Missouri Wrestling
Marshall, Mo., (Jan. 20, 2021)- The Missouri Valley College men’s wrestling team has five individuals Nationally ranked in the latest edition of the NAIA Men’s Wrestling Coaches’ Top 20 Poll, released Thursday.
The five ranked individuals is the same number from the previous coaches’ poll, released in late December. The team has only competed once since the previous edition of the coaches’ poll, defeating St. Ambrose (Iowa) in a dual, 52-0, last week. It was the program’s first dual shutout, and largest margin of victory since the 2017-18 season.
Two programs from the Heart of America Athletic Conference are ranked in the coaches’ poll top 20. Grand View (Iowa) remained at No. 1 and Baker (Kan.) is ranked No. 20. The Vikings are in the “others receiving votes” category, and are joined by Heart programs William Penn (Iowa), Central Methodist (Mo.) and affiliate member St. Ambrose (Iowa).
Leading the individuals Nationally ranked is Sophomore Joshua Isaac (Woodbridge, Va.), who is No. 8 at 285 pounds. The other ranked individuals include:
No. 17 Freshman Brayden Bradley (Belton, Mo.) at 125 pounds.
No. 13 Sophomore Joseph Rice (New Plymouth, Idaho) at 141 pounds.
No. 18 Junior Karim Shakur (Martin City, Calif.) at 197 pounds.
No. 17 Freshman Brooks Baker (Brookfield, Mo.) at 285 pounds.
Up next for the Viking men’s wrestling team is the Missouri Valley Invitational, featuring nearly 40 NAIA programs and almost 400 individual wrestlers, in the largest NAIA regular season wrestling event in the country. The tournament begins Friday at 12 p.m., and continues Saturday at 9 a.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.
