ROANOKE, Va. - The Coe College wrestling team completed its appearance at the 2023 NCAA DIII Championships on Saturday, competing in the final two sessions of the tournament. Kaleb Reeves saw his run for a National Championship fall just short in the 285-pound title match, falling to Jack Heldt of Wabash in a 6-1 decision. Reeves fell behind in the first period after a takedown from his opponent and was unable to recover, earning an escape in the second for his lone point of the bout. Reeves ends his Kohawk career as a three-time all-American and Coe's all-time leads in falls. LJ Richardson also saw his standout sophomore season come to a conclusion on Saturday, dropping a pair of matches in the opening session to finish sixth in the 174-pound division. Richardson fell in his first bout of the day to the eventual third-place finisher. He then came out on the wrong end of an 8-5 decision in the fifth-place match, taking sixth place while earning all-American honors. As a team, Coe finished 12th with 32 total team points. Augsburg won its 14th National Championship, scoring 101 points to finish ahead of second-place Wartburg 66.5.
 
DAY TWO RECAP
LJ Richardson battled hard in his semifinal matchup against eventual third-place winner Seth Brossard of Wisconsin La-Crosse. LJ threw a few shots early in the match but eventually found himself on his back and was pinned by the pre-tournament three-seed. He saw his tournament come to a conclusion in the fifth-place match later in the session, dropping a narrow 8-5 decision to Stefan Major of Stevens. Again, Richardson hung tough, battling in the early moments but his opponent took the victory and claimed fifth in the 174-pound bracket. Kaleb Reeves got his long-awaited revenge over Donovan King in the 285-pound semifinal to advance to the national title match. Reeves, who lost in the 2022 NCAA Championships and earlier this season to King, kept calm and recorded a first-period-pin after a flurry of activity. The senior from Sigourney recorded his third pin of the tournament, all occurring within the first period. 
 
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