NCAA Tournament Homepage

Frank Heffernan (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) and Zach Pizarro (Easton, Pa./Easton) will be representing Wilkes University at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships this weekend, both of which are no strangers to the event. Heffernan will be competing in the national tournament for the third-straight year, while Pizarro will be making his second trip to the NCAA's.

After dropping his first two matches at the national tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as a sophomore, Heffernan made it a personal goal to return the following year and represent the university well. He did that and more, placing seventh overall as a junior, achieving All-American status. Knowing what it takes to be one of the nation's best wrestlers, Heffernan is hoping he can do what he did a year ago if not better. “Naturally everybody wants to be in the finals. My goal is to be an All-American again this year, but higher on the ladder this time.”

Heffernan, competing at the 174-pound division, will enter as the No. 5 seed and received a bye in the opening round. He will take on Christopher Karl of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, who also received a bye in the opening round. While Heffernan will take a 30-7 record into the tournament, Karl heads to Cedar Rapids with a 17-9 mark. The winner of that bout will take on the winner of the Sam Engelland of Wisconsin Oshkosh and No. 4 Kyle Kwiat of Ohio Northern.

Head coach Jon Laudenslager has confidence in both wrestlers and it doesn't hurt they have both been on the national stage before. “Both guys have been there before, so the first time nerves shouldn't be a problem. Also both guys have worked hard their entire years here at Wilkes and want to end on a positive note, so I expect them to really let it all on the mat this weekend. Both should come home All-Americans if they wrestle well,” commented the coach.

Pizarro, who has had the best year of his career with a 31-3 record, will take on top-seeded Jared Massey of Augsburg. “I have prepared for this tournament the same way I have in the past,” Pizarro said. “Coach has been doing this a long time so he knows how to prepare us and I have been doing this a long time so I know how to prepare as well.”

Last year Pizarro dropped his first two matches, but now that he has a year under his belt, he believes he has a much better chance this year. “I figure I have to win three matches to be an All-American. If I just wrestle the way I know how, I should do just fine.”

Since the two are close in weight classes, they have the advantage of working out with each other. “Their training has been great and the both are close in weight, so they have been able to work out together the past two weeks. We also have such a good team and many of the guys who didn't qualify for the tournament were still in working and pushing Frank and Zach. That's the nice thing about this team; they all want each other to do well,” Laudenslager said.

While both will be competing in their final collegiate tournaments, they have kept Wilkes University on the wrestling map with their success over the past four seasons. “Frank and Zach have been such pivotal parts of Wilkes Wrestling getting into the National scene; we really will miss them in the future. They have started every match of their careers and have provided tremendous leadership and direction for the other guys on the team. I attribute a lot of the team's success from the last two seasons to their leadership and them striving to reach their personnel goals and making the sacrifices in order to give themselves the best possible chance in reaching those goals,” Laudenslager said.