PRESCOTT, Ariz. – RESULTS | The first day of the 2023 Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s Wrestling Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, saw an excellent mix of new and returning competitors get one step closer to a chance to make the NAIA National Tournament.
Seventh-ranked Menlo leads the team score at 72.5 points, as the Oaks have nine wrestlers across eight brackets in the semifinals. No. 8 Eastern Oregon finished the opening day in second with 54.5 points, as No. 18 Embry-Riddle sits in third with 43.5 points, (RV) Southern Oregon sits in fourth with 43.0 points and No. 9 Providence (Mont.) sits in fifth with 42.5 points.
Four different Cascade Champions from 2022 have an opportunity to repeat on Saturday, as Aaron Gandara (Southern Oregon), David Rubio (Corban), Kyle Knudtson (Eastern Oregon) and K.C. Buday (Providence) all sit two wins away from consecutive titles. Gandara, who won at 157 pounds last year, will have the opportunity to do so at 149 pounds this year.
At 165 pounds, all four semifinalists in this year’s tournament were also automatic qualifiers for the national tournament last season. Defending champion David Rubio of Corban will face Rysan Leong of Menlo in one semifinal, while Embry-Riddle’s Keller Rock will take on Providence’s Jordan Komack in the other semifinal.
That was nearly the same case at 174 pounds, as three of the four automatic qualifiers to come out of the 2022 CCC Championships are in this year’s semifinal. Nakoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern), Keegan Mulhill (Eastern Oregon) and Gerardo Hernandez (Vanguard) will chase repeat automatic qualification for the 2023 NAIA National Championships.
In the heavyweight bracket, a rematch of the championship match could be in the works between Buday of Providence and Noel Orozco of Eastern Oregon. Those two will have to win their respective semifinal matches to reach a second consecutive final, as Antonio Dacosta (Menlo) and Jacob Vincent (Simpson) will look to make sure history does not repeat this time around.
Day two of the CCC Men’s Wrestling Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, will start at 10 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, with the championship matches scheduled for 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Each mat will have video streaming on
FloWrestling, with the Tournament Page being found on
TrackWrestling.
Individual champions from the tournament at each weight class earn automatic bids to the NAIA Wrestling National Championships. Additional automatic qualifiers from the CCC will be based on overall finish in the tournament, and are based on the number of individuals that were ranked in the top 25 final rankings, which this year is 49. The following place winners will advance to the NAIA nationals:
125 – 1
st, 2
nd, 3
rd,4
th,5
th, 6th (six total)
133 – 1
st, 2
nd 3
rd, 4
th, 5
th (five total)
141 – 1st
149 – 1
st, 2
nd, 3
rd (three total)
157 – 1
st, 2
nd, 3
rd (three total)
165 – 1
st 2
nd, 3
rd, 4
th, 5
th 6
th (six total)
174 – 1
st, 2
nd, 3
rd, 4
th,5
th, 6
th, 7
th (seven total)
184 – 1
st, 2
nd, 3
rd, 4
th, 5
th, 6
th (six total)
197 – 1
st, 2
nd, 3
rd, 4
th, 5
th, 6
th, 7th (seven total)
285 – 1
st, 2
nd, 3
rd, 4
th, 5
th (five total)
The NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championships from the Hartman Arena in Wichita, Kan. is scheduled for March 3-4.