PARK CITY, Kan. – Kutztown University's Matthew Weinberg (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) reached his first national championship match before coming home as the 184-pound runner-up at the NCAA Division II Championships, which wrapped up inside Hartman Arena Saturday night.
 
Weinberg became the seventh Golden Bear to wrestle in a national championship match all-time and first since Andrew Dunn Jr. in 2022. The Philadelphian, now a two-time All-American, improved his positioning by two spots over last year's fourth-place finish in the same weight class. Teammate Bailey Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg), who also captured All-America honors, recorded an eighth-place finish in the 157-pound weight class.
 
It was a dominant tournament for Weinberg up until the final. The redshirt junior won his first three matches in convincing fashion with a technical fall over Owen Butler of Indianapolis and major decision over Jaquez Bostic of Limestone on Friday before an 11-1 major decision over seventh-ranked Damon Ashworth of Central Missouri in the semifinals Saturday morning.
 
Weinberg got a takedown in all three periods against Ashworth while adding an escape and riding time point for his fourth major decision of the season.
 
The task was tall for third-ranked Weinberg in the title match against defending 184 national champion, unbeaten and top-ranked Ty McGeary of West Liberty. Weinberg was aggressive early as he looked for scoring opportunities but couldn't close on a move before McGeary scored a takedown in the final seconds of the first period for a 3-0 lead.
 
Though the score remained 3-0 after two, McGeary was able to hold his position on top from the start of the period, building his riding time advantage to more than two minutes.
 
Weinberg continued to battle but an escape and stall point followed by another takedown increased McGeary's lead to 8-0 as the clock ticked under one minute in the third. McGeary was hit with his second stall to put Weinberg on the board before the riding time point lifted McGeary to his second straight national championship by major decision, 9-1.
 
Weinberg's outstanding 2023-24 campaign closed with a 27-4 record, nine technical falls, eight pins, four major decisions, his second All-America honor and second Super Region 1 title.
 
Gimbor suffered a pair of setbacks in consolation matches after securing his first career All-America honor with a trio of wins on Friday.
 
The Bernville, Pa., native fell to fourth-ranked Devin Bahr of Northern State by major decision, 11-3, in the consolation quarterfinals before being outscored 18-7 in a major decision defeat against Owen Zablocki of Indianapolis in the seventh-place match.
 
Gimbor ended the weekend with a 3-3 record and caps his second season with the Golden Bears 22-6 overall.
 
Kutztown finished 16th in the team standings among 51 squads with qualifiers. The Golden Bears scored 27 points on the weekend. The 16th-place finish is tied for the third best at nationals in program history. KU finished a program-best 10th in 2019, were tied for 14th in 2015 and placed 16th on three other occasions (2007, 2010 and 2017).
 
Central Oklahoma won its second straight team title with 110 points, while Lander was runner-up for the second year in-a-row with 86.5. Nebraska-Kearney (77.5), McKendree (73.0) and St. Cloud State (64.0) made up the rest of the top five.
 

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NCAA DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIPS
FRIDAY-SATURDAY, MARCH 15-16, 2024 | PARK CITY, KAN. | HARTMAN ARENA
KUTZTOWN RESULTS
 
157 LBS.
Bailey Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg)

Friday
PR– WIN MD #9 Ryan Wilson (Western Colorado), 8-0
R1 – WIN DEC #8 Keegan Roberson (UNC Pembroke), 11-10
QF – LOSS DEC #1 Nick Novak (St. Cloud State), 5-2
CR2 – WIN DEC Ethan Richner (Gannon), 9-3

Saturday
CQF – LOSS MD #4 Devin Bahr (Northern State), 11-3
7th – LOSS MD Owen Zablocki (Indianapolis), 18-7
8th PLACE (ALL-AMERICAN)

184 LBS.
#3 Matthew Weinberg (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan)

Friday
R1 – WIN TF Owen Butler (Indianapolis), 18-3 (7:00)
QF – WIN MD Jaquez Bostic (Limestone), 15-3

Saturday
SF – WIN MD #7 Damon Ashworth (Central Missouri), 11-1
F – LOSS MD #1 Ty McGeary (West Liberty), 9-1
2nd PLACE (ALL-AMERICAN)