The road to Oklahoma City for the NAIA Wrestling National Championships begins on Saturday with four Qualifying Group Tournaments. William Penn (Iowa), Sioux Falls (S.D.), Cumberland (Tenn.) and Montana State-Northern will host the events. Wrestlers that qualify for the National Championships March 4-6 will be announced on Feb. 23. To get a recap of Saturday's action, click here.
Notre Dame ran its season record to 10-1 with another dominant performance at home, beating NCAA Division II No. 12 West Liberty (W.Va.) 33-8 to claim its ninth straight dual victory. The win also improved the Falcons' record against Division II foes to 3-0. The Falcons won eight of the 10 bouts against the Hilltoppers. The Wrestling Falcons haven't dropped a dual match since losing to Ohio State on Nov. 22. Since then, Notre Dame has gone 9-0, outscoring opponents, 301-42.
Derek Moore (197) is the only top-ranked Falcon, while five other grapplers, Tyler Savage (125), Adam Koballa (141), Jeffery Pelton (149), Thomas Straughn (157) and Orlando Scales (HWT), are ranked second at their respective weight. The only weight class in which Notre Dame does not have a ranked individual is 133 pounds.
Great Falls prevailed on the road in back-to-back duals, first shutting out Montana State-Northern 47-(-1) and notched a 19-12 win over Dickinson State (N.D.). The Argos' 47 points against Montana State-Northern was a season high for a single dual. The Lights were deducted one point for coach misconduct. Great Falls boasts 10 ranked grapplers, led by the No. 1 184-pounder Michael French. The Argos are only missing from one weight class at 141 pounds.
Missouri Valley is the only team to sport a pair of No. 1s in Colin Pierce and Joseph Cornejo, at 133 and 157 pounds, respectively.
All 10 of the previous poll's top wrestlers held on to their ranking: Mitchell Lofstedt of Southern Oregon (125), Michael Davis of Cumberland (Tenn.) (141), Lindenwood's Samuel Schmitz (149), Brad Lower of Grand View (Iowa) (165), California Baptist's Enock Francois (174) and Arjan Bhullar of Simon Fraser (B.C.) (HWT).
Team Ratings
Rank School Team Points Group
1 Notre Dame (Ohio) 144.5 East Group
2 Great Falls (Mont.) 92.5 West Group
3 Missouri Valley (Mo.) 89 Central Group
4 Lindenwood (Mo.) 84 East Group
4 McKendree (Ill.) 84 East Group
6 Southern Oregon (Ore.) 71.5 West Group
7 California Baptist (Calif.) 50 West Group
8 Dana (Neb.) 48.5 North Group
9 Grand View (Iowa) 46.5 Central Group
10 Dickinson State (N.D.) 33.5 North Group
11 Simon Fraser (B.C.) 32.5 West Group
12 Cumberland (Tenn.) 30 East Group
13 Oklahoma City (Okla.) 25 Central Group
14 Campbellsville (Ky.) 24.5 East Group
15 Missouri Baptist (Mo.) 23 East Group
16 Montana State-Northern (Mont.) 22.5 West Group
17 Jamestown (N.D.) 18 North Group
18 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 16.5 West Group
18 Northwestern (Iowa) 16.5 North Group
20 Morningside (Iowa) 16 North Group
Others receiving points: Hastings College (Neb.) 10; Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 9; Menlo (Calif.) 7; Waldorf (Iowa) 5.5; William Penn (Iowa) 2.5; Bacone (Okla.) 1.5.
Individual Ratings
Wt Rank First Name Last Name Points School Group
125 1 Mitchell Lofstedt 80 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
125 2 Tyler Savage 64 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
125 3 Dante Rini 54 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
125 4 Paul Hansen 50 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
125 5 Angel Olea 39 Dickinson State (N.D.) North Group
125 6 Chauncey Philipps 32 California Baptist (Calif.) West Group
125 7 Zach Muery 26.5 Missouri Baptist (Mo.) East Group
125 8 Jason Moorhouse 20 Menlo (Calif.) West Group
125 9 Matt Chustz 13 William Penn (Iowa) Central Group
125 10 Aaron Wilcox 11.5 Dana (Neb.) North Group
125 11 Akmal Adilov 6 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
125 12 Samuel Fragoza 2 California Baptist (Calif.) West Group
133 1 Colin Pierce 80 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
133 2 Joseph Michel 59 Jamestown (N.D.) North Group
133 3 Wade Lowe 58 McKendree (Ill.) East Group
133 4 Myles Mazurkiewicz 46 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
133 5 Tommy Pretty 44 Campbellsville (Ky.) East Group
133 6 Brian Jacob 37 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
133 7 Michael Schultz 21 Grand View (Iowa) Central Group
133 7 Anton Prater 21 Missouri Baptist (Mo.) East Group
133 9 Matthew Jacobson 12 Dana (Neb.) North Group
133 10 Cameron Ream 9.5 Oklahoma City (Okla.) Central Group
133 11 Joshua Chang 5.5 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) West Group
133 12 Blake Hunter 4 Dickinson State (N.D.) North Group
141 1 Michael Davis 80 Cumberland (Tenn.) East Group
141 2 Adam Koballa 64 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
141 3 Andrew Carrillo 54 Dana (Neb.) North Group
141 4 Drew Smith 46.5 Morningside (Iowa) North Group
141 5 Kyle Wirkuty 42.5 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
141 6 Jordan Harer 33.5 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) North Group
141 7 Barry Johnson 28.5 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
141 8 Jacob Murton 23 Campbellsville (Ky.) East Group
141 9 Jeremy Garner 8.5 Oklahoma City (Okla.) Central Group
141 10 Adam Manz 7.5 Dana (Neb.) North Group
141 11 Neil Birt 5.5 Cumberland (Tenn.) East Group
141 12 Nick Coffman 4 Grand View (Iowa) Central Group
149 1 Samuel Schmitz 80 Lindenwood (Mo.) East Group
149 2 Jeffrey Pelton 61.5 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
149 3 Byron Kuylen 56.5 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
149 4 Brian Graham 45 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
149 5 Benjamin Garcia 39.5 California Baptist (Calif.) West Group
149 6 Ryan Jahn 37 McKendree (Ill.) East Group
149 7 Levi Price 24.5 Northwestern (Iowa) North Group
149 8 Jeff Marval 18 Waldorf (Iowa) Central Group
149 9 Eddie McCray 16.5 Dana (Neb.) North Group
149 10 Ashtin Primus 11 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
149 11 Trace Billet 5 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) West Group
149 12 Nick waldrop 2.5 Campbellsville (Ky.) East Group
157 1 Joseph Cornejo 80 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
157 2 Thomas Straughn 61.5 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
157 3 Tyler Chang 56.5 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) West Group
157 4 Jake Johnson 47.5 Lindenwood (Mo.) East Group
157 5 Nikolas Turner 40.5 Oklahoma City (Okla.) Central Group
157 6 Brian Oeschner 38 Lindenwood (Mo.) East Group
157 7 Tommie Norton/Hooper 25 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
157 8 James Casadaban 23 Cumberland (Tenn.) East Group
157 9 Ross Mosher 8.5 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
157 10 Robert Carothers 5.5 Dickinson State (N.D.) North Group
157 11 Mark Meyer 4 Oklahoma City (Okla.) Central Group
157 11 Josh Emmett 4 Menlo (Calif.) West Group
165 1 Brad Lower 80 Grand View (Iowa) Central Group
165 2 Chris Chionuma 64 Lindenwood (Mo.) East Group
165 3 Kevin Hardy 53 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
165 4 Ryan Tuzon 46 Dana (Neb.) North Group
165 5 Lamar Reed 41.5 California Baptist (Calif.) West Group
165 6 Aaron Winning 39.5 McKendree (Ill.) East Group
165 7 John Murray 26 Lindenwood (Mo.) East Group
165 8 Michael Hader 19 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
165 9 David Dwyer 12.5 McKendree (Ill.) East Group
165 10 Noah Hatton 8.5 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
165 11 Damon Jackson 5.5 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
165 12 Luke Evjen 2.5 Northwestern (Iowa) North Group
174 1 Enock Francois 80 California Baptist (Calif.) West Group
174 2 Glenn Rhees 64 Grand View (Iowa) Central Group
174 3 Jon Bittenger 53 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
174 4 Brendon DeCock 47.5 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
174 5 Jameon Rush 40.5 Hastings College (Neb.) North Group
174 6 Josh Bryant 39 McKendree (Ill.) East Group
174 7 Preston McKinney 26 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
174 8 Austin Vanderford 19 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
174 9 Bryan Wells 9.5 Campbellsville (Ky.) East Group
174 10 Cameron Schrempp 9 Dickinson State (N.D.) North Group
174 11 Jacob Guernsey 6.5 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
174 12 Anthony Clay 2.5 Jamestown (N.D.) North Group
184 1 Michael French 80 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
184 2 Evan Hinebaugh 64 Montana State-Northern (Mont.) West Group
184 3 Mark Peiffer 54 Dana (Neb.) North Group
184 4 Clete Hanson 45 Simon Fraser (B.C.) West Group
184 4 Tanner Wolk 45 McKendree (Ill.) East Group
184 6 Chad Williams 36 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
184 7 Chris Platt 24 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
184 8 Spencer Adams 20 Campbellsville (Ky.) East Group
184 9 Brett Owen 11.5 Dickinson State (N.D.) North Group
184 10 Alex Denman 8.5 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
184 11 Jordaryl Logan 5 Grand View (Iowa) Central Group
184 12 Brian Block 3.5 Morningside (Iowa) North Group
197 1 Derek Foore 80 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
197 2 Andrew Sanchez 64 McKendree (Ill.) East Group
197 3 Jake Kallestad 54 Dickinson State (N.D.) North Group
197 4 Alex Calvi 47.5 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
197 5 Ike Okenwa 41.5 Missouri Baptist (Mo.) East Group
197 6 Nicholas Leither 37 Northwestern (Iowa) North Group
197 7 Evan Mattingly 26 Montana State-Northern (Mont.) West Group
197 8 Charlie Gibbs 22 Missouri Valley (Mo.) Central Group
197 9 Joseph Lockett 8 Morningside (Iowa) North Group
197 10 Ronald Lee 7.5 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
197 11 Justin Rau 5.5 Grand View (Iowa) Central Group
197 12 Eric Metzler 5 Cumberland (Tenn.) East Group
HWT 1 Arjan Bhullar 80 Simon Fraser (B.C.) West Group
HWT 2 Orlando Scales 64 Notre Dame (Ohio) East Group
HWT 3 Willie Wiggins 54 Lindenwood (Mo.) East Group
HWT 4 Cedric Powell 47.5 McKendree (Ill.) East Group
HWT 5 Eric Hinebauch 37 Great Falls (Mont.) West Group
HWT 6 Corey Johnson 33.5 Oklahoma City (Okla.) Central Group
HWT 7 Tyler Porras 33 Lindenwood (Mo.) East Group
HWT 8 John Bates 16 Southern Oregon (Ore.) West Group
HWT 9 Frank Lopez 12 Dickinson State (N.D.) North Group
HWT 10 Byron Stewart 10.5 Cumberland (Tenn.) East Group
HWT 11 Jeremy Colbert 5.5 Bacone (Okla.) Central Group
HWT 12 Willie Hernandez 3 Jamestown (N.D.) North Group
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