Sophomore Benjamin Miller eyes up his opponent. He went 1-2 at NAIA National Championships.
The Men’s Wrestling team spent three days in Park City, Kansas competing in the NAIA National Championships. As a team, the Tigers tied their best finish at nationals, snagging fifth place and having four individuals receive All-American honors.
Senior Kasten Grape had the highest individual placement of all the Tigers competing, landing himself in fourth place at 197. Grape went 4-2 for the day, just barely dropping the third place match 3-10.
Sophomore Nate Lendt finished the tournament at sixth place in the 149 division after posting a 3-3 record. Senior Michael Scarponi also received a sixth place finish at 174 with a record of 2-3.
Competing alongside Grape at 197 was junior Bradley Antesberger, who would finish seventh with a final record of 4-2. All four of these Tigers were named All-Americans in their respective weight class.
However, those were not the only Tigers competing at the National Championships. Senior Nathan Rizek was competing at 125 and went 1-2 throughout the competition. Sophomore Devin Avedissian competed at 133 and added another 1-2 record. Sophomore Benjamin Miller was in the 157 division, following his teammate’s footsteps and posting another finish of 1-2. Sophomore Tyson Beauperthuy competed at 184, going 2-2 on the day.
Junior Cael Jordan and freshman Eli Criblez both went 0-2 at the tournament, however, three of these losses were against nationally ranked opponents.
After another successful season for Men’s Wrestling, the team finished as Great Plains Athletic Conference Champions and one of the top five wrestling teams in the NAIA.
