By: Jacob Walsh

WAYNESBURG, Pa. – The Thiel Tomcats wrestling team secured their 23rd Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) championship on Saturday, February, 12.

The Tomcats wrestling scored 128.5 points to achieve the championship feat.

Evan Whiteside (Monroeville Pa./Gateway) won the 125-pound title and received the honor of the PAC’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Whiteside defeated a Waynesburg wrestler in the semifinals and went on to beat a W&J wrestler in the finals.

Whiteside became the first Thiel wrestler since 2016’s Brett Beltz to win the PAC’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Hunter Thompson won the 133-pound title as well, beating W&J by major decision (16-3) in the championship. The sophomore Thompson was named the PAC Newcomer of the Year.

Thiel’s wrestling Head Coach, Craig Thurber, also got in on the honors when he was named the PAC Coach of the Year for the ninth time in his career.

The Tomcats move on to compete in the NCAA Divison III Southeast Regional Championships at Lycoming College on February 25 and 26. Next, the NCAA Division III Championships are on March 11 and 12 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Grand Rapids, Iowa.

The PAC title was the Tomcats’s first since 2016.

The title tied the college with John Carroll for most titles in league history.

*Information obtained from Ed Topoleski and the Presidents’ Athletic Conference
Image Credit: Thiel Athletic Website