CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa. – A pair of dramatic wins on Friday evening, March 11, helped sophomore 197-pounder Gable Crebs (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Area) and junior heavyweight Connor Fulmer (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) become the 68^th and 69^th All-Americans in the history of the Lycoming College wrestling program, as both went 2-1 during the opening day of the NCAA Division III Championships at the U.S. Cellular Center.
 
Crebs faced off with Johnson & Wales' Travis Arata in the All-American round match and he took a quick lead with a single-leg for a takedown before holding Arata on bottom for the rest of the first period. In the second period, Crebs earned an escape before he turned a takedown into a pin at the 3:41 mark to reach the podium for the first time.
 
"It's a great feeling," Crebs said of his All-American status. "To have my dad in the corner was even better. That first match was a bummer, but it showed me that I could compete with anyone in the tournament. Dominating the seventh-ranked kid in the country gave me a lot of confidence and that propelled me through the blood round."
 
Just minutes later, Fulmer completed a dramatic comeback for a 6-4 sudden-victory win in his All-American round match with Johnson & Wales' third-seeded Liridon Leka. Fulmer took the lead with a second-period escape before Leka took the lead with a third-period reversal. Fulmer tied it at two with an escape, but Leka scored a takedown with 30 seconds left. Fulmer quickly escaped to make it 4-3 and then followed a retreating Leka around the mat, and two stall warnings on Leka tied the match at four with three seconds remaining.
 
In overtime, Leka got in on a single, but Fulmer took control of the ensuing scramble, settling on top of him for the two-point takedown and the win.
 
"You don't want anyone that deep in on your leg," Fulmer said. "I like to roll around, probably too much, in the wrestling room. I just grabbed his leg and held on and when we rolled through, he was on his back. That's just practicing stuff in the room and ending up on top."
 
The Warriors finished the opening session with 12 team points to stand in a tie for 22^nd in a field of 70 teams. Wartburg leads the team standings with 58 points and Augsburg is second with 45.
 
Both Crebs and Fulmer are back in action in the placement rounds on Saturday, March 12, with Crebs facing off with York's Camden Farrow to begin the morning. Farrow defeated Crebs by decision in the semifinals of the NCAA Southeast Regional. Fulmer opens his Saturday morning by taking on No.  2-seed Kaleb Reeves of Coe.
 
Crebs rebounded from an opening-round setback by pinning No. 7-seed Quinn Haddad in 1:05. He warded off an early shot before driving through a double and flattening out Haddad. He caught a headlock and used it to score the pin.
 
Fulmer, wrestling at nearly the same time, notched an 8-1 win over Millikin's Brayan Reyes in his wrestleback match. He rolled through a double with about 50 seconds left in the first period and turned that into a four-point near fall. He used a second-period reversal to make it 8-0, before Reyes got on the board with a riding time point as time expired.
 
"It's our first trip out here and there were some nerves in our first match," Fulmer said. "Neither of us wrestled our best. Coach Crebs did talk to us both this afternoon and we both responded to it well. It was all about wrestling our best and knowing we left it all out there. Gable got a big pin and I got a big lead in that second match. We both responded well."
 
Crebs opened the tournament against Wabash's No. 2-seed Jack Heldt, where he notched two first-period takedowns to take a 4-2 lead, before Heldt used a second-period takedown to notch a pin in 4:21.
 
Fulmer, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, fell in the opening round to TCNJ's Thomas Marretta, allowing an escape, a third-period takedown and an escape.
 
197
Gable Crebs (29-6) scored 8.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Jack Heldt (Wabash College) 34-1 won by fall over Gable Crebs (Lycoming College) 29-6 (Fall 4:21)
Cons. Round 1 - Gable Crebs (Lycoming College) 29-6 won by fall over Quinn Haddad (The College Of New Jersey) 20-5 (Fall 1:05)
Cons. Round 2 - Gable Crebs (Lycoming College) 29-6 won by fall over Travis Arata (Roger Williams University) 5-3 (Fall 3:41)
 
285
John Fulmer (39-2) scored 4.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Thomas Marretta (The College Of New Jersey) 18-8 won by decision over John Fulmer (Lycoming College) 39-2 (Dec 4-0)
Cons. Round 1 - John Fulmer (Lycoming College) 39-2 won by decision over Brayan Reyes (Millikin University) 5-3 (Dec 8-1)
Cons. Round 2 - John Fulmer (Lycoming College) 39-2 won in sudden victory - 1 over Liridon Leka (Johnson & Wales University (Rhode Island)) 34-2 (SV-1 6-4)