Park City, Kan. - Friends men's wrestling made program history at the NAIA National Tournament last week (Mar. 5–7), sending a record eight wrestlers to nationals and producing three All-Americans, the most in school history.

Braydon Pacheco (4th) and Braden Ledford (8th) got the nod at 125 lbs. Cayleb Atkins (7th) would earn his All-American at 157 lbs. 

Highlights of the weekend:

125 lbs - Braydon Pacheco the true freshman earned his first career All-American on day two of the tournament advancing to the semi-final round. In Pacheco's quarterfinal round he looked to avenge a loss he had in the KCAC conference final against No. 2 ranked Brody Gee. Pacheco would control the whole match, grabbing an early takedown and nearfall in the first was just the start. Pacheco would ultimately earn a tech fall in his quarterfinal match 20-4 to give himself an All-American. Pacheco would wrestle in the 3rd place match but ultimately went down 7-6 taking 4th in the nation. 

125 lbs - Braden Ledford the senior was looking for one last shot to become an All-American, wrestling in the same class as his teammate. Ledford would have the tournament of his life, with a 25-seed Ledford would upset his 1st round opponent, 8-seed Matteo Vargo winning 8-5 and follow up with another upset winning 2-1 against 9-seed Kobi Johnson. Ledford would fall in his quarterfinal bout as he was looking to find a way to place in the blood rounds. Ledford would win in an emotional sudden victory 4-1 overtime win to earn his All-American! Ledford would take 8th in the nation after being seeded 26th.

157 lbs - Cayleb Atkins was seeded 12 in the national tournament, Atkins won his first match convincingly by major decision 11-0. Atkins would eventually have to go the hard way to earn the All-American through wrestle backs. Atkins would rattle off three blood round matches in a row in order to earn this prestigious honor. Atkins would have to wrestle in the 7th place match against Southern Oregon's Avant Stepherson. Atkins would get to work and earn 7th in the nation with a 3-2 win.

A truly historic weekend for the short history of Friends men's wrestling. Tyler Mies in just his 3rd year as head coach for the Falcons has brought wrestling up to new heights here in Wichita. 

Mies stated, "It feels great! No matter the final outcome of the season, it shows that we took a big step in the right direction as a program. It's always fun celebrating All-Americans, but it's even better seeing the hard work of these guys pay off."

Mies on the future of Falcons wrestling, "Our focus will stay the same. We will continue to get 1% better every single day. If we continue to do that and keep building the right way, the future of Friends Wrestling is very bright."

Full results here of the NAIA National tournament: