11 Mustangs prepare for NAIA nationals
KANSAS CITY, MO. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced the qualifying field for the 2023 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship last week, revealing preliminary matchups for the 11 Mustangs that qualified, either through conference allocations or at large.
Evan Shell, representing Morningside at 125 pounds, will wrestle no. 5 Isaac Crowell from Southeastern in the first round.
Taylor Vasquez and Benjamin Schmitz weigh in at 133 pounds for the Mustangs. Vasquez, seeded no. 9, will face Julian Leon of Vanguard while Schmitz will see no. 11 Elijah Anthony of Indiana Tech.
Nicholas Walters dons the maroon at 141 pounds, meeting no. 12 Bryce Nickel from Cumberlands at the center of the mat.
John Diener, Morningside's career falls record holder, is seeded no. 8, and will advance to the second round with a bye. He'll get the winner of no. 9 Nathan Lendt from Doane and Steven Weathers from Missouri Valley. Diener and Lendt have crossed paths twice this season, with Diener getting the fall at the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament on Feb. 18.
Noah Styskal is the lone Mustang at 157 pounds. Ranked no. 13, he also receives a first-round bye and will await the winner of no. 4 Wilder Wichman from Thomas More and Westyn Moyer from Rio Grande.
Zander Ernst represents Morningside at 165 pounds, seeded no. 15. Ernst will face Ian James of Truett-McConnell in his first round match.
Alex Vandyke will wrestle no. 14 Keegan Mulhill of Eastern Oregon in the first round of the 174-pound bracket.
The Mustangs send Hayden Wempen to the mat at 184 pounds. Wempen, seeded sixth, will await the winner of no. 11 Michael Densmore of Embry-Riddle and Isaiha Casto from West Virginia Tech.
At the 285-pound weight class, Morningside is represented by Hunter DeJong and Jakob Jerabek. DeJong is seeded no. 8 and will get a rematch against Carlos Figueroa of Lindsey Wilson. DeJong won a 5-4 decision when the two teams met at the NWCA national dual meet. No. 12 Jerabek will see Jaden Sonner from Campbellsville.
Session I of the NAIA championship gets underway at 10 a.m on Friday, March 3, at Hartman Arena in Wichita, Kan. Session II includes the championship quarterfinals and the consolation third and fourth rounds.
March 4 will see the championship semifinals in Session III, which starts at 10 a.m., as well as fifth and sixth rounds and placement matches on the consolation side of the bracket. Session IV will represent the championship matches for each weight class, getting underway at 7 p.m.