St. Christopher's School Wrestling

A number of St. Christopher's wrestlers have taken their athletic careers to the next level by competing for the colleges they attend. Over the past few years, these wrestlers have been very successful and more will continue the tradition in years to come. This page has all of the latest information and updates on those wrestlers competing at the collegiate level. To view profiles of St. Christopher's wrestlers who are currently competing in college, please click here. Here is a breakdown of how our Saints grapplers have fared in college competition over the past few years:

Collegiate All-Americans :

Conference Tournaments:

Donahue finished the 2010 wrestling season with his second NCAA Division III All-American honors for Cornell College by placing 4th at 141 lbs. He won the Iowa Athletic Conference title in 2010 en route to a 35-9 record. In 2009 he became the first St. Christopher's wrestler to earn All-American status in college when he placed 7th at Nationals after placing 3rd in the conference. Donahue will carry a 79-34 career record into his senior year for Cornell. He was a four-time VISAA State Champion while at St. Christopher and earned All-American honors three times for the Saints.

Munno finished his sophomore season for VMI with an 8-14 record and finished third in the NCAA Division I Southern Conference Tournament. He also took 4th at the All Academy Championships for the Keydets. In 2009 Munno placed fourth at the Southern Conference Championships. He will bring a 17-33 record into his junior season. Munno was a two-time VISAA State Champion for the Saints.

Rolfe finished his career at Wesleyan with a 56-48 record. He twice placed in the NCAA Division III New England Conference Championships- 5th as a senior and 6th as a freshman. Rolfe was a three-time VISAA State Champion at St. Christopher's and two-time National Preps All-American.

Spangler had a successful first season for the Falcons, posting a 20-12 record. He placed 4th at the Kaufman Brands Open and 2nd at the Colorado School of Mines Open. Spangler defeated two former VA State Champions- Jared Annogas (James River/Naval Academy) and Michael Garafalo (Colonial Forge/Iowa Central CC) during the season. Spangler was a two-time National Preps All-American, a three-time VISAA State Champion, and a two-time USA Wrestling Greco Roman All-American during his career at St. Christopher's.

Welch will start his senior year in 2010 with a career record of 7-24. He was a VISAA State Placer for St. Christopher's .

Riding high after winning the Iowa Athletic Conference title and a birth to the NCAA Division III Championships, St. Christopher's alum Kevin Donahue ended his junior season with a 4th place finish at Nationals to become a two-time All-American. Donahue entered the tournament as the #7 seed, but dropped his first match to Southern Maine's Matt Ulrich 6-5. The Ram wrestler won four consecutive matches en route to his 4th place finish, including a 7-1 decision over Ulrich in the consolation semi-finals. Donahue finished the season with a 35-9 record and his second podium finish at Nationals. The former four-time VISAA State Champion and three-time National Preps All-American finished seventh at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships to become St. Christopher's first ever NCAA wrestling All-American.

Donahue defeated unseeded Luther College's Kevin Bokoski in his first wrestle back match and the #8 seed from Wabash College, Jake Strasbaugh 11-3 in the second round of consolations before pinning #4 seed John Starzyk from North Central  in 4:40 to gain his rematch with Ulrich. In the match for third place, Donahue dropped a tight 8-5 decision to Wartburg College's Matt Kelly. Cornell finished in 12th place as a team at Nationals with two All-Americans. Augsburg College won the team title by five points over UW-La Crosse. Donahue will take a 79-35 career record into his senior year for the Rams.

In other NCAA action, Joe Munno placed 3rd at the Southern Conference for NCAA Division I VMI, Zach Rolfe took 5th at the New England Conference for NCAA Division III Wesleyan, and JP Welch went 0-2 for NCAA Divsion III Washington and Lee at the Centenial Conference Tournament. Air Force Academy's Tyler Spangler did not compete in the NCAA Division I West Regional for the Division I Falcons.

Loren Phillips, a 2009 VISAA State Runner-up and National Preps All-American is the latest St. Christopher's senior wrestler to sign a National Letter of Intent to continue his wrestling career in college. Phillips, who competed at 145 last season for the Saints, selected Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, NC to continue his schooling and wrestling. Phillips's decision makes him the third St. Christopher's wrestler to sign a National Letter of Intent and Grant in Aid form, joining Rennie Merhige and Ted Gottwald. Merhige and Gottwald signed with Virginia Military Academy on the first day of the fall signing period. content here - text, photos, videos, addons, whatever you want!

One of the hardest decisons for a high school senior is to decide where they will go for college. And for the potential collegiate athlete, the decision making progress can be intensified by the various athletic programs recruiting the athlete, which was the case with seniors Ted Gottwald and Rennie Merhige. Both are multi-sport athletes and extremely active in a wide variety of activities at St. Christopher's, so finding the right fit for college was extremely important. Numerous colleges sought after the two student-athletes over the past year, making the process  more complex. Both Gottwald and Merhige decided to further their educational and wrestling careers for John Trudgeon at VMI. Gottwald and Merhige made it official on November 11th by signing National Letters of Intent and Grant in Aide forms with the Keydets. They will join former St. Christopher's standout Joe Munno at the Lexington, VA college and spend their freshman year on the infamous "Rat Line" at VMI.

Gottwald takes to the mat in 2009 on a quest to win his third consecutive VISAA State title, after winning at 160 last season and placing 8th at the National Preps tournament. Merhige finished second at 135 last season at States and reached the round of 12 at National Preps in 2009. He is a two-time VISAA State place winner for the Saints.

VMI competes at the NCAA Division I level out of the Southern Conference. The Keydets placed 5th as a team at the Southern Conference with sophomore 285 lber. Josh Wine winning his second straight conference title and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.