National Duals: Grand View men’s wrestling wins 11th NAIA crown; Grand View women take second

The second half of the 2022-23 college wrestling season began this weekend — not only with major Division I dual meets, but also with the unofficial national dual championships for every other collegiate wrestling division.

The multi-divisional national dual championships, hosted by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, were held at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. It included national competitions for every non-Division I level of wrestling.

Many Iowa teams competed across all levels — both the Grand View men’s and women’s teams surged in the NAIA divisions; Wartburg and Loras secured top-six Division III finishes, and Upper Iowa rallied for sixth in Division II.

Here are some key takeaways from the action:

Grand View women take second at NAIA women’s national duals

Grand View women’s wrestling has steadily grown into an NAIA contender under head coach Angelo Crinzi, but on Saturday the second-ranked Vikings cleared a new program hurdle by finishing second at the NAIA women’s national dual championships.

The Vikings, in just their second appearance at the national duals, reached the finals by beating Oklahoma City, 32-13; Indiana Tech, 26-17; and Life University, 22-21. Grand View lost to top-ranked Southern Oregon, 22-18, in Saturday’s finals.

After beating Oklahoma City and Indiana Tech, the Vikings edged Life by one point thanks to pins from Catharine Campbell (123) and Andrea Schlabach (130). Schlabach, ranked No. 2 nationally, led 8-3 when she pinned Life’s third-ranked Zaynah McBryde in the second period, giving the Vikings five crucial team points.

Against Southern Oregon, Grand View won four matches in a row to rally from down 12-4 to lead 17-15 with two weights left. But the Raiders sealed it with back-to-back wins from third-ranked Joye Levendusky at 170 and fifth-ranked Grace Kristoff at 191.

Schlabach and Alexis Gomez, ranked No. 1 nationally at 143 pounds, both went 4-0 for the Vikings. Both Madison Diaz (155) and Abby McIntyre (170) went 3-1.

Iowa Wesleyan also competed at the NAIA women’s national duals, but went 1-3 and finished 15th. JoAnna Vanderwood (130) and Adaugo Nwachukwu (136) both went 4-0 for the Tigers.

Grand View men beat Life to win 11th NAIA national duals title

The Grand View men’s wrestling program steamrolled the competition to win its 11th NAIA national duals title. The Vikings beat Life University, 22-8, in Saturday’s finals by winning the first five weights and taking 7-of-10 matches.

The Vikings went 35-5 overall across their four duals: 18-2 in Friday’s first two rounds, then 17-3 in Saturday’s final two duals. They scored bonus points in 18 of their 35 individual wins: eight pins, five technical falls, and five major decisions.

In the same bracket, Morningside went 2-3 and finished eighth. They beat Ottawa, 25-17, then lost to Life, 37-0 in the quarterfinals. They rallied to beat Lindsey Wilson, 29-11, then lost twice more, to Marian, 34-4, then Reinhardt, 38-9, for seventh.

Wartburg loses in semifinals, rally for third in Division III

The top of the Division III wrestling world has been dominated by the ‘Burgs. Wartburg and Augsburg have combined to win every traditional NCAA team title since 1995, and have similarly dominated the national dual competitions as well.

This weekend, top-ranked Wartburg and No. 2 Augsburg were primed to collide in the Division III national dual finals, but the Knights were upended in the semifinals, losing 21-19 to Johnson & Wales. They finished third while Augsburg won the title.

Johnson & Wales stunned Wartburg on bonus points: a technical fall from Joziah Fry at 125, a pin from William Hughes at 157, and a major from Ryan DeVivo at 184 gave the Wildcats enough to edge the Knights after both teams won five matches.

Wartburg finished the weekend 3-1 overall, with wins over Millikin (45-0), Baldwin Wallace (24-15), and, for third, Wisconsin-La Crosse (27-9). Zayren Terukina (141) and Nathan Fuller (165) both went 4-0 for the Knights.

There were many Iowa teams in the Division III tournament. Loras went 3-2, rallying from a 24-12 quarterfinal loss to Augsburg to take sixth overall. Luther lost to Augsburg in the first round, but went 3-2 and finished ninth. Coe lost its preliminary round dual, then won three in a row to take 17th, which included a 36-6 win over Dubuque.

Upper Iowa topples returning national champs in Division II

The state of Iowa’s only Division II entrant, Upper Iowa, went 3-2 overall and took sixth. The Peacocks dropped their quarterfinal dual to eventual champs St. Cloud State, 28-7, then rallied with wins over Gannon (24-13) and defending Division II national champs Nebraska-Kearney (21-14) before losing to Lander (22-18) for fifth.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: NWCA National Duals: Grand View wins, GV women take 2nd, Wartburg 3rd