stumbled in their final matches.
Keegan Roberson at 157 pounds, Caleb Grau at 165, and Nick Williams at 174 each lost their third-place matches. They finished fourth. Avery Buonocore at 149 pounds and Jackson Buck at 197 pounds both took fifth.
UNCP will have multiple entries at the NCAA Championships for the 10th straight season. Since 2017, the program has maintained this streak of sending at least two qualifiers to nationals. The NCAA Championships will take place March 13-14 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
