LA CROSSE, Wis. – Over the weekend
Desmond Diggs of your Mount St. Joseph University wrestling team made history. The Senior from Xenia, Ohio earned All-American Honors while taking 8
th Place at NCAA DIII Nationals in the 133lb weight class. Diggs finished his 2023-24 season with a record of 24-13 with 7 major decisions, 4 technical falls and 4 pins.
Diggs was tasked with a tough draw out of the gate, wrestling a "pigtail" to begin the tournament. Diggs faced off against Alfred State's Zach Levey.
Diggs wasted no time jumping ahead grabbing an early takedown. Levey would counter with a reversal but Diggs would end the first period ahead 3-2. He secured another takedown to begin the second but Levey answered with an escape and a takedown to tie the match score at 6. The final period was one for the ages, as Diggs received a penalty with 1:34 left followed by an escape to give Levey an 8-6 match lead. With time ticking down, Diggs needed a takedown to jump ahead. With seconds remaining on the clock, Diggs was able to secure a double-leg takedown to beat the buzzer defeating Levey 9-8.
In his second match of the day, Diggs faced off against the #2 seed Joe Pins from Wartburg. Diggs battled to start but ultimately fell via fall moving him to the consolation bracket.
Here, Diggs faced off against Coe College's Bryce Parke. Parke got started quickly taking a 7-2 match lead after the first period. In the second, Diggs was able to settle in securing a takedown before Parke escaped to bring the match score to 8-5. In the third period, Diggs needed to amp up the offense. After an escape from Parke, Diggs quickly secured a takedown with 1:13 left to bring the score to 9-8. Parke earned another escape leaving Diggs with just over a minute left to secure a takedown. Much like his first match, Diggs shot for the double-leg takedown, stepped over-the-top and got the three points as time expired. Diggs got the 11-10 decision win leaving him just one-win shy of All-American status.
In his final match of the day, Diggs faced off against Ferrum's Zach Beckner. Diggs was patient to start but was able to secure a takedown with 3 seconds left in the first period to take a 3-0 lead. To start the second, Beckner chose bottom and escaped to bring the score to 3-1. Diggs kept Beckner at distance but couldn't produce more offense. In the third, Diggs chose neutral and kept it that way. Diggs showcased tremendous takedown defense protecting his 3-1 match lead clinching All-American status.
With All-American honors earned, Diggs met Wisconsin-Whitewater's Dominik Mallinder in the third round of the consolation bracket. Diggs battled to start but couldn't get his offense flowing. Mallinder did just enough to get by Diggs with a 4-1 decision win. With the loss, Diggs wasn't out. He was set to face Ithaca's Isaias Torres in the 7
th Place Match. To begin the match, Diggs looked to be in control after an early takedown. But, in the second period Torres was able to secure a takedown leading to a pin to move past Diggs.
Congratulations to
Desmond Diggs and MSJ Wrestling on a fantastic season and National Tournament run! For continued updates of MSJ Wrestling and all MSJ Athletics follow us on Twitter/X @MSJ_Lions!
