Grand View closes NAIA regular season No. 1 for fourth straight year

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the 22nd-straight edition, Grand View (Iowa) holds the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA Wrestling Coaches’ Top 20 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The Vikings, who have 12 individual wrestlers ranked in the poll, accrued 172 total points.

Grand View’s ranked grapplers are highlighted by Ryak Finch (125), Brandon Wright (141) and Dallas Houchins (157). Finch and Wright have been listed atop their class in all five polls this season. The Vikings enter the national championships coming off their fifth-straight Central Qualifier team title, as all 12 wrestlers automatically qualified with top-four finishes.

Jumping two places to No. 2 is Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) with 108.5 points. The East Qualifier champion Blue Raiders boast nine ranked individuals. Freshman Michael Pixley leads the charge, ranking atop the 184-pound weight class for a second-consecutive week. The Blue Springs, Mo., native is 18-0 on the year.

Rounding out the top five are No. 3 Great Falls (Mont.) (105.5 points), No. 4 Southern Oregon (99.5 points) and No. 5 Montana State-Northern (99.5 points). Great Falls and Southern Oregon each boast one top-ranked individual – Michael Ruiz (133) for the Argonauts and Brock Gutches (174) for the Raiders.

Montana State-Northern is led by Ethan Hinebauch (165) and Toby Cheff (285). Hinebauch has listed atop the 165-pound weight class in seven of the last eight polls, while Cheff is No. 1 at 285 for a second-straight week. Both won titles at the West Qualifier.

No. 9 Missouri Valley’s Jake Ekster is the only new No. 1 this week. The Houston, Texas, native pinned previously top-ranked Gustavo Martinez of Grand View (Iowa) in 6:52 in the 149-pound title match at the Central Qualifier. Ekster was last ranked No. 1 on Dec. 10.

No. 20 Simpson (Calif.) is the only newcomer in this installment.

The 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by Blue Chip Wrestling, will take place March 6 – 7 at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan. Stretch Internet, the NAIA’s official video stream provider, will broadcast the championship bouts (session IV) Saturday night on www.NAIANetwork.com. Action for that session is scheduled to begin at approximately 7 p.m. CST.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the four Qualifying Groups.

For the complete look at the 2014-15 NAIA Wrestling Coaches’ Top 20 Poll calendar, click here. The postseason poll will be announced Feb. 12.

Notes (all information dates back to 2000-01 season): Grand View’s (Iowa) No. 1 ranking is its 27th all-time, which ranks second of all programs since 2000-01 … The Vikings have held the top spot in 22-straight polls … Former member Lindenwood (Mo.) boasts the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 39, while Notre Dame (Ohio) is third with 14 … Nine programs have appeared in the Top 20 for at least 20-consecutive polls, led by No. 7 Campbellsville’s (Ky.) and No. 3 Great Falls’ (Mont.) current run of 77-straight polls, dating back to 2005-06 … No. 5 Montana State-Northern is the only other school with at least 60-straight appearances (68) … Grand View (2013-14), Notre Dame (2010-11) and Lindenwood (2006-07) are the only programs to spend an entire season ranked No. 1.

2014-15 NAIA Wrestling Coaches’ Top 20 Poll – Final (Feb. 25)

Rank/Previous Rank/School/Total Team Points
1 1 Grand View (Iowa) 172
2 4 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 108.5
3 3 Great Falls (Mont.) 105.5
4 2 Southern Oregon 99.5
5 5 Montana State-Northern 72.5
6 7 Menlo (Calif.) 61
7 T15 Campbellsville (Ky.) 55
8 10 Oklahoma City 54
9 8 Missouri Valley 52.5
10 6 Concordia (Neb.) 51.5
11 13 Dickinson State (N.D.) 42.5
12 11 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 41.5
13 9 Indiana Tech 37.5
14 T15 Midland (Neb.) 31.5
15 T17 Baker (Kan.) 30.5
16 12 Life (Ga.) 29
17 20 Cumberland (Tenn.) 24.5
18 T17 Bethany (Kan.) 21
19 14 Cumberlands (Ky.) 20
20 RV Simpson (Calif.) 18

Others receiving votes: York (Neb.) 14; Morningside (Iowa) 11.5; William Penn (Iowa) 11; Doane (Neb.) 10; Northwestern (Iowa) 10; Briar Cliff (Iowa) 9; Ottawa (Kan.) 8; Jamestown (N.D.) 8; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 6.5; Benedictine (Kan.) 6; Waldorf (Iowa) 6; Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 5; St. Andrews (N.C.) 5; Williams Baptist (Ark.) 4.5; Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 4; St. Catharine (Ky.) 3.5; Graceland (Iowa) 3.5; Missouri Baptist 3; Calumet (Ind.) 2; Hastings (Neb.) 1.5.

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Place/Previous/Name/School/Points

125 lbs
1st 1st Ryak Finch Grand View (Iowa) 80
2nd 3rd Luke Schlosser Great Falls (Mont.) 72
3rd 2nd Troy Lakin Menlo (Calif.) 64
4th 4th Jake Sinkovics Cumberlands (Ky.) 52
5th 5th Sage Ornelas Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 42
6th 6th Dennis Welch Missouri Valley 40
7th 10th Kyle Robison Briar Cliff (Iowa) 27
8th 7th Aaron LaFarge Oklahoma City 25.5
9th 15th Erique Early Indiana Tech 24.5
10th 9th Bo Bettinson Waldorf (Iowa) 18
11th 16th James Flint Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 17.5
12th 14th Dmitri Smith Concordia (Neb.) 11
13th NR Chandler Strand Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 10
14th 11th Devane Dodgens Life University 10
15th 18th Isaiah Johnson Williams Baptist 5
T16th NR Andrew Lenz St. Catharine College 2
T16th NR Angel Villa William Penn (Iowa) 2

133 lbs
1st 1st Michael Ruiz Great Falls (Mont.) 78
2nd 2nd Bryce Shoemaker Baker (Kan.) 74
3rd 13th Davion Caston Campbellsville (Ky.) 61
4th 5th Keaton Thomas Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 51
5th 6th Jacob Colon Grand View (Iowa) 48
6th NR Clinton Garvin Great Falls (Mont.) 30.5
7th 10th Kodie Cole Concordia (Neb.) 30.5
8th 3rd Mitch Pawlak Indiana Tech 29.5
9th 7th Devin Poppen Southern Oregon 23
10th 14th Adrian Gains Oklahoma City 19
11th 19th Cartland Allen Graceland University 13.5
12th NR Alberto Jaramillo York (Neb.) 11.5
13th 11th Brett Yarbrough Indiana Tech 9
14th 12th Brian Ha Menlo (Calif.) 8.5
15th 4th Emilio Rivera Concordia (Neb.) 7
16th 8th Andrew Porras Wayland Baptist (Texas) 5.5

141 lbs
1st 1st Brandon Wright Grand View (Iowa) 80
2nd 2nd Kyle Wilson Great Falls (Mont.) 67
3rd 3rd Andrew Schulte Concordia (Neb.) 56
4th 4th A.J. Valles Simpson (Calif.) 54
5th 6th Daniel Leonard Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 49
6th 5th Scottie Bonds William Penn (Iowa) 46
7th 7th Dane Edwards Bethany (Kan.) 30
8th 8th Dillan Schouw Life University 29
9th 9th Steele Escobedo Menlo (Calif.) 21
10th 10th Chris Hart Wayland Baptist (Texas) 15.5
11th 11th Sam Conners Campbellsville (Ky.) 13.5
12th 12th Andrew Burr Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 13
13th NR Garret Lambrecht Morningside (Iowa) 12
14th NR Parker Bohannan Oklahoma City 7.5
15th NR Alec Chanthapatheth Hastings (Neb.) 5
16th NR Austin Meyn Cumberland (Tenn.) 3.5

149 lbs
1st 2nd Jake Ekster Missouri Valley 76
2nd 3rd Jake Williams Cumberland (Tenn.) 74
3rd 1st Gustavo Martinez Grand View (Iowa) 66
4th 4th Tyler Cowger Southern Oregon 52
5th 7th Enrique Barajas Concordia (Neb.) 41
6th 5th Isaac Thomas Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 39
7th 8th Elijah Sullivan Grand View (Iowa) 34
8th 6th Ryan Martin Great Falls (Mont.) 34
9th NR Christian Franks Menlo (Calif.) 15.5
10th 10th Jr Lule Concordia (Neb.) 15.5
11th 16th Dallas Brown Life University 15
12th 11th Seth Ehlang Dickinson State (N.D.) 12.5
13th 9th Kyle Terry Campbellsville (Ky.) 10
14th 15th Steven Garcia Morningside (Iowa) 7.5
15th 13th Victor Thomas Wayland Baptist (Texas) 7.5
16th NR Kyle Leir Great Falls (Mont.) 3.5

157 lbs
1st 1st Dallas Houchins Grand View (Iowa) 76
2nd 4th Joe Cozart Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 72
3rd 3rd Dalton Urrutia Southern Oregon 68
4th 5th Chad Cebulski Great Falls (Mont.) 49
5th 8th Zach Skates Oklahoma City 46
6th 12th Shawn McGhee Campbellsville (Ky.) 41
7th 9th Sean Elkins Dickinson State (N.D.) 28
8th 2nd Tristan Macri Cumberlands (Ky.) 27
9th 16th Nick Haugen Baker (Kan.) 25.5
10th 7th Grant Henderson Grand View (Iowa) 14
11th 14th Richard Ortiz Simpson (Calif.) 13.5
12th 15th Kyle Gerlach Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 12
13th 10th Colin Merkley Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 11.5
14th NR Dusty Paulsen Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 8.5
15th 6th Andrew Simmons Missouri Valley 7.5
16th 11th Joseph Weber Briar Cliff (Iowa) 3.5

165 lbs
1st 1st Ethan Hinebauch Montana State-Northern 80
2nd 2nd Jimmie Schuessler Grand View (Iowa) 72
3rd 3rd Eric Lopez Menlo (Calif.) 64
4th 7th Jacob Johnson Indiana Tech 50
5th 5th Ricky McCarty Oklahoma City 43
6th 4th Oliver Brukardt Life University 42
7th 8th Michael Nord Jamestown (N.D.) 36
8th 9th Garrett Urrutia Southern Oregon 26
9th 14th Corey Sornson Morningside (Iowa) 20
10th NR Orlando Medina Brewton-Parker (GA) 15.5
11th 10th Luke Riley Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 12
12th 16th Carlos Arana York (Neb.) 12
13th NR Nico Martinez Missouri Valley 11
14th NR D`Monte Aursby Waldorf (Iowa) 5.5
15th 13th Isaac King St. Andrews University 5.5
16th NR Jamie Shawver Oklahoma City 4.5

174 lbs
1st 1st Brock Gutches Southern Oregon 80
2nd 2nd Thomas Moman Grand View (Iowa) 70
3rd 3rd Shawn Lau Great Falls (Mont.) 66
4th 5th Travis McIntosh Campbellsville (Ky.) 52
5th 7th Erick Gomez Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 48
6th 8th Kevin Corbett Doane College 37
7th NR Bryant Guillen Baker (Kan.) 33
8th 16th Tyler Brown Dickinson State (N.D.) 26
9th NR Cole McArthur Montana State-Northern 20
10th 10th Tyler McMichael Midland (Neb.) 16
11th 12th Khalil Abdush-Shakur Life University 14.5
12th NR Conner Linehan Williams Baptist 12.5
13th 11th David Fenton Missouri Valley 9
14th 13th Tyree Cox Northwestern (Iowa) 8.5
15th 15th Reed Tennyson Southern Oregon 7.5
T16th NR Ishmael Rempson William Penn (Iowa) 2
T16th NR Marvin Lawrence Campbellsville (Ky.) 2

184 lbs
1st 1st Michael Pixley Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 80
2nd 4th Jose Cruz, III Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 72
3rd 9th Derek Sivertsen Oklahoma City 58
4th 10th Ryan McWatters Southern Oregon 56
5th 2nd Christian Mays Grand View (Iowa) 50
6th 3rd William Miller Montana State-Northern 32.5
7th NR Randall Null Northwestern (Iowa) 31.5
8th 8th LJ Grayson Indiana Tech 23.5
9th NR Jon Solano Dickinson State (N.D.) 20.5
10th 6th Jacob Abrams Southern Oregon 20
11th 5th Sterling Terry Midland (Neb.) 17.5
12th 13th Charles Sharon Campbellsville (Ky.) 12.5
13th 7th Rulin Pederson Morningside (Iowa) 10
14th NR Ethan Jirak Benedictine College 9
15th NR Kyle Delaune Cumberland (Tenn.) 4.5
16th 14th Taylor Vaughn Great Falls (Mont.) 4

197 lbs
1st 2nd Hudson Buck Dickinson State (N.D.) 80
2nd 5th Garrett DeMers Montana State-Northern 70
3rd 1st Charles Johnson Southern Oregon 61
4th 4th Zach Anderson Bethany (Kan.) 50
5th 3rd Kolton Kersten Midland (Neb.) 48
6th 9th Jake Maupin Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 45
7th 11th Kasey Crump Ottawa 30
8th 10th Nate Knauf Campbellsville (Ky.) 25
9th 8th Ken Burkhardt Jr Concordia (Neb.) 23
10th 7th Stephen Loosbrock Benedictine College 17
11th NR Brandon Sunday Indiana Tech 13.5
12th 15th Andrew Mahone Missouri Baptist University 9.5
13th 16th BJ Carman St. Catharine College 8.5
14th 6th Eric Johnson Calumet (Ind.) 8
15th 14th Erik Medina Simpson (Calif.) 7
16th NR Logan Paul Eickhoff York (Neb.) 3

285 lbs
1st 1st Toby Cheff Montana State-Northern 80
2nd 2nd Scott Brasil Menlo (Calif.) 72
3rd 4th Dean Broghammer Grand View (Iowa) 64
4th 6th Gabi Musallam Missouri Valley 52
5th NR James Jones Midland (Neb.) 44
6th 7th Chico Adams Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 35
7th 5th Jacob Laden Grand View (Iowa) 33.5
8th 3rd Saia Lotulelei York (Neb.) 32
9th 8th Clayton Burtis Southern Oregon 20.5
10th 12th Scott Stewart Cumberland (Tenn.) 17
11th NR Denzel Vaughan St. Andrews University 11.5
12th 11th Daniel Mueller Missouri Valley 11
13th 13th DJ McIntyre Concordia (Neb.) 10
14th 9th Tracy Jewett Life University 9
15th 14th Dylan Lemery Great Falls (Mont.) 6.5
16th 10th Jacob Roza Life University 4