CEDAR FALLS, IA – #3 Menlo Men's Wrestling walked away from the two-day NWCA National Duals as 3rd place finishers. The Oaks were undefeated on day one after taking down #20 Oklahoma City and coming from behind to beat #6 Campbellsville. Day two began with a tight matchup against #1 Grand View where the Oaks saw some of the top competitors in the nation. A loss would send them to the 3rd place match to face #4 Southeastern University. Menlo took 8 of the 10 weight classes to take home the 3rd place trophy at the final NAIA National Duals beforing transitioning to NCAA!
#3 Menlo 10 - 33 #1 Grand View
Menlo had the opportunity to get a good look at the #1 team in the nation after taking on Grand View in the semifinals of the National duals. Of the 10 weight classes that wrestled, the Oaks walked away victorious in 3 of them. Michael Torres (141) went into his match against Tony Mendoza down by 9 in team score and was ready to change the pace. It was a high scoring bout finishing the first period 4-2 after totaling a takedown and an escape. Mendoza came back in the second period to run up the score 8-7. The third period was an all out brawl to take the dub. Mendoza scored an escape to tie it up 10-10 before Torres landed one final 3-point takedown in the last 45 seconds to win, 13-10.
At 157, Kanaipono Tapia was facing Dylan Whitt. The Oak held control of the entire match, only allowing two points scored against. Across the three periods, Tapia totaled two 3-point takedowns, a 4-second nearfall, and a point for riding time. The score ended 11-2 in favor of Kanai to make the team score 7-14. Rysan Leong (165) was the final Oak to win against Grand View. Leong did not allow a single point against #6 Justin McCunn and finished the bout ahead 2-0 after an escape point in the second period and a point for riding time.
#3 Menlo 25 - 17 #4 Southeastern
#15 Jeramiah Steele (133) was set to take on #6 Andrew Voiles to kick off the 3rd place match of the National Duals after Menlo had to forfeit at 125 due to injury. Steele went ahead 3-1 in the first two periods off of a takedown before adding an escape and takedown in the third period to seal the 7-4 win. Michael Torres followed Steele with a 15-10 decision over #13 Kael Brisker. The bout was tied most of the match but what pushed Torres over the edge was the 4-point near fall he earned in the second period that was the game-winning point.
The team score was 9-6 going into 157, where #6 Kanaipono Tapia was facing #3 Salvador Silva. Kanai owned the mat as he totaled 3 takedowns, an escape, and a 3-second near fall for the 13-3 upset. #4 Rysan Leong (165) kept that same energy as he took down #14 Trace Braun in a 7-2 decision. One more 8-1 decision from #19 Ledger Petracek (174) would lead to a huge head to head between #10 Isaiah Morales (184). Jefferey Geller of Southeastern was ahead 11-9 in the second period and was able to take Morales to the mat in an attempt to pin him. Isaiah masterfully reversed the hold and ended up pinning Geller to come from behind and add 6 more points to the Oaks team score. One last victory from Hunter James (197) over #18 Gentry Smith would increase the Menlo win to 25-17. Head Coach Joey Martinez is satisfied walking away with 3rd place considering the only loss they had in the entire weekend was against the #1 team in the nation. It was another great showing for the Oaks who are able to return back to the bay with notes taken.
Up Next….
Menlo makes the trip to Ashland, Oregon on Friday, January 12th for a dual against Southern Oregon at 6pm! The weekend will continue on Saturday, January 13th with a tri-dual between Southern Oregon and Embry-Riddle!