Biography
2019-20: Named an honorable mention NWCA All-American…Capped his redshirt senior season at 24-5 overall, qualifying for his third trip to the NCAA Championships in 2020, seeded No. 15 at heavyweight…Posted a 10-2 dual mark and a perfect 6-0 record in conference bouts, with five total major decisions, one tech fall and seven pins…Finished runner-up at the 2020 SoCon tournament, making his career finals showing, defeating VMI's Chris Beck with a 13-4 major decision…Opened the tournament with a first round pin, downing Gardner-Webb's Gabriel Pickett (1:17), battling Appalachian State's Cary Miller to overtime in the championship match, falling 5-3…Clinched his third NCAA berth, pinning The Citadel's Michael McAleavey (2:31) in a true place match...Named to the 2020 All-SoCon team…Tabbed Academic All-SoCon…Also named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll…Earned the No. 1 seed at heavyweight at the SoCon Championships…Ranked No. 13 in the regular season’s final NCAA Coaches’ Rankings with an RPI of 11…Ranked as high as No. 6 in the national polls during the season (The Open Mat, Nov. 5)…Claimed individual tournament championships at the Navy Classic and Reno Tournament of Champions…Named SoCon Wrestler of the Week on February 19 following a 2-0 week that included a decision over No. 24 Cary Miller of Appalachian State, and his quickest fall of the season, pinning VMI's Robbie Adelstein in just 45 seconds…Notched three bonus point wins, going 4-0 to take the heavyweight title at the Navy Classic…Started the day with a 13-5 major decision over Cleveland State's John Kelbly, then pinned Kent State's Spencer Berthold (2:55), following with a 10-1 major decision over No. 22 Kayne Hutchison of Air Force that sent the heavyweight to the title bout, where he edged Virginia Tech's John Borst 3-2…Gained his second individual title of the season at the Reno TOC, going 5-0, including a 3-2 decision over Utah Valley's Chase Trussell in the championship bout, adding a pin over Jase Stokes of Montana-Northern (4:58), a 12-4 major decision over Western Wyoming's Landon Brown, as well as Grand View's Matt Kent and Zach Schrader from California Baptist, both 3-2…Advanced to day two at Midlands, opening the tournament with a 3-1 overtime win over Vincenzo Pelusi of Franklin & Marshall before edging Iowa's Aaron Costello 3-2…Closed out the victory over No. 11 Iowa State with a 5-2 decision over No. 10 Gannon Gremmel…Named Preseason All-SoCon…
2018-19: Named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll…Went 3-2 on the season, competing unattached…Placed sixth in the heavyweight bracket at the Midlands Championships, his only collegiate event of the season, exiting due to injury…Began the tournament with a 7-5 decision over Brown’s Ian Butterbrodt, then picked up a fall over Alex Esposito of Rutgers (4:40)…Defeated Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi in an 11-3 major decision before suffering a 3-1 defeat (SV) to Arizona State’s Tanner Hall…
2017-18: Posted a top-12 finish at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, making his second straight NCAA appearance after claiming the 2018 Southern Conference Championship…Won 22 of his previous 24 matches heading into the 2018 NCAA Championships…Finished the season 27-7 overall…Took on Penn State's Nick Nevills, the No. 3 seeded heavyweight, Friday night for All-America status, falling 6-1…Defeated George Mason's Matt Voss and No. 8 Tanner Hall of Arizona State to advance in the consolation bracket…Downed a seeded wrestler for the second time in the 2018 NCAA Championships, eliminating No. 8 Tanner Hall of Arizona State, 5-4…Made a run to day two action at the NCAA Championships with an opening round win over No. 16 Matt Stencel from Central Michigan in round one, 8-3, then met eventual NCAA Champion, No. 1 Kyle Snyder of Ohio State, with Snyder claiming the 23-8 tech fall…Captured the 2018 SoCon Championship at heavyweight, cruising to a pair of bonus point wins to reach his second straight finals appearance…Started with an 18-2 tech fall (5:36) over Davidson's Will Cooley in his first match, then claimed an 8-0 major decision over Michael McAleavey from The Citadel…Pinned Appalachian State's Cary Miller in just 1:48, capturing his first SoCon Championship, and securing his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships…Named to the NWCA Division I All-Academic team…Earned the SoCon Commissioner’s Medal, posting a GPA of 3.8 or higher…Named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll…The SoCon's No. 1 seed at heavyweight entering the 2018 SoCon Championships…Named to the All-SoCon Team, going 21-5 overall in the regular season while running the table in SoCon matches, going a perfect 7-0…Of his seven SoCon victories, five came in bonus fashion, including three pins, a tech fall and a major decision…Finished runner-up at the Reno Tournament of Champions, topping Seville Hayes (Cal Poly) 9-2, Hunter Mullins (Wyoming) 8-1, Blake Andrews (unattached-Oklahoma State) 5-2 and Tate Orndorff (unattached-Utah Valley) 13-6, falling to No. 6 Amar Dhesi of Oregon State, 5-3, in the finals...
2016-17: Finished 26-10 on the year, 14-2 in duals, and 6-1 in SoCon action… He picked up four falls on the year, one tech fall, and three major decisions… His fastest fall came in the SoCon tournament against Will Cooley (Davidson, 3/4) at 49 seconds into the period… He also pinned Cooley at 2:58 during their matchup Feb. 2… He pinned Thomas Shea-Roop (VMI, 2/18) in 52 seconds and Andrew Piehl (Navy, 11/19) at 1:39… In the NCAA Championships, he went 2-2, picking up wins over Jared Johnson (Chattanooga, 3/16) and Billy Miller (Edinboro, 3/17)… He finished as runner-up in the 2017 SoCon Championships… He also earned Wrestler of the Week honors once (2/1)…
2015-16: Finished 4th at the 2016 SoCon Championships … Earned a spot on the 2015-16 SoCon All-Freshman team … Collected a 15-18 record including a 7-9 dual mark going 3-4 against SoCon opponents … Started every dual at heavyweight for the Camels … Claimed a 6th place finish at the Reno Tournament of Champions … Defeated Joe Bexley (The Citadel) to clinch a 19-16 victory for the Camels, the first at home since spring 2014 … Tied for 3rd with eight decisions … Recorded two major decisions, one tech fall, and four pins … Fastest fall came in 1:27 … Collected 29 points in duals for the 4th best dual performance of all the Camels …
Prep/Personal: Wrestled in the First European Games at Baku Azerbaijan in June 2015 … Placed third at the Junior European Championships held in Istanbul, Turkey … Son of Jarmo and Carina Heino … The younger brother of former Campbell wrestler Ville Heino … Majoring in physical education …
