WICHITA, KANSAS - Grand View arrived at the 2026 NAIA National Championships as the defending team champions, and through two days of action, the Vikings have made a powerful statement. With five wrestlers punching their tickets to Saturday's championship finals and four more All-Americans that are into the consolation semi-finals tomorrow morning. GV leads the team race with 163.5 points, standing 29.5 points ahead of second. 

Marckis Branford | 141 lbs. | No. 5 Seed Branford had a roller coaster tournament. After opening with a decision win over Channing Porter (Arizona Christian), he dropped a heartbreaker 3-2 to No. 12 Arojae Hart (Central Methodist). He responded well in the consolation bracket, rattling off two straight wins — a major decision over Cole McKinley (Lourdes) and a fall over Jace Province (Oklahoma City) — before falling 4-1 to No. 2 Caden McCrary (Reinhardt) to end his tournament.

Reese Courtney | 141 lbs. | No. 7 Seed Courtney opened strong with a 17-3 major decision over Tyler Johnson (Avila) but ran into No. 10 Mauro Michel (Life) in round two, dropping an 8-3 decision. He bounced back with a 4-0 consolation win over No. 9 Noah Parmelee (Northwestern) before falling 8-3 to No. 15 Michael Trujillo (Arizona Christian) to close out his tournament.

Dylan Whitt | 165 lbs. | No. 12 Seed Whitt came out firing with a 12-1 major decision over Carson Turnis (Morningside) to open, but fell to No. 5 Alexander Couto (Life) in sudden victory. He answered the call in the consolation bracket with back-to-back major decisions over Benjamen Mitchell (Simpson) and Hayden Brown (Oklahoma City), before ultimately falling to No. 7 Rocky Raby (Life) in sudden victory.

2026 NAIA ALL-AMERICANS - (Consolation semifinals tomorrow morning)

Elijah Cater | 125 lbs. | No. 4 Seed Cater rolled to the semis with three straight wins — a tech fall over Julio Gonzales (Arizona Christian), a fall over No. 13 Tyler Hisey (Indiana Tech), and a quarterfinal decision over No. 5 Anthony Hughes (Marian). He dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 1 Ray Ray Harris (Doane) in the semis but will wrestle the consi-semis first thing Saturday. 

Bryce Boumans | 157 lbs. | No. 5 Seed Boumans made it to the semis after a major decision over Marc Le Gaspe (Cumberlands), a decision over No. 12 Cayleb Atkins (Friends), and a quarterfinal upset over No. 4 Hagen Heistand (Concordia). He fell to No. 1 John Wiley (Oklahoma City) in the semis and will look to bounce back in the consi-semis. 

Easton Larson | 157 lbs. | No. 11 Seed  Larson showed tremendous grit after dropping a tough 8-7 quarterfinal decision to No. 3 Douglas Terry (Life). He opened with a decision over Brandon Bollinger (Missouri Baptist) and a fall over No. 6 Ben Miller (Doane) before the loss, then bounced back in the consolation bracket with a decision over No. 16 Vinnie Abbey (Indiana Tech) and a decision over No. 12 Cayleb Atkins (Friends). 

Shane Cook | 285 lbs. | No. 4 Seed Cook dropped into the consolation bracket after a 6-4 decision loss to No. 13 Koen Mattern (Hastings) in round two, but has been a warrior since. He opened with a major decision over Steven Elwell (Ottawa), then went on a five-match consolation run with a fall over Caleb Pruitt (Reinhardt), a decision over No. 11 Gage Cook (St. Thomas), a decision over No. 10 Austin Silva (Cumberlands), and a major decision over No. 14 Ethan DeRoche (Providence).
 

NATIONAL FINALISTS

Gabe Gonzales | 133 lbs. | No. 2 Seed Gonzales has been nothing short of dominant. He opened with a tech fall over Davion Wilson (Graceland), followed with a fall over Zac Bosken (Reinhardt), then pinned No. 10 Izaeah Beavers (Campbellsville) in the quarterfinals. In the semis, he topped No. 6 Luke Rioux (Indiana Tech) by a 12-2 major decision. Gonzales wrestles for a national title Saturday.

Elijah Larsen | 149 lbs. | No. 2 Seed The returning national champion is back on the big stage. Larsen started fast with a fall over Mike Loney (Indiana Tech) and a tech fall over Georgino Moraga (St. Ambrose), then dominated the quarterfinals with another tech fall over No. 10 Grayson Sonntag (Cleary). In a tightly contested semifinal, Larsen gutted out a 10-7 decision over No. 3 Nik Yancey (Campbellsville) to punch his ticket to the finals.

Cam Robinson | 165 lbs. | No. 1 Seed The returning champion has looked every bit like the top seed. Robinson pinned Dayton Hill (Missouri Valley) in just 0:41, followed with a tech fall over Nathan Napolitano (Truett McConnell), then took a 5-1 decision over No. 8 Jovon Mitchell (Southeastern) in the quarters. He rolled to an 11-0 major decision over No. 5 Alexander Couto (Life) in the semis. Robinson is one win away from back-to-back titles.

Kris Ketchum | 174 lbs. | No. 3 Seed Ketchum has been quietly impressive all tournament. He opened with a fall over Jacob Gonzales (Rochester Christian), followed with a major decision over Orion Thivierge (Montana State-Northern), then cruised through the quarters with a major decision over No. 11 Anthony Rinehart (Marian). He then won a tight 1-0 decision over No. 2 Roman Garcia (Central Methodist) to reach his first national final.

Garavous Kouekabakilaho | 197 lbs. | No. 1 Seed The returning champion has looked dominant through two days. "GK" recorded a fall over Kevin Lund (Baker), a major decision over No. 16 Gabe Chesbro (Saint Mary), and a dominant tech fall over No. 8 Ghee Rachal (St. Thomas) in the quarters, then held off Omari Smith (Oklahoma City) 4-2 in the semis. He's one win away from his third straight title.

UP NEXT
Grand View starts wrestling on Day Three of the NAIA National Tournament Tomorrow. First session begins at 11:00 AM which will be all consolations and placing matches, and then the Final session will be at 7:00 PM for the National Finals.