Kutztown University wrestler Andrew Dunn Jr. (Bethlehem Catholic) and, like many other student-athletes, had something ripped away from him this year. After ‘having a cup of coffee’ upon arriving in South Dakota, the duo received word that the NCAA had canceled the Division II Championships at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls the weekend of March 13-14.

In a “tough guy” sport where competitors aren’t known to show much emotion or wear their hearts on their sleeves, the scene around the championship event was quite different. The ‘what ifs’ started to set in.

“There was not much time to let it all set in,” said Dunn Jr. “It didn’t really feel real. It was confusing and annoying in the moment. The goal was flying out there to get a job done and come back a champion. But then you’re kind of left to kick rocks and leave with nothing. After all the work you’ve put in since you were a kid to get to these moments, that particular weekend, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It was a quick trip to South Dakota, halfway across the country, and back. The whole way back we didn’t talk much about it. I’m understanding of the entire situation with this virus and I know that staying away from one another is the best solution and canceling events is necessary. But selfishly I wish we could have moved the tournament up to Friday and wrestled all the matches in one day and get it over with. Last year it was a week earlier, and that was also one thing I kept thinking about over and over again.”

Head coach Robert Fisher, who has coached 23 All-Americans over his tenure, knew he had a special tandem with him, and was confident that they would have brought back national recognition to Kutztown.

“My heart goes out to all of our athletes at Kutztown, and to all the athletes throughout the country who were not able to compete this year due to the Coronavirus,” said Fisher. “In particular, my two guys that lost the chance to become national champions (Collin Wickramaratna, Malton, N.J./Cherokee). Both my guys were in a great position to be champions. Andrew is the reigning national champion and he was undefeated going into the championships. I have no doubt that Andrew was going to repeat as champion. He was clearly the best man in that weight class and was an overwhelming favorite to win again.”

Both Golden Bear wrestlers entered nationals with a ton of confidence and momentum after a successful 2019-20 season. In their last outings prior to the championship event, Dunn Jr. and Wickramaratna both earned regional championships at the 285-pound and 133-pound brackets respectively at the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Championships on Feb. 29. Dunn Jr. boasted a perfect 20-0 record this season, while Wickramaratna was 24-2 overall.

Dunn Jr. cruised into the semifinals with an opening round technical fall over Gannon’s Gehrig Hutchison and a 14-3 major decision against Alderson Broaddus’ Jared Burgoyne. The redshirt junior’s unbeaten season was in jeopardy during his semifinal match with Millersville’s Joshua Walls, the region’s fourth-ranked grappler.

Walls had first choice following the opening period and took a 1-0 lead early in the second on an escape. Dunn Jr. answered early in the third with an escape of his own, but nothing else would be decided in regulation. Finally, in the third overtime, Walls was hit with his second stalling call, lifting Dunn Jr. to a 2-1 decision.

Dunn Jr. became just the fourth KU wrestler all-time to win multiple regional championships.

“Regionals was a lot of fun,” said Dunn Jr. “It’s a grind; four matches in one day and it’s critical to make it the best day of wrestling over your entire season. We see it every year, top seeds falling at the regionals or just guys not ready to put a full day together to get onto nationals. My weight class was deep. If you include myself, there were four wrestlers in our region in DII who were state champions, and guys I competed against very often growing up. So, it makes for great competition. I think a group of us were ranked pretty high nationally as well. I wrestled well and stuck to my game plan, I felt calm and competed smart. But all in all, that was just a tough day of wrestling, and I was fortunate to compete well and make the right choices and win those matches and the championship.”

Both Kutztown wrestlers are expected back next season, and will be hungrier than ever to make it back to the DII Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, the weekend of March 12-13, 2021.

Dunn Jr. is expected to graduate in May with a degree in business management. He then plans on enrolling in grad school in the fall to pursue a graduate degree in public administration.

“I haven’t stepped on a wrestling mat since I stepped off the mats in South Dakota, and I’m already getting that itch to wrestle and compete again,” Dunn Jr. said. “I’m hoping I can get back on the mats after all this settles down with the Coronavirus, so I can continue to improve and make the most of the time I have left to compete in this sport I love. I’ll be training in whatever ways I can, physically, mentally and spiritually. I believe this adversity will push me to have a great senior year of competition, and I want to go undefeated again next year. Only this next time around, I want to come back home with another gold trophy, and I’m confident I have what it takes within me to make that happen, to go out in style.”