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Yellow Jacket wrestler wins second straight national title

As a team, the Yellow Jackets finished in the top 10 for the third straight season.

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Michael Petrella (center) on the top of the podium at the Division III National Championships

Baldwin Wallace University All-American wrestler Michael Petrella '24 has claimed his second straight national championship as a 149-pounder while notching a second straight perfect season.

The Yellow Jackets men's wrestling team, champions of both the Ohio Athletic Conference and NCAA Central Region, placed sixth out of 66 teams at the Division III National Championships hosted by the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse at the La Crosse Center.

Under head coach Jamie Gibbs, BW men's wrestling has finished in the top 10 for three straight seasons.

Individual Honors

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Pictured left to right, BW head wrestling coach Jamie Gibbs, Jacob Decatur, Michael Petrella, Jaden Hinton and associate head coach Jason Zastrow (Photo Courtesy: Donovan Birkett '26)

wrestling-jump-joy.jpgPetrella, an accounting major who entered the national tournament as the number one seed, has won 76 straight matches and earned All-American honors for three straight years.

In addition to Petrella, senior All-American and number three-seeded, 133-pounder Jaden Hinton was the national runner-up and notched All-American honors for the second straight year.

Three-time All-American and number four-seeded, 125-pounder Jacob Decatur '24, who has earned a national championship and runner-up trophy during his BW wrestling career, claimed fourth place this year.

Eight national qualifiers

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Also among the eight elite Yellow Jacket student-athletes who qualified for the NCAA DIII Nationals this year were All-Ohio Athletic Conference 157-pounder Tommy West '25, All-OAC 165-pounder Andrew Supers '27, All-OAC 174-pounder Carter Lloyd '25, All-OAC 197-pounder Luke Hopkins '24 and All-American 285-pounder Doug Byrne '24.

For more details, visit yellowjackets.com.

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