Columbus East graduate and University of Indianapolis redshirt-sophomore Dawson Combest, top, competes in a match this season. Combest will wrestle in the NCAA Division II Championships this weekend in St. Louis.
Jackie Paquette | UIndy Athletics
In the midst of battling to a fourth-place finish at 157 pounds in last year’s NCAA Division II Championships, Dawson Combest sustained a leg injury.
That injury caused the Columbus East graduate to miss the first semester of the 2021-22 wrestling season at University of Indianapolis. But now, Combest has recovered to make it back to the NCAA, which will take place Friday and Saturday in St. Louis.
“That was tough,” Combest said of missing the first half of the season. “It hasn’t been my best season. It’s still been a successful season. College wrestling is tough. There’s always new wrestlers coming in. It may not be my most glamorous season, but I’m gotten better as a wrestler.”
Although this is Combest’s fourth year at UIndy, he still is just a redshirt sophomore. The three-time state medalist in high school reshirted his first year with the Greyhounds in 2018-19. He then earned National Wrestling Coaches Association All-America honors in 2020 when he made it to the NCAA tourney and finished seventh at 157 pounds.
Combest made it back to the NCAA last year and finished fourth at 157. He led the team with 12 wins and was named the team’s Most Valuable Wrestler.
“Last year was a COVID year, so it was pretty hectic,” Combest said. “This year should be a little more relaxed. Going through those extra steps last year will prepare me. We shouldn’t be as rushed.”
UIndy didn’t wrestle the first semester last year because of COVID, so this year was similar when Combest missed the first semester with the injury.
“Wrestling is tough to stay healthy, and he’s had some injuries that we’ve overcome,” UIndy coach Jason Warthan said. “He’s had some ongoing knee issues and an ankle injury that’s kind of slowed him down a little bit. It changes the expectations or what the body can handle the older you get, so you can get more selective with matches. With his injury, it didn’t make that much sense for him to wrestle the first semester. We’re lucky to have some depth, so we were able to throw somebody else in there and do a good job until Dawson put himself in a position to be the guy again. “
At the NCAA Super Region 4 in St. Charles, Missouri, Combest went 3-1. He finished third, earning his NCAA berth with a 13-2 major decision over Jace Fisher of Newman in the third-place match.
“I was feeling back to my old self,” Combest said. “I didn’t feel the greatest in the first round, but my coaches helped me get through it. That kind of put some confidence in me, and the last two matches, I wrestled pretty well.
“(Qualifying) was really exciting,” he added. “I was really happy. I get to share this moment with some of my best friends. Some of my best friends might be wrestling their last tournament this weekend, so I wanted to be there with them. We’re a team first here.”
The Greyhounds are ranked No. 5 in Division II and have hopes of competing for a national championship this weekend.
“There’s some unfinished work to do as a team and as an individual,” Combest said. “We have seven wrestlers going, and we want to bring home the title. My first goal individually is to score as many team points as we can.”
Combest enters the NCAA tourney seeded No. 7 at 157. He was the No. 2 seed last year, but UIndy was moved into a tougher region this season.
“Going in as a 7, it may seem like he’s behind where he was, but that’s not the case,” Warthan said. “Our region is tough. They’re all tough at this point. There’s a lot of parity in that class. We have just as high hopes as we did last year going into the tournament. He’s wrestling as well as he ever has.”
Combest plans to use the seeding to his advantage.
“I never go out there expecting to lose,” Combest said. “Underdog is where I like to be. I’m comfortable. I’m the most dangerous when I have something to prove. No moment is too big for me at this point, so I just need to go and wrestle.”
