Takedown Report

NWCA National Duals Tournament Results

Perennial Powers Grand View, St. Cloud State, Augsburg Claim Duals Titles

The NWCA National Duals featured breakthroughs by upstart programs and individual upsets, but three longstanding powers stood tallest in the end.

The 2023 edition of the NWCA National Duals featured breakthrough performances by upstart programs and stunning individual upsets, but three of college wrestling’s longstanding powers stood tallest in the end. 

Grand View captured its 11th straight title in NAIA, St. Cloud State returned to the top of the NCAA Division II heap and Augsburg claimed its eighth D3 title Saturday in Louisville. 

Here’s a look at some of the top developments from the second day of the duals:

— Grand View entered the weekend as the prohibitive NAIA favorite and the Vikings made light work of their bracket destruction. Grand View went 18-2 on Friday and scored bonus points in all but four matches and followed that up with a 17-3 day with five bonus-point victories on Saturday. The Vikings notched a 36-0 semifinal win against a Doane squad that withheld several of its top stars and then completed their title run by beating Life in the finals for the National Duals finals for the fourth straight time. 

Grand View swept the first five matches against Life. In a rematch of last year’s NAIA title bout and a showdown between the past two national champions at 125 pounds, Grand View’s Esco Walker scored an overtime takedown to beat Brandon Orum 4-2. The Vikings also picked up a 6-1 win from top-ranked 133-pounder Carson Taylor against #3 Jacob Ruiz and fourth-ranked Blake Gonzalez downed #2 Brevin Balmeceda 9-5 at 149 to help launch Grand View out to a 16-0 dual lead. 

“I just felt like we fought,” Grand View coach Nick Mitchell said. … rest of story at Flowrestling.org/articles/10307657-perennial-powers-grand-view-st-cloud-state-augsburg-claim-duals-titles

NO. 1 GRAND VIEW WINS 11TH-STRAIGHT NWCA NATIONAL DUALS CHAMPIONSHIP

Louisville, KY – No. 1 Grand View competed in the NWCA National Duals the past two days, taking home the championship for the 11th consecutive year defeating Lourdes in the opening round 43-9, shutting out both No. 12 Reinhardt in the quarterfinals, and No. 4 Doane 36-0. and finishing by defeating No. 2 Life University in the championship 22-8. 

OPENING-ROUND

In the opening round, the Vikings would go head to head with Lourdes University who is receiving votes in the latest poll. The Vikings would make easy work of the Ohio team defeating them 43-9. In the lightweight classes, the Vikings would see three wrestlers pin their opponent, Luke Fogleman (FR/Durham, NC ) (125), Kyle Rice (FR/New Plymouth, ID ) (133), and Ben Murphy (SO/Roseville, CA ) (141). Blake Gonzales (149) would see a pass via forfeit, and it would move the Vikings into a strong performance from No. 1 ranked Giovanni Bonilla (SR/Kissimmee, FL ) (157) who would win by tech fall against his opponent 15-0. Tanner Abbas (SR/Kanawha, IA ) (165) would win by decision over Andrew Torres, 9-3. At 174 No. 1 ranked Isaiah Luellen (JR/Rossville, KS ) would cruise past his opponent winning by TF 25-9. Tyson Beauperthuy (SO/Colorado Springs, CO ) would fall by decision in the next round (184), 17-10. No. 3 Owen Braungardt (JR/Rock, KS ) would get a warm welcome back to the mat by pinning his opponent. No. 1 Greg Hagan (JR/Des Moines, IA ) would have an unorthodox go-around in his first match losing to DQ, due to an injury to his opponent.

QUARTERFINALS

The Vikings would square off 12th ranked Reinhardt in the quarterfinals also on Friday, January 6th. No. 1 ranked Esco Walker (SR) (125) would waste no time in his first match of the dual, pinning his 12th-ranked opponent. Following Walker would be No. 1 Carson Taylor (SO) (133) who would win by a major decision to his opponent, 12-1. Ben Murphy (141) would wrestle in his second match of the day winning again by decision, 5-1. Jack Latimer (JR/Camas, WA ) (149) would follow Murphy also winning by major decision versus the No. 20 ranked for Reinhardt. No. 2 Israel Casarez (SR/Reno, NV ) (157) would see his first match of the day against the 5th ranked foe for Reinhardt, … rest of story at GVvikings.com/article/7930?utm_source=Wrestling+News

Bellarmine Wrestling claims NWCA National Duals title

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –  In its second day of competition at the Louisville Expo Center, the Bellarmine wrestling team earned first place in the NCWA Division at the NWCA National Duals.
 
The Knights won all six duals they competed in over the past two days to claim the title.  Each dual featured 11 bouts, including a 235 match.  Seven Bellarmine wrestlers went 6-0 to help propel the Knights to the tournament win.
 
Friday – Pool B Results
-Bellarmine 42 – Queens 9
-Bellarmine 58 – Emory & Henry 6
-Bellarmine 46 – Apprentice School 6
 
Saturday – Tournament
-Bellarmine 48 – Central Florida 6
-Bellarmine 35 – Queens 12
-Bellarmine 29 – Liberty 21
 
“I love how our team continued to grow together as the tournament progressed,” Knights Head Coach Ned Shuck said.  “A dual meet atmosphere is really special and we had a blast with it!” Many of our guys went undefeated on the weekend and wrestled with a dominating style. Getting our arms raised is really cool, but I was more impressed with the level of output they gave in each of the matches.”
 
Jack Parker went 6-0 for the Knights at 125 including two tech-falls and a pin. … rest of story at Bellarmine.edu/news/2023/1/7/wrestling-claims-ncwa-national-duals-title

Men’s Wrestling Finish as Runner-Up at NWCA National Duals

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No. 2 Life University men’s wrestling team made it to the championship dual of the NWCA National Duals for the third-straight year, but came up short in the final to claim second place this weekend.

Friday’s first dual matched Life U up with (RV) Cornerstone, the Golden Eagles only victories only coming in the first and final bouts. On their way to a resounding, 41-6 victory, Life U earned four total pins and a tech fall. Jacob Ruiz earned the first pin in the least amount of time at just 25 seconds. Jody McAlister followed him up with a pin of his own in 3:13, while Jack Bass earned the third in just 0:28. The final pin came from Zane Lanham in 3:18, while Myles Starke earned the only tech fall, 18-2 to see the team glide to the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals against No. 14 Morningside, the Running Eagles did not give up a single point. Despite giving up no scores, it was a closer match as all but three of the matches were won in hard-fought decisions. Brandon Orum and Tyree Johnson started things with tough victories over ranked opponents. At 149 lbs. Francis Morrissey scored a sizable upset, beating a wrestler ranked 8th, 5-2. … rest of story at Liferunningeagles.com/news/2023/1/7/mens-wrestling-finish-as-runner-up-at-nwca-national-duals

Grand View, King repeat; St. Cloud State, Augsburg regain top spots, while Southern Oregon and Bellarmine win for first time at USMC/NWCA Multi-Division National Duals

Louisville, Kentucky – What started as 95 teams battling for dual meet supremacy ended with six divisional champions at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday.

St. Cloud State, Wartburg, Grand View, Bellarmine, King and Southern Oregon took home top honors in each of the six collegiate divisions that came to a close at the 2023 U.S. Marine Corps NWCA Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships presented by ARMS Software, Defense Soap, and Capital Construction hosted by NUWAY Combat.

NAIA Men
Grand View ran its National Duals win streak in the NAIA Division to 11 in a row as the Vikings defeated Life University 22-8 for the fourth straight year in the finals. With the win, Grand View extended its NAIA dual meet win streak to 149 in a row. The dual started off with a tightly contested 125-pound scrap between past national champions. Grand View’s Esco Walker, the champ in 2022, took out Brandon Orum, the 2021 champion, 4-2 in sudden victory. It was one of two overtime wins in the dual by the Vikings. At 133-pounds, it was a 1-2 matchup and it was top-ranked Carson Taylor of Grand View topping Jacob Ruiz 6-1.

Grand View continued its run with a sound victory by Shea Ruffridge at 141 pounds before fifth-ranked Blake Gonzalez knocked off Life’s top-ranked Brevin Balmeceda at 149 pounds. A win by top-ranked Giovanni Bonilla gave Grand View a 16-0 lead before Life’s Jack Bass picked off Marty Margolis 6-4 at 165 pounds. Both wrestlers are returning NAIA finalists. Bass at 157 last season, while Margolis is the returning runner-up at the weight.

Grand View would lock up the title with wins by top-ranked Isaiah Luellen at 174 and second-ranked Ben Lee at 184. Life closed with wins at 197 and 285. At 197, returning national champion Zane Lanham beat … rest of story at NWCAonline.com/grand-view-king-repeat-again-st-cloud-state-augsburg-regain-top-spots-while-southern-oregon-and-bellarmine-win-for-first-time-at-usmc-nwca-multi-division-national-duals

January 12, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized