Morningside finishes runner-up, qualifies five for NAIA Championships

SEWARD, Neb. – Five Morningside wrestlers earned automatic bids to the NAIA Championships and the Mustangs placed second as a team at the GPAC Championships Friday and Saturday in Seward, Nebraska.

Through Friday's action, all 12 Mustangs were still alive, and nine were unbeaten and in the semifinals of their weight class. Ultimately, six Mustangs made the championship of their weight class, and four of those six earned automatic bids to the NAIA Tournament.

Taylor Vasquez was Morningside's first champion of the weekend, winning the 141-pound class. Vasquez won both of his matches Friday in less than five minutes of action, picking up a first round fall in 4:53 and a quarterfinal tech fall 19-4 in 3:27. His semifinal match was a short one, picking up a pin in 1:02. Against Concordia's Creighton Baughman, Vasquez had to battle for the full seven minutes, but earned the 4-2 decision to win the title.

The second Mustang champion came from a battle of Mustangs. Hunter DeJong and Jakob Jerabek, for the second consecutive season, met in the championship match.

For DeJong, his path to the championship started with a first round bye. He then earned an 8-1 decision to make the semifinals. A 2-1 decision in the semifinals booked DeJong's spot. Jerabek won all three of his matches by fall before the championship. In the battle of Morningside heavyweights, DeJong picked up a 4-2 decision to win the weight class, but both men advanced to the NAIA Championships.

Hayden Wempen earned a second place finish at 184, winning his quarterfinal match in 19-9 major decision and his semifinal in 15-5 major decision. Wempen battled to the end in his championship match, but lost in a 9-2 decision. Wempen's second place finish gives him a spot in the NAIA field.

Morningside's final automatic bid to NAIA's was Alex Vandyke, who placed third at 174. Vandyke's only loss came against the champion of the weight class. His first victory was a 16-3 decision in the quarterfinals. After losing in the semifinals, Vandyke earned a 9-5 decision and a 12-4 major decision to place third.

Gabe Grice made the championship match at 125, but fell short of earning the lone automatic bid from the GPAC in the weight class. After rolling through his first three matches with a 19-4 tech fall, 18-3 tech fall, and a 7-2 decision, Grice fell in the championship match to place second.

Noah Styskal made the championship at 157, but lost his final two matches to miss out on an automatic qualifying spot. Styskal won his first two matches by way of major decision 13-1 and fall in 1:14. After a sudden victory loss in the championship, Styskal fell by decision in the second place match. 

Zander Ernst placed third in his weight class, making the semifinals via tech fall 19-3. In the consolation semifinals, Ernst won by tech fall again 21-4 and picked up a tech fall 21-6 in the third place match. 

Morningside will await the announcement of the at-large qualifiers on Feb. 20 to see if anyone will be joining the five automatic qualifiers. The NAIA Championships are held in Park City, Kan. and are held from Feb. 29 to March 2.