Wisconsin-LaCrosse coach Dave Malacek mentors an athlete at 2022 National Duals. Photo by Andy Hamilton, FloWrestling.

Wrap story by Jason Bryant of the NWCA

Louisville, Kentucky – It’s been over nearly 3,000 days since Grand View University lost a dual meet. It’s been over 4,000 since the school lost a dual to another NAIA school. Grand View continued its college wrestling record win streaks on Friday night at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville at the 2022 NWCA Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships.

The Vikings improved to 7-0 on the season and continued the school’s dominance at the National Duals, winning its 10th consecutive title. Grand View topped rival Life University 21-10 in the finals for the third straight year.

Coach Nick Mitchell got creative in the early going, bumping up four-time All-American Justin Portillo up to 133 pounds, opening the door for Esco Walker to knock off returning NAIA national champion Brandon Orum in the dual’s opening match. Walker, an NAIA runner-up last year at Cumberland University at 133 pounds, fell behind early, but used a set of nearfall points and a late takedown to set the tone early for the Vikings. Portillo, ranked second at 125 pounds, picked off Hunter Sparks 3-2 at 133 pounds.

Sickness played a role as both Grand View 133-pounders were fighting a bug, causing Mitchell to get creative

“We’ve got to make a change here (at 133) and Portillo clearly fought his butt off,” said Mitchell. “You realistically think going into it, you’re going to split those matches, but Esco coming out and gets that late takedown after getting ridden, then Portillo, that’s what you love about him, he fights.”

That momentum, combined with winning three matches by three points or less were key to the Vikings’ 10th title in a row.

It wasn’t all bad news in the finals for Life University as a whole, though. The Running Eagles’ women’s team came away victorious in the NAIA women’s division, getting a fall from Gabrielle Hamilton at 191 pounds to win the school’s first National Duals title in any division with a 26-19 win over top-seeded Campbellsville.

“That moment for Gabby, this was her first tournament coming back after a torn ACL and she worried she wasn’t good enough,” explained Life head coach Ashley Flavin. “She was worried that she couldn’t do it anymore and the team couldn’t rely on her anymore. For her, it showed her where she’s at. To see Gabby battle back through everything and for her to look at me and say ‘no, I want to do it, I can do it.’ It’s incredible.”

The dual’s most festive match came at 116 pounds where a pair of past NAIA women’s champions met. The match could only be described as bonkers.
Prussin built an 8-0 lead and was about to finish a takedown to earn a 10-point technical superiority, but Campbellsville’s McKayla Campbell threw Prussin to her back for four points and then built a 14-11 lead before Prussin rallied to score eight straight to end with a 19-14 marathon of freestyle wrestling.

For Flavin, the journey to this moment was full-circle.

“Back in 2008, I was the first OW of the women’s tournament and now I’m the first female to win a national title of any kind … is kind of a lot. For me as a person, it’s incredible. From a personal standpoint, from a professional standpoint being able to do it with my husband is amazing. (Life assistant coach) Christian is such an important part of our program and to be able to coach with him is more than I could have ever dreamed and for our team, it’s been slow but fast. We started at the bottom and now we’re here. They’ve put in the time and they’ve put in the work. We were off for 10 days due to Covid, we gave up a forfeit in every dual and (the team) battled back and did it anyway. It’s a testament to them really.”

When the NWCA added Division II and Division III to the mix in 2002, Central Oklahoma won the inaugural Division II dual meet title. They hadn’t won one since – until Friday.

On a day where St. Cloud State set a new NCAA record for consecutive dual meet wins at 77, Central Oklahoma ended the hours-old record with a 19-14 win over the Huskies in the finals, snapping St. Cloud State’s National Duals title run at four in a row as well.

The Bronchos started the dual with a crucial victory at 125 pounds as Paxton Rosen beat St. Cloud State’s Paxton Creese 6-1, but the dual hinged on two Broncho overtime wins. UCO’s Brik Filippo and Hunter Jump picked up takedowns in sudden victory at 149 pounds and 165 pounds that helped give UCO its first title in over 20 years.

“Our guys have been gritty all year,” said Central Oklahoma head coach Todd Steidley. “We had three starters out and two were going to wrestle, but they were throwing up before we went on the mat, so we put backups in and they went out there and did a great job. That’s been the strength of our team all year – our depth has helped us a lot. The moment wasn’t too big for us. Our guys really wrestled hard and yesterday, I was concerned about being too conservative.”

“The things you circle are the Midwest Classic, National Duals, Regioanls and the National Tournament,” said Steidley. “The National Duals keeps you going, we’re proud to be apart of the National Duals. It’s a great event.”

In Division III, UW-La Crosse won its first National Duals crown, topping Wabash 31-9. The Eagles put space between them and the Little Giants early, winning the first five bouts, including Brandon Murphy’s overtime victory over All-American Carlos Champagne at 125 pounds.

“I’m so happy for our guys as we don’t have any superstars on this team just a bunch of guys that believe in each other and believed they can win this tournament from the day they stepped in the arena,” said UW-La Crosse head coach Dave Malecek. “It was a goal was just to get the opportunity to wrestle in Kentucky as we didn’t get the opportunity to wrestle at the NCAA‘s or the NWCA championships last year so we took full advantage of being able to compete for the National Duals title.”

King University’s women’s team returned to the top of the podium for the first time since 2017, knocking off rival McKendree 25-19 to win the NCAA women’s division. Crucial wins by King’s Ashlynn Ortega at 155 and Cheyenne Bowman at 170 pounds pushed King to the title down the stretch. McKendree 114-pounder Felicity Taylor did pick up a victory in one of the dual’s most anticipated matches, beating King freshman Sage Mortimer 10-0.

For King head coach Jason Moorman, it was nice to be back at the top.

“Everyone’s dealing with some adversity with Covid and I’ve felt like we’ve always tried to be the best with everyting we’ve faced,” said Moorman. “We have a special group – great freshmen and they competed so well. Great seniors – great sophomores and juniors in between.”

“We talked all week about this not falling in your lap, you have to go take it,” said Moorman. “It was a simple message right before the finals and I couldn’t be more prouder.”

“It’s been McKendree and Simon Fraser the last couple years, so we have to find our way to stay hungry and improve and we have a great culture and we bring people in that add to that great culture,” said Moorman.

Rochester Community & Technical College captured the championship in the NJCAA division, sweeping four duals in a round-robin format among non-scholarship schools in the division. The Yellowjackets won the school’s first-ever title after previously finishing second in 2020. RCTC was dominant in its 45-0 opening win against Garrett and followed with solid wins over Joliet Junior College (34-15), Niagara (29-20) and Jamestown 29-15.

NWCA MULTI-DIVISION NATIONAL DUALS
At Louisville, Kentucky

NCAA Div. II men
Championship Match - Central Oklahoma 19, St. Cloud State 14
125 Paxton Rosen (Central Oklahoma) over Paxton Creese (St. Cloud State) Dec 6-1
133 Tanner Cole (Central Oklahoma) over Daniel Valeria (St. Cloud State) Dec 6-0
141 Joey Bianchini (St. Cloud State) over Peter Rolle (Central Oklahoma) TF 18-3
149 Brik Filippo (Central Oklahoma) over Jake Barzowski (St. Cloud State) SV-1 3-1
157 Ty Lucas (Central Oklahoma) over Anthony Herrera (St. Cloud State) Dec 9-8
165 Hunter Jump (Central Oklahoma) over Devin Donovan (St. Cloud State) SV-1 3-1
174 Dominic Murphy (St. Cloud State) over Anthony Des Vigne (Central Oklahoma) TB-1 2-1
184 Heath Gray (Central Oklahoma) over Cade Linn (St. Cloud State) Maj 13-5
197 Noah Ryan (St. Cloud State) over Alex Kauffman (Central Oklahoma) Dec 5-1
285 Kameron Teacher (St. Cloud State) over Braden Morgan (Central Oklahoma) Dec 6-2

3rd Place Match - Nebraska-Kearney defeated Newberry 47-3.
5th Place Match - McKendree defeated Colorado Mesa 21-12.
7th Place Match - Fort Hays State defeated Mercyhurst 25-20.

NCAA women
Championship Match - King 29, McKendree 19
101 Jaclyn McNichols (King University) over Lizette Rodriguez (McKendree University) Dec 3-3
109 Samara Chavez (King University) over Pauline Granados (McKendree University) Fall 2:46
116 Felicity Taylor (McKendree University) over Sage Mortimer (King University) TF 10-0
123 Cheyenne Sisenstein (King University) over Caitlyn Thorne (McKendree University) Fall 2:02
130 Montana Delawder (King University) over Cameron Guerin (McKendree University) Dec 9-6
136 Ana Luciano (King University) over Skye Realin (McKendree University) Dec 7-4
143 Alara Boyd (McKendree University) over London Houston (King University) Fall 1:34
155 Ashlynn Ortega (King University) over Kayla Marano (McKendree University) Dec 5-1
170 Cheyenne Bowman (King University) over Joye Levendusky (McKendree University) Dec 5-2
191 Sydnee Kimber (McKendree University) over Nia Crosdale (King University) Fall 0:27

3rd Place Match - North Central College defeated Tiffin University 30-11.
5th Place Match - Augsburg University defeated Lindenwood University 36-6.
7th Place Match - Adrian College defeated Limestone University 24-15.
9th Place Match - Wisconsin Stevens Point defeated Presbyterian University 35-9.

NCAA Div. III men
Championship Match - Wisconsin-LaCrosse 31, Wabash 9
125 Brandon Murphy (Wisconsin-La Crosse) over Carlos Champagne (Wabash) SV-1 5-3
133 Sawyer Sarbacker (Wisconsin-La Crosse) over Blake McGee (Wabash) Dec 3-0
141 Tyler Shackle (Wisconsin-La Crosse) over Andrew Sinkovics (Wabash) Fall 1:21
149 Jake Mandt (Wisconsin-La Crosse) over TJ Driessens (Wabash) SV-1 8-6
157 Nolan Hertel (Wisconsin-La Crosse) over Tyson Nisley (Wabash) Maj 12-3
165 Kyle Hatch (Wabash) over Seth Brossard (Wisconsin-La Crosse) Dec 9-2
174 Luke Clark (Wisconsin-La Crosse) over Raymond Arebalo (Wabash) Dec 5-0
184 Kayln Jahn (Wisconsin-La Crosse) over Charles Baczek (Wabash) Fall 1:42
197 Jack Heldt (Wabash) over Isaac Lahr (Wisconsin-La Crosse) Fall 3:59
285 Ben Kawczynski (Wisconsin-La Crosse) over Isaiah McWilliams (Wabash) Dec 7-1

3rd Place Match - North Central defeated RIT 24-10.
5th Place Match - Baldwin Wallace defeated Johnson & Wales (RI) 25-16.
7th Place Match - Millikin defeated Coe 28-26.

NAIA women
Championship Match - Life 25, Campbellsville 19
101 Mia Diaz (Campbellsville University) by forfeit
109 Kory Phillips (Life University) over Kelsey Bilz (Campbellsville University) Dec 9-8
116 Peyton Prussin (Life University) over McKayla Campbell (Campbellsville University) Dec 19-14
123 Salyna Shotwell (Life University) over Jacqueline Ghent (Campbellsville University) Fall 1:41
130 Katlyn Pizzo (Campbellsville University) over Briana Kellin (Life University) Inj 0:41
136 Olivia Mottley (Life University) over Randi Robison (Campbellsville University) Dec 4-3
143 Emma Walker (Campbellsville University) over Angie Prado (Life University) Fall 1:49
155 Destinee Rivera (Life University) over Brelane Huber (Campbellsville University) Dec 7-1
170 Jordan Nelson (Life University) over Leilani Martinez (Campbellsville University) Dec 9-0
191 Gabrielle Hamilton (Life University) over Liliana Vergara (Campbellsville University) Fall 5:35

3rd Place Match - Southern Oregon University defeated Grand View 27-17.
5th Place Match - Texas Wesleyan defeated Baker University 27-21.
7th Place Match - Indiana Tech defeated University of the Cumberlands 29-17.

NAIA Men
Championship Match - Grand View 21, Life 10
125 Esco Walker (Grand View (Iowa)) over Brandon Orum (Life University) Dec 6-4
133 Justin Portillo (Grand View (Iowa)) over Hunter Sparks (Life University) Dec 3-2
141 Shea Ruffridge (Grand View (Iowa)) over Jacob Ruiz (Life University) Dec 3-1
149 Denver Stonecheck (Life University) over Trevor Anderson (Grand View (Iowa)) Dec 5-2
157 Giovanni Bonilla (Grand View (Iowa)) over Jack Bass (Life University) Dec 5-2
165 Sid Ohl (Life University) over Marty Margolis (Grand View (Iowa)) Maj 10-2
174 Casey Randles (Grand View (Iowa)) over Asher Eichert (Life University) Dec 8-2
184 Ben Lee (Grand View (Iowa)) over Myles Starke (Life University) Dec 2-1
197 Zane Lanham (Life University) over Owen Braungardt (Grand View (Iowa)) Dec 6-5
285 Greg Hagan (Grand View (Iowa)) over JJ Perez (Life University) Dec 5-3

3rd Place Match - Doane University defeated Reinhardt University (GA) 17-16.
5th Place Match - Indiana Tech defeated Ottawa University 30-13.
7th Place Match - Southeastern defeated Marian University (IN) 20-19.

NJCAA Men
1st - Rochester Community & Tech. College , 4-0 record
2nd - Niagara Community College, 3-1 record
3rd - Joliet Junior College, 2-2 record
4th - Jamestown Community College, 1-3 record
5th - Garrett College, 0-4 record
Niagara CC 28, Jamestown CC 19
Joliet JC 30, Garrett College 18
Rochester Community & Tech College 34, Garrett College 0
Joliet JC 29, Jamestown CC 21
Rochester Community & Tech College 34, Joliet JC 15
Niagara CC 32, Garrett College 18
Rochester Community & Tech College 29, Niagara CC 20
Jamestown CC 33, Garrett College 12
Rochester Community & Tech College, 29, Jamestown CC 15
Niagara CC 36, Joliet JC 18

Championship Deciding Match - Rochester Community & Tech College 29, Niagara CC 20
125 Tony Kuhn (Niagara Community College) by forfeit
133 Cael Bartels (Rochester Community & Tech. College) over Cole French (Niagara Community College) Dec 12-8
141 Parker Dobrocky (Rochester Community & Tech. College) over Zachary Ash (Niagara Community College) TF 20-5
149 Nikalis Voelker (Niagara Community College) over Owen Pharo (Rochester Community & Tech. College) Dec 4-2
157 Frankie Gissendanner (Niagara Community College) over William VonRuden (Rochester Community & Tech. College) TF 18-3
165 Zach Wells (Rochester Community & Tech. College) by forfeit
174 Walker Ingham (Rochester Community & Tech. College) over Cortez Henderson (Niagara Community College) Fall 0:50
184 Justin McDougald (Niagara Community College) by forfeit
197 Colton Krell (Rochester Community & Tech. College) over Warren Mcdougald (Niagara Community College) Dec 5-2
285 Armani Tucker (Rochester Community & Tech. College) over Maurice Jackson (Niagara Community College) Fall 1:10

UPDATE WRAP: Finals Results: NWCA Multi-Division National Duals in all six divisions

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