NAIA Weekend Takeaways: Nov. 6-8

The NAIA’s top programs were busy on the second weekend of the season. No. 1 Grand View made its season debut at the Hinderliter Invitational in Ottawa, Kansas, the largest event of the weekend with 21 teams. Two-time defending national champion Life University went 4-0 in duals on Friday, then saw four of its wrestlers win titles, along with a fifth competing unattached, at its Eagle Madness Open on Saturday in Marietta, Georgia. No. 2 Indiana Tech closed the weekend on Sunday at the Alma Invitational in Michigan.

Below are five takeaways from the NAIA’s second weekend.

Life U rolls through Eagle Madness

Life U made the most of its home weekend. The Running Eagles, ranked No. 3 in the HerMat NAIA dual meet rankings, went 4-0 at the Eagle Madness Duals on Friday in Marietta, Georgia, beating Andrew 45-2, Brewton-Parker 35-12, New College 40-7 and No. 6 Wayland Baptist 32-13. No. 2 Reka Busa blanked No. 8 Leilani Lemus 5-0 at 180 pounds, No. 7 Diana Gonzalez pinned No. 12 Megan Morales in 2:23 at 110 pounds and Mackenzie Schultz pinned No. 16 Taylin Silco in 33 seconds at 160 pounds. On Saturday, four Life U wrestlers won Eagle Madness Open titles, along with a fifth competing unattached. No. 4 Ariana Martinez went 5-0 with four falls at 124 pounds. No. 3 Janida Garcia teched Wayland Baptist’s No. 15 Dru Turner 13-2 in the semifinals before topping teammate Tiyanna Mack 5-2 for the 131-pound title. No. 6 Christina Jaen pinned Cumberlands’ No. 7 Ruth Jimenez in her opener and beat Wayland Baptist’s Anna Spencer 8-4 in the finals, a rematch from Friday’s dual. Schultz won at 160 pounds, edging Campbellsville’s No. 7 Kylee Tait 7-6. Grace Lashinsky was the unattached champion at 117 pounds, beating Cumberlands’ No. 6 Shammilka Miranda Diaz 9-2 in the semifinals. Kennedy Russell placed third at 124 pounds after beating Campbellsville’s No. 6 Addison Messerly 4-2. True freshman Faith Bane, ranked No. 15 at 145 pounds, placed third, beating Lindsey Wilson’s No. 3 Ayana Fletcher 8-2 and Campbellsville’s No. 7 Gabriella Perez 3-0.

Grand View backs up No. 1 ranking

Grand View didn’t need its full lineup to look like the best team in the NAIA. The Vikings, ranked No. 1 in the HerMat NAIA tournament rankings, crowned four champions and had eight finalists at the Hinderliter Invitational on Saturday in Ottawa, Kansas, without No. 1 Andjela Prijovic (180), No. 2 Lita Cruz (103) and No. 2 Cailin Campbell (117). No. 2 Tristan Nitta went 5-0 with three falls to win at 110 pounds, beating Northeastern State’s Addie Morse 6-1 in the finals. Two Vikings moved up a weight and won all-Grand View finals. Eliana Martinez, ranked No. 5 at 110, pinned teammate Taylor Rogers at 117 pounds after Rogers pinned Ottawa’s No. 10 Sigrun Metzger in the semifinals. Mayangelie Colon, ranked No. 5 at 117, went 5-0 with five technical superiorities at 124 pounds, capped by a 45-second, 12-0 win over teammate Shaniyah McDaniel. McDaniel had teched Central Methodist’s No. 10 Berlin Kiddoo 13-3 in the semifinals. Unranked Mya Bethel won at 180 pounds, highlighted by a 2:33 pin of Ottawa’s No. 5 Siara Arrington. She won the finals by injury default over Northeastern State’s Ambre Chevreau, ranked No. 11 in the NCAA. Krista Warren pinned Bellevue’s No. 5 Hailey Sutton in 59 seconds before falling 6-5 to Ottawa’s No. 6 Hannah Jackson in the 160-pound finals. Keana Bush placed fourth at 110 pounds, beating Quincy’s Alexandra Tchekounova, ranked No. 11 in the NCAA, 2-2 on criteria. That’s championship depth.

Missouri Baptist makes noise at Eagle Madness

Missouri Baptist, ranked No. 21 in the HerMat NAIA tournament rankings, left Marietta, Georgia, with a champion and two third-place finishers at the Eagle Madness Open. Mckenzie Mills, ranked No. 19 at 207 pounds, won the title with three falls, none lasting longer than 1:21. She pinned Wayland Baptist’s Kendal Tucker in 48 seconds in the quarterfinals and Brewton-Parker’s Rubie Barton in 1:21 in the semifinals before needing just 58 seconds to pin Emmanuel’s Ava Catledge in the finals. At 110 pounds, No. 11 De’yton Young bounced back from a quarterfinal loss to high school standout Kirra Mitchell by winning four straight to place third. She capped her day with a 10-0 technical superiority over Life U’s Diana Gonzalez, ranked No. 7. Lexington Johnson, ranked No. 3 at 180 pounds, dropped a 4-2 decision to Wayland Baptist’s No. 8 Leilani Lemus in the quarterfinals, but she also answered with four straight wins to take third. That run included a 7-1 win over Wayland Baptist’s No. 14 Jaclyn Daley and a 4-3 victory over Emmanuel’s Gemma Templeman, ranked No. 15 in the NCAA, whom Johnson also beat 7-5 in her opener. Demetria Higgins also made a run at 138 pounds, opening with two technical superiorities and reaching the semifinals before falling to Wayland Baptist’s Anna Spencer.

Three No. 2-ranked wrestlers stumble in Ottawa

Three of the NAIA’s No. 2-ranked wrestlers fell short of the finals at the Hinderliter Invitational. Ottawa’s Aileen Lester, ranked No. 2 at 138 pounds, was pinned twice. Quincy’s Maddy Barton, ranked No. 18 in the NCAA, pinned her in 4:43 in the semifinals. Unranked Tiara Majer of Bellevue then pinned her in 5:38 in the consolation semifinals, avenging a 10-0 loss to Lester earlier in the day. Lester bounced back to place fifth, pinning Baker’s Brylee James in 1:03. At 131 pounds, Central Methodist’s Allyssa Johnson, ranked No. 2, dropped a 5-4 decision to unranked Tayla Skelley of Oklahoma City in the semifinals, then lost 12-4 to Northeastern State’s Samara Markwardt, ranked No. 18 in the NCAA, and finished fifth after a 5-2 win over Baker’s No. 17 Aileya Sath. The title went to unranked Shelby Garten of Bellevue, who went 4-0 with two falls and two technical superiorities. She beat teammate Espie Almazan, ranked No. 13, by technical superiority in 37 seconds and pinned Skelley in 1:04 in the finals. At 207 pounds, Grand View’s Martha Hinneh, ranked No. 2, pinned Iowa Central’s Harmoni Callins, the NJCAA No. 1, in the quarterfinals but was pinned by Ottawa’s No. 7 Kylee Lindsley in 2:32 in the semifinals. Hinneh rebounded to place third, pinning teammate Selena Mares-Castro, ranked No. 5, in 1:01. With so many unranked wrestlers breaking through, expect some shuffling in the next rankings.

Indiana Tech flexes its depth in Michigan

Indiana Tech showed why it’s ranked No. 2 in the HerMat NAIA tournament rankings. The Warriors won five titles and had six runners-up at the Alma Invitational on Sunday in Alma, Michigan, and they did it without No. 3 Lola Barkby (124), No. 4 Hayden Newberg (145) and No. 6 MaKenize Smith (110). Rose Kaplan, ranked No. 1 at 124 pounds and No. 3 pound-for-pound, went 3-0 and closed with a 10-0 technical superiority over teammate Klaire Redwine in the finals. Zoey Haney, ranked No. 1 at 103 pounds and No. 6 pound-for-pound, went 5-0 with five technical superiorities in a round-robin bracket, none lasting longer than 2:09. The last one took 46 seconds against teammate Katie Rowles, ranked No. 18, who finished second. No. 4 Kinnley Smith went 4-0 at 131 pounds, beating Tiffin’s Sophia Antonio 12-6 in the finals. No. 5 Charisma Lawrence went 5-0 with three technical superiorities at 145 pounds, topping Alma’s Ryen Allen 6-1 for the title. No. 3 Bo Geibe won at 160 pounds, where Indiana Tech swept the top four spots. Tiffin, an NCAA program, kept the Warriors from an even bigger day, beating Indiana Tech wrestlers in three finals. Annesley Day, ranked No. 14 in the NCAA, pinned Elizabeth Dollar in 1:34 at 117 pounds, Lilly White edged Avery Lynch 3-1 at 138 pounds and Kinsey Konrad pinned Evelyn Parmelee in 4:20 at 180 pounds.