TexasWrestling
Results TOPEKA, Kan.— The No. 15 Wayland Baptist men’s wrestling program performed at its peak during the 2016 NAIA National Championships and finished up the two-day event Saturday with a school-record 11th-place finish.
That followed Friday’s performances that saw a school-record five Pioneers qualify themselves to finish in the top eight and earn all-American honors: seniors Andrew Porras at 133, Kane Lovvorn at 149, Victor Thomas at 157, and Markese Christian 285; and junior Mich Napier at 184.
Coach Aaron Meister, who brought a school-record tying nine wrestlers to nationals, is beyond enthusiastic with the Pioneers’ high finish.
“We’ve had a phenomenal year with full team effort,” Meister said. “Our paramount was nationals. You don’t always have your best performance at nationals, but we did.”
Of WBU’s five all-Americans, three – Christian, Napier and Thomas – all made it out of the championship quarterfinal.
From there, Napier came up with the best finish at fifth place, while Christian and Thomas were sixth. Porras and Lovvorn both came away eighth.
“They wrestled hard and that’s what they’ve been doing all year long,” Meister said.
What may be the proudest moment for Meister was sending his seniors out on a good note, as each of them held a spot on the podium.
“It was good to send all your seniors out as all-Americans,” the coach said. “They have been big for us and this program.”
Meister was pleased that his group of men on the last day of competition were able to wrestle without stress of making it to the top eight.
“It was fun because we weren’t going to lose anything, it was how high you could finish,” Meister said.
Overall, Meister and the Pioneers had a tremendous season and felt like they sent a message to everyone in the nation.
“We’ve been doing well these past couple of years,” he said. “We as a program want to be competitive, and that’s the message we sent today.”
NAIA National Championships Results for Wayland Baptist
125 – Adelfo Valdez (13-12) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Ryan Stearns (Missouri Valley) 13-8 won by fall over Adelfo Valdez (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 13-12 (Fall 1:52)
Cons. Round 1 – Adelfo Valdez (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 13-12 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – Jake Sinkovics (Cumberlands (Ky.)) 29-11 won by fall over Adelfo Valdez (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 13-12 (Fall 1:28)
133 – Demarco Speller (10-10) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – David Berg (Midland (Neb.)) 27-10 won by fall over Demarco Speller (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 10-10 (Fall 4:15)
Cons. Round 1 – Demarco Speller (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 10-10 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-7 won in tie breaker – 1 over Demarco Speller (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 10-10 (TB-1 13-10)
133 – Andrew Porras (24-7) placed 8th and scored 6.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-7 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Kodie Cole (Concordia (Neb.)) 17-12 won by fall over Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-7 (Fall 4:45)
Cons. Round 2 – Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-7 won in tie breaker – 1 over Demarco Speller (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 10-10 (TB-1 13-10)
Cons. Round 3 – Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-7 won by decision over Brady Moser (Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)) 29-16 (Dec 6-4)
Cons. Round 4 – Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-7 won by fall over Sage Ornelas (Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)) 13-6 (Fall 5:13)
Cons. Round 5 – Vincente Hernandez (Simpson (Calif.)) 27-15 won by decision over Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-7 (Dec 10-9)
7th Place Match – Collin Crume (Indiana Tech) 21-16 won by decision over Andrew Porras (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-7 (Dec 13-12)
149 – Kane Lovvorn (23-14) placed 8th and scored 5.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Kane Lovvorn (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 23-14 won in sudden victory – 1 over Garrett Carter (St. Catharine (Ky.)) 24-19 (SV-1 13-11)
Champ. Round 2 – Kane Lovvorn (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 23-14 won in sudden victory – 1 over Kenny Boyd (Missouri Valley) 21-9 (SV-1 8-6)
Quarterfinal – Steven Garcia (Morningside (Iowa)) 27-7 won by decision over Kane Lovvorn (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 23-14 (Dec 9-6)
Cons. Round 4 – Kane Lovvorn (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 23-14 won by decision over Jacob Gross (Indiana Tech) 14-14 (Dec 4-3)
Cons. Round 5 – Willie Fox (York (Neb.)) 23-5 won by tech fall over Kane Lovvorn (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 23-14 (TF-1.5 5:43 (16-0))
7th Place Match – Anton King (Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)) 12-14 won by major decision over Kane Lovvorn (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 23-14 (MD 21-11)
157 – Victor Thomas (24-8) placed 6th and scored 12.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Victor Thomas (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-8 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Victor Thomas (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-8 won by decision over Brandon Weber (Montana State-Northern) 32-14 (Dec 7-4)
Quarterfinal – Grant Henderson (Grand View (Iowa)) 22-6 won by decision over Victor Thomas (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-8 (Dec 2-0)
Cons. Round 4 – Victor Thomas (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-8 won by fall over Aaron Demay (Southern Oregon) 12-6 (Fall 6:44)
Cons. Round 5 – Victor Thomas (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-8 won by major decision over Nate Croley (Cumberland (Tenn.)) 29-9 (MD 14-6)
Cons. Semi – Kyle Terry (Campbellsville (Ky.)) 32-9 won by major decision over Victor Thomas (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-8 (MD 13-3)
5th Place Match – Nathen Pristavec (Brewton-Parker (Ga.)) 39-8 won by decision over Victor Thomas (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 24-8 (Dec 8-6)
165 – Romen Correa (9-10) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Dalton Tipton (Missouri Valley) 25-12 won by fall over Romen Correa (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 9-10 (Fall 1:10)
Cons. Round 1 – Romen Correa (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 9-10 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – Aaron Lopez (Midland (Neb.)) 15-9 won by decision over Romen Correa (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 9-10 (Dec 9-3)
184 – Michael Napier (30-8) placed 5th and scored 15.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Michael Napier (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-8 won by major decision over Curtis Bright (Briar Cliff (Iowa)) 14-15 (MD 18-4)
Champ. Round 2 – Ryan McWatters (Southern Oregon) 29-6 won by decision over Michael Napier (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-8 (Dec 7-4)
Cons. Round 2 – Michael Napier (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-8 won by fall over Trevor Whittaker (Bethany (Kan.)) 26-15 (Fall 2:29)
Cons. Round 3 – Michael Napier (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-8 won by decision over Tyler Dilbert (Williams Baptist (Ark.)) 25-11 (Dec 4-0)
Cons. Round 4 – Michael Napier (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-8 won by decision over Tyree Cox (Northwestern (Iowa)) 28-9 (Dec 7-4)
Cons. Round 5 – Michael Napier (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-8 won by decision over Jeffrey Haley (Williams Baptist (Ark.)) 29-13 (Dec 3-2)
Cons. Semi – LJ Grayson (Indiana Tech) 37-5 won by fall over Michael Napier (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-8 (Fall 0:33)
5th Place Match – Michael Napier (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-8 won by fall over Lane Oversen (Dickinson State) 16-8 (Fall 2:16)
197 – David Willoughby (19-13) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Ken Burkhardt Jr (Concordia (Neb.)) 32-13 won by decision over David Willoughby (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 19-13 (Dec 7-2)
Cons. Round 1 – Tanner Fischer (Southern Oregon) 13-6 won by decision over David Willoughby (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 19-13 (Dec 4-3)
285 – Markese Christian (30-4) placed 6th and scored 11.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Markese Christian (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-4 received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – Markese Christian (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-4 won by decision over Dalton Presley (Briar Cliff (Iowa)) 20-11 (Dec 12-7)
Quarterfinal – Taylor Kornoely (Montana State-Northern) 29-4 won by decision over Markese Christian (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-4 (Dec 3-1)
Cons. Round 4 – Markese Christian (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-4 won by decision over Bryce McGowen (Oklahoma City) 26-19 (Dec 9-5)
Cons. Round 5 – Markese Christian (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-4 won by fall over Stephen Wilbert (Warner Pacific (Ore.)) 22-9 (Fall 3:47)
Cons. Semi – Gabi Musallam (Missouri Valley) 20-3 won by decision over Markese Christian (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-4 (Dec 7-2)
5th Place Match – Chico Adams (Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)) 24-3 won by fall over Markese Christian (Wayland Baptist (Texas)) 30-4 (Fall 4:39)
