The Vikings, who with a team title this season will join former-member Central State (Okla.) (1984-87) as the only programs to win four in-a-row, had nine of their 12 qualifiers lock up All-America status, including six that reached the semifinals. Defending national champions Ryak Finch at 125 pounds and Brand Wright at 141 pounds headline the group of Grand View grapplers that will be in action tomorrow.
Finch, who is in his second season with the Vikings, owns a 53-0 overall record (two seasons) after a 16-0 technical fall against Michael Andreano in the quarterfinals. Wright won 5-0 against 2014 All-American A.J. Valles.
Great Falls (Mont.) had an equally impressive record in the quarterfinals, as five Argonauts will wrestle for a chance at a national title tomorrow. Top-ranked 133 pounder Michael Ruiz posted his second pin of the championships to reach the semifinals for the first time in his career, sticking Keaton Thomas of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) in 1:51.
Rounding out the remainder of the top five are Lindsey Wilson and Southern Oregon in third-place with 62 points, while Oklahoma City rests at No. 5 with 41 points. All three programs have at least three wrestlers competing in the semifinals tomorrow.
Arguably the most decorated match of the night came in the quarterfinals of the 165-pound weight class, as three-time All-American Jimmie Schuessler of Grand View took on two-time All-American Eric Lopez of Menlo (Calif.) in a rematch of the 2013 finals. Lopez avenged his 2013 loss with a 5-3 decision to advance to the semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons.
Four institutions – Williams Baptist (Ark.), Ottawa (Kan.), Doane (Neb.) and St. Andrews (N.C.) – had their first-ever individual guarantee All-American status during the session.
Williams Baptist’s Isaiah Johnson, in addition to being the program’s first-ever All-American, is one of the Cinderella stories at this year’s championships. The freshman from Waynesville, Mo., knocked off second-ranked Luke Schlosser of Great Falls in his opening bout, before downing James Flint of Lindsey Wilson to reach the semifinals. However, the road moving forward doesn’t get any easier, as he faces off against Finch.
Overall, 19 different programs will have an individual wrestling in the semifinals tomorrow.
Session III action is slated to begin Saturday morning at 10 a.m. CST.
Stretch Internet, the NAIA’s official video streaming company, will be broadcasting the 10 title bouts (Session IV) of the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships on March 7 on www.NAIANetwork.com. Packages can be purchased for $10.
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