LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The No. 19 Wayland Baptist men's wresting team had the opportunity to square off against some of the best competition the NAIA has to offer Saturday at the Desert Duals. Facing two top-10 teams and another in the top-20, the Pioneers went 1-4 at the high-profile event, competing against No. 1 Grandview (Iowa), No. 11 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), No. 6 Concordia (Neb.), Central Florida, and Warner Pacific (Ore.).
The Pioneers started the duals off with top-ranked Grandview, and seemingly had their hands full. The Vikings defeated Wayland, 38-9, but Mich Naiper provided WBU with a bright spot. Napier received the only outright win against Grandview, defeating Dalton Schutier, 5-4.
Jacob Campa also had a win against the Vikings, picking up six points via forfeit in the 125-pound weight class.
Napier also had wins against No. 11 Embry-Riddle with a 5-1 decision over Kolby Mays, Central Florida, getting a 4-1 decision over Davin Morris, and a 7-3 decision over No. 6 Concordia's Noel Richardson. Napier's only blemish Saturday was against Warner Pacific when the sophomore lost a 6-5 match in the 184s. Head wrestling coach Aaron
Meister said Napier's loss in his final match of the day was his first since dropping his first two bouts of the year, snapping a 13-match win streak.
"Mich had good day," Meister said. "Unfortunately he dropped his last match after winning his first four. Mich had won 13 dual matches in a row until that point."
Despite Napier's loss, Wayland defeated Warner Pacific, who is ranked the equivalent of 27th in the NAIA Top-20 Coaches Poll, in its final dual of the day, 35-7.
The Pioneers opened the dual with five-straight wins, including pins from
Jacob Campa (125) and
Victor Thomas (149) and a 27-11 technical fall from Christ Hart in the 141s.
The Knights got back-to-back wins in the 165 and 184 bouts, but
Nik Gates and
Eric Lunsford picked up forfeit wins in the final two weight classes to give WBU the win.
Against No. 11 Embry-Riddle and Central Florida, Wayland got wins from
Andrew Porras, Thomas and Napier, but ultimately fell to the Eagles, 25-16, and the Knights, 28-12.
In the Pioneers' dual against No. 6 Concordia, Christ Hart earned the first of his two wins with a 15-5 technical fall, but it wasn't enough as UCF went on to win, 28-12.
With six of the nine teams at the Desert Duals ranked in the top-25, the Pioneers were up against the best competition they've seen all year, but Coach Meister was still a little disappointed in the outcome.
"We just wrestled average today," Meister said. "We had some guys do well from time to time, but as a team we couldn't string it all together in one dual. Mich and Victor had good days, and so did
DeMarco Speller (who was 2-0 in exhibitions Saturday).
Jacob Campa also wrestled hard today and did a good job filling in for us in the 125s, and ended up getting a win in his final match which was nice to see.
"The good news is that we got to wrestle five matches in one day, which is a heck of a deal. And the matches were against really good teams, but if we're going to beat those teams everyone has to wrestle well."
Meister admitted to thinking that this would be a tough trip for the Pioneers when he scheduled Wayland to make the journey to Las Vegas, but he's still pleased with the experience his squad received before the Christmas break.
"I knew when I scheduled this that it would be hard," he said. "We took a little side step today, but it gave us a better idea of where we're at as a team and what we need to work on to get better.
"This tournament was also a great way for us to see people we don't normally get to see before we head to nationals. We need to get a chip on our shoulder and avenge some of these losses come time for nationals. The guys have worked hard all year long so they don't need motivation (to work hard), but it's always good to have more."
The Pioneers will now take a well-deserved break before coming back to school in the spring semester to prepare for their Jan. 4 dual against New Mexico Highlands.
"These guys have worked hard and they need a break and a chance to reenergize to make a strong push in the second semester. We'll return from Christmas break and get right back at it."
| No. 19 Wayland Baptist 35, (RV) Warner Pacific, 7 |
| |
| | Match Summary | WAYB | WAPA |
| 125 | Jacob Campa (Wayland Baptist) over William Treadwell (Warner Pacific) Fall 3:29 | 6.00 | 0 |
| 133 | Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist) over Joshua Crager (Warner Pacific) Dec 11-6 | 3.00 | 0 |
| 141 | Chris Hart (Wayland Baptist) over Amari Sengsavanh (Warner Pacific) TF 27-11 | 5.00 | 0 |
| 149 | Victor Thomas (Wayland Baptist) over Jawayne Fambrough (Warner Pacific) Fall 3:53 | 6.00 | 0 |
| 157 | Kane Lovvorn (Wayland Baptist) over Robert Frasier (Warner Pacific) Dec 8-3 | 3.00 | 0 |
| 165 | Josue Terrones (Warner Pacific) over Brian O`Shaughnessy (Wayland Baptist) TF 15-0 | 0 | 5.00 |
| 174 | Double Forfeit | 0 | 0.00 |
| 184 | Miguel Simon (Warner Pacific) over Michael Naiper (Wayland Baptist) Dec 6-5 | 0 | 3.00 |
| 197 | Nik Gates (Wayland Baptist) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf | 6.00 | 0 |
| 285 | Eric Lunsford (Wayland Baptist) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf | 6.00 | 0 |
| Unsportsmanlike | | -1.000 |
| Dual Meet Score | 35.0 | 7.0 |
