Grand View ahead of Great Falls after day one of NAIA Nationals
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by Alan Grosbach NAIA
Action photo from the 2015 NAIA Nationals by Mark Lundy.
PDF of NAIA Nationals brackets
TOPEKA, Kan. – Grand View (Iowa) strengthened its lead on a potential fourth-straight team championship Saturday night in Session II of the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by Blue Chip Wrestling. The three-time defending champions boast 83 points – 19 more than second-place Great Falls (Mont.). The 58th annual event is taking place for the second-consecutive season inside the Kansas Expocentre.
The Vikings, who with a team title this season will join former-member Central State (Okla.) (1984-87) as the only programs to win four in-a-row, had nine of their 12 qualifiers lock up All-America status, including six that reached the semifinals. Defending national champions Ryak Finch at 125 pounds and Brand Wright at 141 pounds headline the group of Grand View grapplers that will be in action tomorrow.
Finch, who is in his second season with the Vikings, owns a 53-0 overall record (two seasons) after a 16-0 technical fall against Michael Andreano in the quarterfinals. Wright won 5-0 against 2014 All-American A.J. Valles.
Great Falls (Mont.) had an equally impressive record in the quarterfinals, as five Argonauts will wrestle for a chance at a national title tomorrow. Top-ranked 133 pounder Michael Ruiz posted his second pin of the championships to reach the semifinals for the first time in his career, sticking Keaton Thomas of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) in 1:51.
Rounding out the remainder of the top five are Lindsey Wilson and Southern Oregon in third-place with 62 points, while Oklahoma City rests at No. 5 with 41 points. All three programs have at least three wrestlers competing in the semifinals tomorrow.
Arguably the most decorated match of the night came in the quarterfinals of the 165-pound weight class, as three-time All-American Jimmie Schuessler of Grand View took on two-time All-American Eric Lopez of Menlo (Calif.) in a rematch of the 2013 finals. Lopez avenged his 2013 loss with a 5-3 decision to advance to the semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons.
Four institutions – Williams Baptist (Ark.), Ottawa (Kan.), Doane (Neb.) and St. Andrews (N.C.) – had their first-ever individual guarantee All-American status during the session.
Williams Baptist’s Isaiah Johnson, in addition to being the program’s first-ever All-American, is one of the Cinderella stories at this year’s championships. The freshman from Waynesville, Mo., knocked off second-ranked Luke Schlosser of Great Falls in his opening bout, before downing James Flint of Lindsey Wilson to reach the semifinals. However, the road moving forward doesn’t get any easier, as he faces off against Finch.
Overall, 19 different programs will have an individual wrestling in the semifinals tomorrow.
Session III action is slated to begin Saturday morning at 10 a.m. CST.
Stretch Internet, the NAIA’s official video streaming company, will be broadcasting the 10 title bouts (Session IV) of the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships on March 7 on www.NAIANetwork.com. Packages can be purchased for $10.
SESSION ONE WRAP
TOPEKA, Kan. – (Brackets – PDF) Nine-of-10 top-ranked grapplers advanced to the quarterfinals, while three-time defending champion Grand View (Iowa) ended the first session of the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by Blue Chip Wrestling, leading the team competition with 29 points. Session II is slated to begin tonight at 6 p.m. CST inside the Kansas Expocentre.
The Vikings had nine of their 12 qualifiers advance to the quarterfinals.
Great Falls (Mont.) is second in the team standings with 25 points, while Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and Southern Oregon are third with 22.5 each, respectively. The Blue Raiders have eight wrestlers in the quarterfinals, while Southern Oregon has seven and Great Falls six.
Lindsey Wilson and Southern Oregon both had seven individuals reach the quarterfinals, while Great Falls had six advance.
Missouri Valley’s 285 pounder Dan Mueller, who finished fourth at the Central Qualifier, claimed one of the largest upsets of the tournament so far, downing top-ranked Toby Cheff of Montana State-Northern, 6-3. The loss is Cheff’s first of the season, as the junior was 14-0 coming into the championships. Cheff was the only top-ranked grappler not to advance.
With an 18-2 technical fall against Joseph Murillo of Jamestown (N.D.) and a pin of Sage Ornelas of Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), Ryak Finch of Grand View continued his dominance. The defending national title winner improved to 52-0 in two seasons with the Vikings.
In addition to Finch, four of the remaining five defending national champions kept their hopes for another title alive. Most notable out of the quartet is three-time national champion Brock Gutches. Gutches, who with a banner this year will be the first individual to win four in-a-row since Turk Lords of Montana State-Northern (1998-2001), pinned his only opening session opponent in 4:27.
The senior from Central Point, Ore., now owns eight career pins at the championships.
Baker’s (Kan.) Bryce Shoemaker was the lone defending champion to lose, as he was upended by fellow All-American Mitch Pawlak of Indiana Tech, 5-3. The two split two regular season meetings with Pawlak winning 1-0 on Dec. 13, before Shoemaker avenged the loss at the Missouri Valley College Invite on Jan. 17, 2-0.
Five unranked wrestlers kept their national title hopes alive by advancing to the quarterfinals.
Two schools in their inaugural season – Ottawa (Kan.) and Williams Baptist (Ark.) – earned its first-ever championship win today. The Eagles – Jonathan Drendel (157) and Isaiah Johnson (125) – have two grapplers one win away from All-America status, while the Braves have one – Kasey Crump (197).
PDF of NAIA Nationals brackets
TOPEKA, Kan. – Grand View (Iowa) strengthened its lead on a potential fourth-straight team championship Saturday night in Session II of the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by Blue Chip Wrestling. The three-time defending champions boast 83 points – 19 more than second-place Great Falls (Mont.). The 58th annual event is taking place for the second-consecutive season inside the Kansas Expocentre.
The Vikings, who with a team title this season will join former-member Central State (Okla.) (1984-87) as the only programs to win four in-a-row, had nine of their 12 qualifiers lock up All-America status, including six that reached the semifinals. Defending national champions Ryak Finch at 125 pounds and Brand Wright at 141 pounds headline the group of Grand View grapplers that will be in action tomorrow.
Finch, who is in his second season with the Vikings, owns a 53-0 overall record (two seasons) after a 16-0 technical fall against Michael Andreano in the quarterfinals. Wright won 5-0 against 2014 All-American A.J. Valles.
Great Falls (Mont.) had an equally impressive record in the quarterfinals, as five Argonauts will wrestle for a chance at a national title tomorrow. Top-ranked 133 pounder Michael Ruiz posted his second pin of the championships to reach the semifinals for the first time in his career, sticking Keaton Thomas of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) in 1:51.
Rounding out the remainder of the top five are Lindsey Wilson and Southern Oregon in third-place with 62 points, while Oklahoma City rests at No. 5 with 41 points. All three programs have at least three wrestlers competing in the semifinals tomorrow.
Arguably the most decorated match of the night came in the quarterfinals of the 165-pound weight class, as three-time All-American Jimmie Schuessler of Grand View took on two-time All-American Eric Lopez of Menlo (Calif.) in a rematch of the 2013 finals. Lopez avenged his 2013 loss with a 5-3 decision to advance to the semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons.
Four institutions – Williams Baptist (Ark.), Ottawa (Kan.), Doane (Neb.) and St. Andrews (N.C.) – had their first-ever individual guarantee All-American status during the session.
Williams Baptist’s Isaiah Johnson, in addition to being the program’s first-ever All-American, is one of the Cinderella stories at this year’s championships. The freshman from Waynesville, Mo., knocked off second-ranked Luke Schlosser of Great Falls in his opening bout, before downing James Flint of Lindsey Wilson to reach the semifinals. However, the road moving forward doesn’t get any easier, as he faces off against Finch.
Overall, 19 different programs will have an individual wrestling in the semifinals tomorrow.
Session III action is slated to begin Saturday morning at 10 a.m. CST.
Stretch Internet, the NAIA’s official video streaming company, will be broadcasting the 10 title bouts (Session IV) of the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships on March 7 on www.NAIANetwork.com. Packages can be purchased for $10.
SESSION ONE WRAP
TOPEKA, Kan. – (Brackets – PDF) Nine-of-10 top-ranked grapplers advanced to the quarterfinals, while three-time defending champion Grand View (Iowa) ended the first session of the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by Blue Chip Wrestling, leading the team competition with 29 points. Session II is slated to begin tonight at 6 p.m. CST inside the Kansas Expocentre.
The Vikings had nine of their 12 qualifiers advance to the quarterfinals.
Great Falls (Mont.) is second in the team standings with 25 points, while Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and Southern Oregon are third with 22.5 each, respectively. The Blue Raiders have eight wrestlers in the quarterfinals, while Southern Oregon has seven and Great Falls six.
Lindsey Wilson and Southern Oregon both had seven individuals reach the quarterfinals, while Great Falls had six advance.
Missouri Valley’s 285 pounder Dan Mueller, who finished fourth at the Central Qualifier, claimed one of the largest upsets of the tournament so far, downing top-ranked Toby Cheff of Montana State-Northern, 6-3. The loss is Cheff’s first of the season, as the junior was 14-0 coming into the championships. Cheff was the only top-ranked grappler not to advance.
With an 18-2 technical fall against Joseph Murillo of Jamestown (N.D.) and a pin of Sage Ornelas of Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), Ryak Finch of Grand View continued his dominance. The defending national title winner improved to 52-0 in two seasons with the Vikings.
In addition to Finch, four of the remaining five defending national champions kept their hopes for another title alive. Most notable out of the quartet is three-time national champion Brock Gutches. Gutches, who with a banner this year will be the first individual to win four in-a-row since Turk Lords of Montana State-Northern (1998-2001), pinned his only opening session opponent in 4:27.
The senior from Central Point, Ore., now owns eight career pins at the championships.
Baker’s (Kan.) Bryce Shoemaker was the lone defending champion to lose, as he was upended by fellow All-American Mitch Pawlak of Indiana Tech, 5-3. The two split two regular season meetings with Pawlak winning 1-0 on Dec. 13, before Shoemaker avenged the loss at the Missouri Valley College Invite on Jan. 17, 2-0.
Five unranked wrestlers kept their national title hopes alive by advancing to the quarterfinals.
Two schools in their inaugural season – Ottawa (Kan.) and Williams Baptist (Ark.) – earned its first-ever championship win today. The Eagles – Jonathan Drendel (157) and Isaiah Johnson (125) – have two grapplers one win away from All-America status, while the Braves have one – Kasey Crump (197).
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