In order to get better you have to consistently go against the best there is to offer. Williams Woods men’s team traveled to current #1 ranked Grand View (and defending NAIA National Champs) to wrestle in the Grand View Open. Other NAIA ranked teams in attendance are #12 Missouri Valley, #16 Central Methodist, #19 Montana State-Northern, and #25 Texas-Wesleyan. In addition to the numerous NAIA schools there were schools ranging from NCAA Division 1 to Juco. Among these teams included the #6 Iowa State and #14 Northern Iowa from Division 1. From Division 2, the #2 ranked Central Oklahoma, #6 Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney, and #24 Central Missouri (Warrensburg). Among the juco teams in attendance there was also #4 Labette (KS), #6 Southeastern CC, #10 Iowa Central C.C., and #11 Cloud County CC (KS).
This is the second consecutive weekend the William Woods Owls were on the road (last week at the Service Salute hosted by Benedictine) and this would prove to be a solid test for all of their wrestlers. This Open (like many others around the nation) allows teams to send in their less experienced wrestlers (underclassmen) in their own division vs. the true “open” division. With a team made up of only freshmen and sophomores at this point, Coach Lorentz made the decision to mix and match his roster where he believes they would not only be tested but have the opportunity to have some success. The Owls put three of their wrestlers in the Open and the other seven in the fresh/soph division.
Overall the Owls went 9-20 in their 29 matches. Several of these losses came against NCAA Division 1 opponents or ranked opponents in their respective divisions. On the other hand, the wins will prove to be valuable in both the short-term and the long-term. In the short-term scoring some wins against some fellow NAIA opponents as well as some non-D1 wrestlers, the Owls confidence should increase as it proves to the young team that they can hang with some of the best in the country. In the long-term, the wins (especially against the NAIA opponents) will prove valuable when it comes to conference tournament seeding at the end of the year.
An individual highlight of the tournament came from Elijah Blacksmith who started off really strong, winning his first three matches of the day to reach the quarterfinals (including a win over NAIA opponent Missouri Valley) before losing his final two bouts of the day.
Below are the individual match results for the William Woods Men’s Team:
Open 141 lbs.
Kael Glenn’s place is unknown and has scored 4.5 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Kael Glenn (William Woods University ) received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Jacob Frost (Iowa State) won by tech fall over Kael Glenn (William Woods University ) (TF 18-3)
- Cons. Round 2 – Kael Glenn (William Woods University ) won by tech fall over Dalton Michael (Hastings (Neb.)) (TF 17-2)
- Cons. Round 3 – Kael Glenn (William Woods University ) won by fall over Gavin Shoush (Central Methodist) (Fall 1:03)
- Cons. Round 4 – Dante Reviglio (Providence (Mont.)) won by tech fall over Kael Glenn (William Woods University ) (TF 19-3)
Open 149 lbs.
Michael Moore-Fondren’s place is unknown and has scored 5.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Bo Davis (Corban University) won by tech fall over Michael Moore-Fondren (William Woods University ) (TF 22-6)
- Cons. Round 1 – Michael Moore-Fondren (William Woods University ) received a bye () (Bye)
- Cons. Round 2 – Michael Moore-Fondren (William Woods University ) won by fall over Cale Glover (Oklahoma Wesleyan ) (Fall 2:49)
- Cons. Round 3 – Caeleb Ishmael (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over Michael Moore-Fondren (William Woods University ) (Maj 16-5)
Open 285 lbs.
Kamond Manning’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Kamond Manning (William Woods University ) received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Adam Ahrendsen (Northern Iowa) won by fall over Kamond Manning (William Woods University ) (Fall 0:40)
- Cons. Round 2 – Kamond Manning (William Woods University ) received a bye () (Bye)
- Cons. Round 3 – Ethan DeRoche (Providence (Mont.)) won by major decision over Kamond Manning (William Woods University ) (Maj 11-2)
Fresh/Soph 133 lbs.
Easton DeMilia’s place is unknown and has scored 5.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Cody Vandermark (Grand View (Iowa)) won by tech fall over Easton DeMilia (William Woods University ) (TF 25-10)
- Cons. Round 1 – Easton DeMilia (William Woods University ) received a bye () (Bye)
- Cons. Round 2 – Easton DeMilia (William Woods University ) won by medical forfeit over Case Cauthron (Northwestern (Iowa)) (MFF)
- Cons. Round 3 – Amare Chavez (Grand View (Iowa)) won by fall over Easton DeMilia (William Woods University ) (Fall 5:42)
Fresh/Soph 141 lbs.
Lane Kimbley’s place is unknown and has scored 4.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Lane Kimbley (William Woods University ) received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Lane Kimbley (William Woods University ) won by decision over Caleb Morales (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 11-10)
- Champ. Round 3 – Geno Cardenas (Mo Baptist , MO ) won by fall over Lane Kimbley (William Woods University ) (Fall 1:33)
- Cons. Round 4 – Justin Rodriguez (Pratt Community College) won by tech fall over Lane Kimbley (William Woods University ) (TF 16-0)
Fresh/Soph 149 lbs.
Hudson Karr’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Miguel Estrada (Iowa) won by tech fall over Hudson Karr (William Woods University ) (TF 21-6)
- Cons. Round 1 – Hudson Karr (William Woods University ) received a bye () (Bye)
- Cons. Round 2 – Brayden Eikermann (Mo Baptist , MO ) won by fall over Hudson Karr (William Woods University ) (Fall 1:23)
Fresh/Soph 157 lbs.
Whit Nichols’s place is unknown and has scored 6.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Whit Nichols (William Woods University ) received a bye () (Bye)
- Champ. Round 2 – Whit Nichols (William Woods University ) won by fall over Samuel Sampers (Jamestown (N.D.)) (Fall 1:11)
- Champ. Round 3 – Braedyn Rakes (Morningside (Iowa)) won by tech fall over Whit Nichols (William Woods University ) (TF 16-0)
- Cons. Round 4 – Jayden Morr (Southeast Community College) won by fall over Whit Nichols (William Woods University ) (Fall 1:48)
Fresh/Soph 165 lbs.
Josef Planansky’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Kaden King (Iowa Central Community College) won by fall over Josef Planansky (William Woods University ) (Fall 0:58)
- Cons. Round 1 – Gabe Lake (North Idaho, ID ) won by fall over Josef Planansky (William Woods University ) (Fall 1:12)
Fresh/Soph 174 lbs.
Elijah Brocksmith’s place is unknown and has scored 7.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Elijah Brocksmith (William Woods University ) won by fall over Zachary Wessley (Pratt Community College) (Fall 5:57)
- Champ. Round 2 – Elijah Brocksmith (William Woods University ) won by fall over Corbin Hood (Iowa Central Community College) (Fall 5:00)
- Champ. Round 3 – Elijah Brocksmith (William Woods University ) won by decision over Jackson Sapp (Missouri Valley) (Dec 11-4)
- Quarterfinal – Leister Bowling (Unattached) won by tech fall over Elijah Brocksmith (William Woods University ) (TF 22-6)
- Cons. Round 6 – Easton Boone (Cloud County Community College) won by decision over Elijah Brocksmith (William Woods University ) (Dec 4-2)
Fresh/Soph 197 lbs.
Dominic Mullin’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.
- Champ. Round 1 – Sam Andres (Nebraska-Kearney) won by fall over Dominic Mullin (William Woods University ) (Fall 1:13)
- Cons. Round 1 – Matthew Marcum (Labette Community College) won by fall over Dominic Mullin (William Woods University ) (Fall 1:05)
Next up:
The William Woods Owls won’t have much time off as they will be hosting an in-state NAIA rival Missouri Baptist University on Wednesday, November 20th. This will be the Owls first home dual of the season and will also be the WWU women’s team first home dual of the season. The dual will take place in Anderson Arena and for this young team, their first opportunity to wrestle in front of a home crowd. After that, the men’s team will travel back to Iowa for a dual at Graceland University on Tuesday, November 26th.
