NAIA Tournament Preview: Defending champion Grand View seeks rare “Elite Eight” status

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Grand View is No. 1 in the NAIA poll for the 50th-consecutive time and the 53rd time in program history, which is the most for any program dating back to the start of the 2000-01 season. The last time Coach Nick Mitchell’s Vikings were not ranked No. 1 was on Oct. 17, 2012. Since October 2012, GV has extended its streak to 50-straight No. 1 rankings in NAIA.


And, how about going wire-to-wire as the top ranked team in NAIA?? Well, only three teams have accomplished that feat! Since 2001, only Grand View (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18), former members Notre Dame (Ohio) (2010-11) and Lindenwood (Mo.) (2006-07) have gone the entire season ranked No. 1.


If the current season and past history are any indication of what can be expected at the NAIA Nationals on March 1st and 2nd, you should not miss out on the championship. The NAIA National Wrestling Championships will be in Grand View’s back yard at the Jacobsen Center on the Iowa State Fairgrounds on March 1st and 2nd. The event is being broadcast live on Trackwrestling.


As you may recall, in the 2017-2018 season, Grand View (Iowa) rewrote the record book by winning its seventh-straight team title and set a new scoring record of 234.5 during the 2018 NAIA Championships, blowing away their previous season’s marks of 210.0 (2016) and 234.5 (2017) points. GV has either tied or set a new scoring record in four out of the last five years. The Vikings are the first team in NAIA Wrestling history to win seven-consecutive national titles.


Also, the Vikings are only the fourth program in collegiate wrestling history (NAIA, NJCAA, NCAA) to garner seven straight titles. The other programs to do so are NCAA Division I Iowa (six-straight (1995-2000) and nine-straight (1978-1986)), NCAA Division I Oklahoma State (seven-straight (1937-1949)) and NCAA Division II Cal Poly (seven-straight (1968-1974)). Grand View tied Oklahoma State and Cal Poly with their seven titled last March (2018), and can move into second most consecutive title for any program regardless of division. They could become one of only two college programs to be in the ”Elite Eight” consecutive national title clubs, joining the University of Iowa!


The GV Vikings come in as the top team off of the strength of 12 ranked wrestlers, 9 of which are ranked in the top 4! Grand View is led by two-time champion and 2018 OW, Evan Hansen 197. The other Vikings are tabbed to win titles in 125 pound Justin Portilo (Clarion,IA), 133-pound Shiquan Hall, and 165-pound Ryan Niven. Two GV wrestlers are picked to be finalists and ranked 2nd and they are Devin Reynolds (149) and Reynoldo Rodriguez-Spencer (157). Also joining Reynolds as a ranked wrestler for GV at 149 is Josh Wagner ranked 4th, and Steven Lawerence (7th) joins Rodriguez-Spencer as a ranked wrestler at 157.


Unique to NAIA wrestling is that a team can qualify 12 wrestlers for the national tournament, and have more than one wrestler ranked at a weight. Niven has started the season strong in NAIA and is now ranked #1 at 165. A Trio of Vikings are also ranked fourth with Eric Clarke (141), senior Lawton Benna at 174, and Artie Bess at 184. Trevor Muzano previously ranked in the top 4 comes in at 9th at 125-pounds.The final regular season poll has Grand View in first with 212 points, 93 more points than the next closest team, Indiana Tech with 119 points and who is ranked 2nd. The real race in the NAIA tournament will be for 2nd through 6th.


Four wrestlers who finished last year as national champs also start this season at No. 1 and included Hansen from Grand View, 125-pound Hayden Lee of Cumberlands (Ky.), Nosomy Pozo (157) of Life (Ga.) and Lucas Lovvorn (174) of Baker (Kan.) Baker’s Lucas Lovvorn won the fourth national title in program history and coach Garcia's third champ in the last four seasons. Lovvorn won with a 6-2 decision against Adrian Lyons-Lopez at 174 pounds. Nosomy Pozo also made history for Life (Ga.) when won the 157-pound championship and became the first champion in school history. Pozo defeated returning national champion Brandon Weber of Montana-State Northern, 4-3, in a highly contested bout. If seeds hold- Pozo and Weber could meet in the semis. Of note, Hayden Lee is now ranked 3rd behind GV’s Portillo and Miller of IN Tech. The other top wrestlers to start the pre-season as number 1’s are Erique Ealy (133) of Indiana Tech, now 2nd, Matt Weber (141) of Montana State-Northern, now 4th; Tres Leon (149) of Cumberlands (Ky.); Andrew Bartel (165) of Montana State-Northern, now 11th; Zach Linton (184) of Doane (Neb.) now 5th, and Brandon Reed (285) of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)


A team that is really on the move and looking to challenge Grand View for a title is Indiana Tech wrestling team and Coach Thomas Pompei's squad who have 10 grapplers ranked in the top-20 of their respective weight classes, highlighted by reigning NAIA National Runner-Up Erique Early's ranked 2nd at 133-lbs. The Orange and Black jumped up five spots from the 2018 Postseason Poll and have now been ranked for 48 straight polls and are their highest ranking at #2. Also ranked for the Warriors are Sawyer Miller (2nd-125), Gaige Torres (8th-141), Justin Atkinson (6th-149), Mason Gaines (16 th-157), Jon Watkins (19th -157) Jacob Gross (13th-165), Jake Weimer and Eric Vermillion ranked 17th and 18th respectively at 174, and Oscar Martinez (10 th-197) were also ranked nationally.


The No. 2-ranked Indiana Tech men's wrestling team repeated as Sooner Athletic Conference Champions on Saturday inside the Pete and Nelda Laney Center with 174.5 points and seven individual champions. The Warriors outscored second-place Oklahoma City University by 40.5 points to run away with its second-ever conference title. Sawyer Miller and Erique Early were named Co-Wrestlers of the Year, with the latter repeating as the SAC's top grappler while head coach Thomas Pompei was named the SAC Coach of the Year for the second straight season. The Warriors had 11 wrestlers qualify for the NAIA’s: Miller, Early, Gaige Torres, Robert Humphrey, Justin Atkinson, Mason Gaines, Jacob Gross, Eric Vermillion, Jake Weimer, Josue Hill and Oscar Martinez, with 10 wrestlers earning automatic bids to the championships from their finishes at the SAC meet. It is the fourth time that Miller and Early have qualified for the NAIA’s while it is the third time for Atkinson and Gross. Torres, Humphrey, Gaines and Martinez are all making their second trip, while it is the first time that Vermillion, Weimer and Hill have qualified.


The No. 3 nationally ranked Life University men's wrestling team finished third at the 2019 Mid-South Conference Men's Wrestling Championships over the weekend. Top ranked in the NAIA, Nosomy Pozo finished as the 157 lbs. tournament champion, and garnered MSC Wrestler of the Tournament honors as well as First Team All-MSC for his championship. Pozo earned a pair of pins in the tournament with a flawless 4-0 record and remains 16-0 on the year. Lucius Van Rensburg also picked up First Team All-MSC honors with a championship at the 174 lbs. weight class. Diallo Matsimella was the final Running Eagle to capture a championship at the 197 lbs. weight class to also earn First Team All-MSC. Randy McCray Jr. made it to the finals at the 125 lbs. for Second Team All-MSC Honors. Mason Calvert (149 lbs) and Osvani Ley (165 lbs.) each finished on the podium with third place finishes. With the addition of 125: Devaughn Sapien ,174: Lucius Van Rensburg, 197: Diallo Matsimela , and 285: Brandon Hill Life qualified eight grapplers for the NAIA dance.


After the Mid-South Conference Tournament, fourth ranked Cumberlands (KY) will send nine individuals to the NAIA’s. The Patriots finished the day in second overall with 132.5 points, 12.5 points behind first-place Lindsey Wilson College. Featured in the finals, Tres Leon and Quandre Chisolm earn all-conference honors for their performances through the tournament. In the finals, Leon did what he does best: pinning his opponent fast. The 149-pounder used his speed to overpower Lindsey Wilson's LaTrell Davis, ranked seventh. Top-ranked Leon found the opening to deliver the takedown and worked his magic for the fall at the 2:52 mark, earning First-Team All-MSC recognition and an automatic berth into the NAIA tournament. Quandre Chisolm, ranked sixth in the final regular season poll, advanced with skill through the early rounds but fell in bittersweet defeat to NAIA top-ranked Brandon Reed at 285. In the finals, the senior matched up against the Lindsey Wilson-foe and came out the short end of the 3-2 decision. Four Patriots round out third-place finishes to help Cumberlands achieve their second-place overall finish. Jacob Seto tabbed a 14-4 major decision in another meeting with Marvin Galette in the 133 lbs. consolation final. In the 184 weight class, Max Emerson got the big 10-4 victory against Lucas Miozza of Lindsey Wilson. Eric Deluse and Aaron Johnson got the win by forfeit in the consolation finals of their respective weight classes. All four will take the road trip west to make their mark in the national bracket. Placing fourth and automatically advancing to the national tournament in Des Moines, IA, Bobby Ehman at 157 lbs. and Jarod Swank at 174 lbs. both record a 2-2 record on the day and combine for 21.5 points for the Patriots. In addition to Walton, Hayden Lee, Chasen Brown and Steven Novack each record a 1-2 record on the day to fall out of the bracket early and will not advance to the national championship, with the exception of Lee, who received an at-large bid from the conference to make the trip west.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) came into the season tied for 10th after a solid 2017-2018 campaign where they placed t-26 at the NAIA National Wrestling Championships and are now ranked 5th in the final poll of the year. Anchoring the Eagles will be Eli Mason (SR/Cheney, Wash.), Kody Davis (SR/Chino Valley, Ariz.), James Williams (JR/Mesa, Ariz.), David Salazar (SO/Tucson, Ariz.) and Taylor Owens (JR/Boise, Idaho). All five athletes have been ranked in the top ten in their respected weight classes with the Mason being ranked the highest at 5th. Both Mason and Salazar were All-Americans in the 2017-2018 campaign after both finishing 8th in the national championships. Helping the Eagles soar into the top ten are three former state high school champions in Jayce Cunha (FR/Tucson, Ariz.), Josh Nira (FR/Greeley, Colo.) and Beau Blackham (SO/Vernal, Utah). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) men's wrestling claimed their first Cascade Collegiate Conference Team Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, Saturday night by tallying 136 team points and secured eight automatic qualifiers for the NAIA Championships in the process.


ERAU was solid from the get go and after day one led all other teams with a 15.5-point lead. The Eagles were not able to capture an individual title but their consistency throughout the tournament netted them the most points. James Williams (JR/Mesa, Ariz.) took home second in the 157 lbs weight division after winning his first matches in convincing fashion and dropping the championship bout in a rematch with Brandon Weber. Eli Mason (SR/Cheney, Wash.) will also bring back some hardware after getting a pin-fall and decision victory before running into the No. 1 seeded Isaac Bartel in the final. One of the bright spots of the tournament was TJ Hall (SO/Meridian, Idaho) who will bring home another second place medal after narrowly winning two decisions to make it to the championship and losing there. Any wrestler to finish in third or better is considered an All-CCC performer in which case the Eagles have four.


Riddle will be taking at least five other wrestlers to the 2019 NAIA Wrestling National Championships. Josh Nira (FR/Greeley, Colo.) will advance to Iowa based on his fifth place finish. Next, is Collin Anderson (JR/Flagstaff, Ariz.) who advances coming off of his fourth place. David Salazar (SO/Tucson, Ariz.) will head back to the National Championships for the second year in a row after taking third. At 149 lbs. Berit Sturgeon (FR/Wasilla, Alaska) squeaked into the national tournament after getting a fall in his fifth place match. Finally, Carlos Apodaca (JR/Rio Rico, Ariz.) will travel to the Midwest with the rest of his teammates after taking fourth at 165 lbs. There is a chance for another Eagle to virtually skip the line via the at large bid that secures a non-automatic qualifier a berth to the national championship. And that has to look good for All-CCC wrestler Daniel Butler (FR/Leavenworth, Kan.) who finished in third at 174 lbs, but that will not be announced until Tuesday, February 19. Head coach KC Rock, was named the CCC Coach of the year after the Eagles took home the tournament title and finished the season undefeated in duals.


Building off of a tenth place finish in the national tournament in 2018, Menlo College is continuing its climb an enter the final season poll poll 6th with ten wrestlers ranked individually in their respective weight classes. The Oaks ranked include: Riley Siason ( 5th @125). Blaysen Terukina 10th (133), Joseph Dominguez (13th @ 141), Terrill Sidner a 2X JUCO Champion is ranked 3rd (149), Apollo Santos (165), Anthony Orozco (174) returning AA ranked 3rd, and Bruce Valdez (197).


5th ranked Embry-Riddle (AZ), with their 136 team points, finishing 4.5 points better than the #6 Menlo Oaks at 131.5. It didn't come down to how many champions both teams had, as the Oaks finished with two and Embry-Riddle didn't have a single conference champion. The different for the Eagles was how many different placers they finished with: 11 in all. #10 Providence finished in third overall with #9 Montana State – Northern finishing fourth, and #20 Southern Oregon rounding out the top-five. The nine Oaks who punched their tickets to Iowa for the 2019 NAIA are: Riley Siason, Ian Morken, Blaysen Terukina, Joseph Dominguez, Terrill Sidner, Kevin James, Alex Garcia, Anthony Orozco, and Bruce Valdez. Menlos two champs were #10 Blaysen Terukina and #2 Anthony Orozco, with Orozco repeating from 2018. The run for Terukina was efficient as ever, as he only had to win three matches to take home gold. He pinned Ryan Ninman right away at 3:45 in the first match in the 133 bracket, bringing up to the semis against #18 Anthony Vargas of Life Pacific. A usual opponent for Terukina, he took care of business with a 12-6 decision to set up the championship match against Justin Coon of Southern Oregon. The match was much closer than anything he saw on the day, but Terukina came out with a 5-4 win and his first conference championship. We've been used to seeing Orozco dominate in every tournament he enters, and this was no exception. He won all three matches on the night to run his record to 33-2 on the season. He pinned Nicholas Sigala just 1:15 into the quarterfinal match, and then scored a pair of major decision victories in his final two matches. He defeated Steeler French of MSUN 13-5 and then walloped #19 Tyler Hall of Embry-Riddle 12-3 in the title match. This marks the second time that Orozco has won the title as an Oak, but last year he picked up the 174 title as opposed to this year's 184 win.


Menlo picked up four other All-Conference honors, in addition to the two champions. #5 Riley Siason temporarily wraps up his freshman season by finishing second in the 125 bracket, after falling to Alexander Nunez in the title match in a major decision. #13 Joseph Dominguez joined Siason as a runner-up, this time in the 141 bracket. He got a little help in getting to the title match, after winning his semifinal match via the tie-breaker in overtime, but eventually fell to #12 Devin Poppen in the title round. Third ranked Terrill Sidner put his unbeaten mark on the line in the CCC Championships and was beaten for the first time all season in the championship bout. He was pinned by #5 Chandler Michael of Southern Oregon in the 149 title round, and this came after Sidner pinned Vincent Washington just 35 seconds into his first match. Sidner will head to the NAIA tournament with a 22-1 mark. Kevin James was the last Oak to land All-Conference honors by finishing third in the 157 bracket, after going 4-1 on the tournament and capping it off with a win over #5 Casey Dobson 9-7 for the third place designation.


A pleasant surprise came out of the AAC championships. After sweeping every weight class at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), Reinhardt wrestling will take nearly a full squad of 11 participants to the 2019 NAIA’s. "We have the third-most qualifiers out of the whole country, so obviously we are really excited for our guys and our program," head coach Jeff Bedard said. "Our coaching staff will do the same thing we've been doing all year… Cover the details and keep everybody healthy. If our guys stay confident and focus like they have all year, it should be a really fun weekend; so we are excited." The No. 12 Eagles (12-2) – whose only losses on the year came to NCAA Division I N.C. State and NCAA DII UNC Pembroke on Nov. 17th. The team has the nation's third-most wrestlers heading to Iowa with 11, trailing only seven-time defending national champion Grand View (Iowa) and Indiana Tech, who will both be taking a full roster of 12 grapplers. Reinhardt Qualifiers include: 125: Koby Millner ,133: Jordan Pitt; 141: Curtis Doctor , 149: Jody McAlister and Dawson Hunt; 157: Justin George; 165: Cole Tenety; 174: Michael Carew; 184: Antonio Stewart; 197: Jacob Henderson, and 285: Hinton Bolinger.


Each conference champion in their respective weight class earns an automatic berth to that national championship. Additional automatic berths were determined by using the final regular-season coaches’ poll. For example, the American Midwest Conference had three individuals ranked at 184-ponds in the final ranking, so the conference was awarded three automatic berths at that weight class. In addition to the automatic qualifiers, each conference was allowed three at-large individuals from any weight class. The remainder of the 240-wrestler field was selected by the national ranking committee. Seven-time defending national champion Grand View (Iowa) will be taking a full roster of 12 grapplers to the national championships. Indiana Tech joins the Vikings with a full roster. Reinhardt (Ga.) is taking the third-most wrestlers with 11, while Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and Menlo (Calif.) are a close fourth, taking a roster of ten. The Mid-South Conference led all conferences with 52 individual qualifiers. The Cascade Collegiate Conference was second with 49. Note: NAIA Coaches will declare up to 12 wrestlers per team, with no more than two per weight class.