Hilton Head’s Talon Seitz to wrestle collegiately at Division II power

Talon Seitz is happy to accept congratulations on heading off to wrestle at Nebraska. Just know that he won’t be part of the Big Red — and that it’s not all that much of a letdown.

The Hilton Head Island senior, whose 54-0 season helped propel the Seahawks to the Class 3-A Lower State title, is headed to Nebraska-Kearney and one of the nation’s top Division II programs.

The Lopers haven’t finished lower than third at the NCAA Division II tournament in the past five years, two of which have ended with national titles.

“Kearney is actually really great,” said Seitz, who will formally sign his letter-of-intent Monday. “You don’t find a lot of schools (that play) football where wrestling is still the bigger sport. Their wrestlers are big men on campus. You don’t find that a lot these days. I saw that and thought it was just insane.”

Kearney is located in the heart of the state, about halfway between Lincoln and the Colorado border. Coach Marc Bauer just completed his 17th year at his alma mater, where he has produced three national titles, 19 individual national champions and 90 Division II All-Americans.

The Lopers even have produced a U.S. Olympian — Tarvel Dlagnev, who placed fifth at 275 pounds at the 2012 Games and is on the team for Rio de Janeiro.

Seitz twice was named the area’s Co-Wrestler of the Year by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, sharing the honor this season with teammate Martin Duane. He won it the first time while wrestling for Bluffton, before his family moved across the bridge.

Seitz notched 40 of his 54 victories by pin, with just seven opponents taking him the full 6 minutes in a match. He also owns the South Carolina career mark with 168 pins, including a single-season record with 52 as a Bluffton junior.

Though he heard from several Division I schools, some with a high national profile, financial aid was tough to work out under NCAA scholarship limits. UNK didn’t enter the recruiting picture until last month — “the last school to really look at me.”

“I was (thinking) no way,” Seitz said. “It’s so far; I kind of want to stay close. Then I went there and fell absolutely in love with the place. It’s one of the coolest places I’ve been to.”

MUNGIN PICKS SOCCER IN SPARTANBURG

Sissy Mungin, a three-sport standout at Beaufort Academy, will pursue soccer in college after signing a national letter-of-intent to play for Spartanburg Methodist.

Mungin scored seven goals for the Eagles this season and assisted on seven others from her defensive midfield position.

“She has embodied selflessness the for the last couple of years,” said BA coach David Byrne. “She’s probably a natural striker, but I asked her to play more of a defensive midfield role. I’ve always said I wouldn’t want to go up against her.”

Mungin also was part of the IP/BG’s All-Area girls’ basketball squad, averaging 14.1 points and 6.8 rebounds. She also played volleyball for the Eagles and was the school’s homecoming queen.

KORINEK LANDS AT DELAWARE

Skyler Korinek, Hilton Head Island’s former long snapper who left to play his senior year at Florida’s IMG Academy, saw the decision pay off with a roster invitation to Delaware.

Korinek will be an invited walk-on, with a chance to earn a scholarship if he can beat out two others for the starting job.

“It was a good experience, it really was,” Korinek of making the move. “I feel like it’s really prepared me for college life. You’re living in dorms here at IMG — you have to wake up on your own, eat on your own, do your schoolwork on your own.”

This story was originally published May 12, 2016 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Hilton Head’s Talon Seitz to wrestle collegiately at Division II power."