Two NAIA #1’s Go Down
The NAIA saw two #1 ranked wrestlers in the country go down this weekend. At the Spire Duals, Northwestern’s Luke Jenness had a redeeming weekend after going 0-2 at the Grand View Open. While many would sulk in agony from such a weekend, Jenness got himself right back on track. Against 184 #1 and top-ten pound-for-pound J.D. Perez, he won an 11-8 thriller. Elsewhere, Embry-Riddle’s Keller Rock took out returning national champion, #1 Rysan Leong at the Roadrunner Open.
133 in the NAIA also got shaken up a bit. Unranked Nathan Rizek of Doane pinned #4 CaRon Watson in a dual, while #17 Simon Graeber of Southern Oregon was a huge piece of his team upsetting Eastern Oregon in their dual when he took out #6 Braden Carson. Another huge dual win was Reinhardt taking out Southeastern, propelled by unranked Devin Griffen beating #14 Andreus Bond at 157. Also at the Roadrunner Open, previously unranked Sheldon Cole of Embry-Riddle split matches with #6 Kana’i Tapia.
Grand Valley’s Grand Return
It’s been since 1993 - over 30 years - since Grand Valley State saw a sanctioned program take the mat. Head coach Joey Simcoe (who previously guided Tiffin for 12 years) is not playing around. They’ve already got 4 guys ranked by Open Mat, many jumping after a great weekend at the Findlay Open, where they earned three champions and another finalist. Josh Kenney (174) took the highest jump for them, moving to #6 after taking out the current #7 Casilio by major and scoring 53 points in four matches. Wyatt Miller (197) jumped to #11 on his way to the title, taking out the #10 & #16. Chris Donathan (149) could be their most dangerous - he pinned his way to the title, while also receiving injury forfeits from the #2 and #5 ranked wrestlers on the way. The last emerging piece of GVSU’s puzzle (for now) is 125 Aaron Lucio, who debuts at #13 after making the finals in a tough bracket with his big upset coming over #12 Shore. We have a feeling the Lakers are just getting started.
Also at the Findlay Open was a wild 141 bracket, won by Cayden Henschel of Wisconsin-Parkside. Henschel didn’t record any upsets himself, but beat two others who got upsets themselves: Ray Rioux and Khyvon Grace. #13 Grace of West Liberty knocked off #2 Jake Niffenegger, while unranked Ray Rioux of Indianapolis took out #8 Corey Gamet. Another Parkside guy had a great Findlay Open, as #20 Brady Schuh took out #5 Alec Cook.
UNK Open Updates
Perhaps the most impressive performance from the UNK Open was from Northwest Kansas Tech’s Otgonbayar Batsuuri at 174. In the semis, he pinned Nebraska-Lincoln’s Brown Ton with a classic Mongolian Whipover. He capped off his run with a dominating 15-5 victory over #3 in D2 Cole Hernandez of Western Colorado in the finals. Another big day was had by Nebraska-Kearney’s Jackson Kinsella at 197. While not ranked at the time, he recorded 3 ranked wins, the most notable being over #4 All-American Tereus Henry of Fort Hays State. Cody Thompson of Colorado Mines also looked great in his UNK Open title at 149, beating #14 in NAIA Drake Vannoy and #17 in D2 John Burger.
