OSKALOOSA, IOWA - Grand View Men's Wrestling took the mat for the Heart Championships this weekend. The Vikings took care of business with an impressive performance. Grand View took home their 11th straight Heart of America Conference Title with 264.5 team points and all 12 wrestlers were finalists. An outstanding tournament, winning by 92 team points.
The Vikings also earned a ton of all-conference honors for the Heart of America season awards!
HEART OF AMERICA FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - REESE COURTNEY
HEART OF AMERICA NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - SHANE COOK
HEART OF AMERICA WRESTLER OF THE YEAR - CAM ROBINSON
HEART OF AMERICA ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR - PAUL REEDY
HEART OF AMERICA HEAD COACH OF THE YEAR - GRANT HENDERSON
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
125 – Elijah Cater | 2nd Place Cater earned a first-round bye, then tech-falled Brock Sutton of Benedictine College (16-1) in the quarterfinals and tech-falled Saoul Prado of Baker in the semifinals (16-0). Fell just short in the championship match, dropping a tight 2-0 decision to Haden Hernandez of Missouri Valley.
133 – Gabe Gonzales | 1st Place - Gonzales received a bye, then rolled through the bracket with a tech fall over John Kenney of Bismarck State (20-4), followed by a major decision over Braden Werdenhausen of William Woods (19-6). Closed it out in style with a fall in 2:48 over Lane Scorpil of William Penn to claim the championship.
141 – Marckis Branford | 1st Place - Branford received a bye, then pinned Kameron Stiffler of Bismarck State in 1:17 and pinned Arojae Hart of Central Methodist in 4:29. Faced his Grand View teammate Reese Courtney in the all-Viking final and took the title.
141 – Reese Courtney | 2nd Place Courtney started with a tech fall over Kael Glenn of William Woods (21-5), then earned a major decision over Caden Lopez of Graceland (11-2), and grinded out a 7-2 decision over Guiseppe Guerra of St. Ambrose in the semifinals to reach the finals. Fell to teammate Marckis Branford in the championship match.
149 – Elijah Larsen | 1st Place - Larsen may have had the most dominant run of the entire tournament. He pinned Mason Scholtz of Benedictine in 1:36, then recorded a jaw-dropping 15-second fall over Luis Garza of William Penn, followed by pins over Georgino Moraga of St. Ambrose (2:15) and Brayden Eikermann of Missouri Baptist (3:38). Won the title by medical forfeit over Nikolas Slatoff of Baker. Five wins, five falls.
157 – Easton Larson | 2nd Place - Larson received a bye, then posted a major decision over Peyton Asbury of Central Methodist (11-0), pinned Lloyd Epperson of Missouri Valley in 4:08, and pinned Francis Morrissey of Missouri Valley in just 1:14 in the semifinals. Fell to Grand View teammate Bryce Boumans in the all-Viking championship match.
157 – Bryce Boumans | 1st Place - Boumans received a bye, pinned Whit Nichols of William Woods in 3:27, then posted a major decision over Invi Bella of Graceland (17-4). Edged out Willard Sprenger of Bismarck State by decision (8-3) in the semifinals, then topped his Grand View teammate Easton Larson in the championship to claim gold.
165 – Dylan Whitt | 2nd Place - Whitt opened with a pin over Colton King of Bismarck State in 1:43, then earned a major decision over Dayton Hill of Missouri Valley (16-8), and pinned Kevin Olavarria of Central Methodist in 3:48 to reach the finals. Dropped the all-Viking championship match to teammate Cam Robinson.
165 – Cam Robinson | 1st Place - Robinson pinned Sam Chacon of Benedictine in 1:59, pinned Stephen Dickerson of Graceland in 4:30, and pinned Brayden Shelton of Missouri Valley in 2:44 to reach the finals. Topped his Grand View teammate Dylan Whitt in the championship to take the title.
174 – Kristopher Ketchum | 2nd Place - Ketchum received a bye, then wasted no time pinning Bricen Lee of Benedictine in just 52 seconds, followed by a tech fall over Jeraimiah Nyberg of Graceland (19-4) in the semifinals. Dropped a hard-fought 3-1 decision to Roman Garcia of Central Methodist in the championship match.
197 – Garavous Kouekabakilaho | 1st Place - Kouekabakilaho received a bye, tech-falled Kevin Lund of Baker (19-4), then posted a major decision over Donivan Giangregorio of Dickinson State (10-2) in the semifinals. Won the championship by medical forfeit over Elijah Hynes of Missouri Valley.
285 – Shane Cook | 1st Place - Cook received a bye, tech-falled Oran Varela of Graceland (18-2), then dominated Randy Gonzalez of Missouri Valley by major decision (11-1) in the semifinals. In a thrilling championship match, Cook outlasted Garine Gibson of Central Methodist in sudden victory overtime, winning 8-5 to claim the heavyweight title.
Full results on flowrestling - NAIA Heart of America Athletic Conference - Team Scores
UP NEXT
The men's wrestling team will compete next at the NAIA National Championships in 2 weeks. That will be Thursday, March 5th through the 7th. That will be in Witchita, KS.
