March 12, 1998

BAYER EARNS ALL-AMERICAN HONORS AT NCAA DIVISION III WRESTLING TOURNAMENT; THREE SCOTS MAKE SCHOLAR ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

Waterloo, IA -- Senior Scott Bayer (Schaumburg,IL/Hoffman Estates) earned All-American honors this past weekend with a seventh-place finish in the heavyweight division at the NCAA Division III National Wrestling Championships. The top eight finishers in each weight class earn All-American recognition at the national meet, which was hosted by Upper Iowa University and held at Young Arena in Waterloo, Iowa. Monmouth scored 42 team points to finish in a tie for 40th place among 59 schools scoring in the tournament. Augsburg College (Minnesota) claimed the Division III team title with 132 points.

Bayer, who led the Scots for the second straight year in dual-match victories, posted a 3-2 record in five matches to finish his senior season at 40-8. He became the first Monmouth wrestler to win 40 matches in a single season and the first Fighting Scot All-American wrestler since John Chapman finished second at 126 pounds in 1991. Bayer won his first match against Tag Noel of Buena Vista by a 12-3 decision but then was defeated by eventual national champion Perry Miller of UW-Stevens Point 10-3 in the second round.

After winning his first consolation bracket match 2-0 over Mike Blackburn of Baldwin-Wallace, Bayer dropped a 6-2 decision to fourth-seeded Matt Eckerman of Chicago, who had defeated Bayer at last week=s NCAA Regional. A 3-1 victory against Dave Lucia of Plymouth State gave Bayer a seventh-place finish and a spot on the awards podium.

Bayer was one of two Fighting Scot wrestlers competing at the NCAA National Meet. Senior Andy Majetic (East Moline,IL/United Township) qualified at 177 pounds but did not advance to the scoring rounds. Majetic lost his first match 8-2 to Jim Ayers of John Carroll and then dropped an 8-6 decision to seventh-seeded Lance Baden of Worcester Polytechnic in the wrestleback round to be eliminated from the tournament. Majetic finished the season with a 21-3 dual match record.

In addition to their athletic participation at the national meet, Bayer and Majetic were selected for the NCAA Division III National Wrestling Coaches= Association Scholar All-American Team along with Monmouth junior Mike Burden. The Scholar All-American selections must have a 3.20 cumulative GPA, a minimum .500 win-loss record and finish in the top six in regional competition. Bayer (3.73), Burden (3.21) and Majetic (3.20) all made the scholastic team for the second consecutive season.