Park City, Kan. – The NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships got underway today (Mar. 6) at the Park City Arena in Park City, Kan., with the Friends University Falcons making an early statement.
Highlighting the day was senior Braden Morgan advancing to tomorrow's quarterfinal round with two victories.
Morgan, the seventh seed in the 285-pound division, defeated Corbin Hays (Embry-Riddle) by a 10-3 decision and then pulled out a 7-6 decision over 10th seeded Austin Silva (Cumberlands) to clinch a berth in tomorrow's quarterfinal against second seeded Earnest Johnson (Life).
In the 174-pound division, Benedict Holthaus upset No. 13 seeded Tyson Stover (Corban) by a 7-6 decision in his first match of the day. Holthaus then fell by Technical Fall (16-0) to No. 4 seed Shadrick Slone (Campbellsville) and by an 8-3 decision to Cameron Nesbitt (Cumberlands) to conclude a memorable freshman season.
Ezavian Ortega was also a NAIA qualifier in the 157-pound division and went 1-2 today to wrap up an outstanding career at Friends. Ortega lost his opening match in a 14-2 majority decision to No. 4 Aden Graves (Providence) but battled back with an 18-11 decision victory over E.T. Rodgers (Missouri Baptist). He was then nipped by Diego Machado (St. Ambrose) in a close 4-2 decision.
Tomorrow's quarterfinal matches are scheduled to begin at 11 am.
NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship Bracket
