Morningside claims fifth GPAC wrestling tournament championship

Photo courtesy Doane Unversity Sports Information.

CRETE, Neb. – Half of Morningside's 12 wrestlers in competition at the Great Plains Athletic Conference Championships are champs and the Mustangs claimed the team championship Saturday afternoon in Crete, Nebraska.

Morningside's champions are Taylor Vasquez (133), John Diener (149), Noah Styskal (157), Alex Vandyke (174), Hayden Wempen (184), and Hunter DeJong (285). In the team standings, the Mustangs totaled 184 points, besting Doane (175 points) and Concordia (110 points) for the title.

Vasquez was the first Mustang to be crowned champion Saturday, as he earned a 9-1 major decision in the semifinals and a 6-2 decision in the championship match to defend his title at 133-pounds. 

Diener won his semifinal match 3-1, and his fall over Doane's Nathan Lendt in the 149 championship gave the Mustangs a big cushion in the team standings. Styskal's championship by medical forfeit at 157 was the third Morningside championship of the day. He made the championship via an 8-3 decision in the semifinals.

At 174-pounds, Vandyke needed a late escape and takedown while trailing 2-0 to win 3-2 in the semifinals, and won the championship with an 8-2 decision. Wempen followed a similar path, earning a fall in overtime of the semifinals to make the championship and scored the final four points of an 11-7 decision to win the championship.

At heavyweight, DeJong pulled out an upset in the semifinals by getting a two-point reversal and two near-fall points in overtime to win 5-1, and teammate Jerabek picked up a 12-1 major decision to advance as well. DeJong was awarded the championship via forfeit by Jerabek, and both wrestlers are headed to the NAIA championships. 

Jerabek was the only Mustang to not win their respective championship of wrestlers who made it to the championship bout. Evan Shell (125), Nicholas Walters (141) and Zander Ernst (165) placed third in their respective classes and Benjamin Schmitz placed fourth. Caleb Connors suffered an injury in his first match of the day, and after gutting out his first match, was a medical forfeit for the two following bouts and placed sixth.

Walters earned the third NAIA qualifying spot by placing third Saturday at 141-pounds. He lost to the defending national champion, Doane's Baterdene Boldmaa, in the semifinals, but picked up an 11-6 decision in the consolation semifinals and a 16-7 major decision in the third place match. 

Ernst was one of four GPAC wrestlers to claim an NAIA spot at 165. After losing in the semifinals, Ernst won by fall in the consolation semifinals and won by 6-5 decision in the third place match.

Shell will have to await NAIA selection committee decisions to see if he will be heading to nationals. With one wrestler from 125 qualifying from the GPAC, only the champion is an automatic qualifier. Shell fell in the semifinals, but won his consolation semifinal 6-0 and his third place match 11-4. Schmitz will also await selection committee decisions by placing fourth Saturday. Having to wrestle out of the consolation bracket all day, he picked up wins of 5-2 and 5-4 before falling in the third place match.

With the team championship, the Mustangs earned a sweep of the wrestling championships this season. Morningside won the duals championship over Doane in January, marking the third time the Mustangs have taken the title, and won the tournament championship Saturday. The tournament championship is Morningside's fifth GPAC wrestling championship.

The NAIA National Championships are set for March 3rd and 4th at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas. Final qualifiers will be announced Tuesday, February 21 and the seeds and brackets will be released Friday, February 24.