ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist men's wrestling went 1-2 against some of the best competition in the NAIA over the weekend and posted one big upset victory at the National Wrestling Coaches' Association Duals.
Missouri Baptist began the tournament matched-up against the No. 2-ranked Southern Oregon and managed two victories. At 141lbs, Esmond Ford (Ranked 14th) beat Justin Eldred and the No. 8-ranked Weston Keleher bested No. 12 Jacob Abrahms. Southern Oregon went on to a commanding 42-6 win and finished in second overall in the tournament.
With the loss, the Spartans moved to the fifth place bracket and needed to beat the seventh-ranked Morningside College. MBU began the dual with two big wins at 125 and 133lbs. At 125, MBU's Gabe Roman (Ranked 6th) defeated the No. 2-ranked Kory Kistner by technical fall, 17-2 to give his team a 5-0 lead. MBU's Chris Padilla (Ranked 9th) added five more points to the lead with an 18-3 win by technical fall.
A pin by Alejandro Wajner and a 10-2 win by major decision by Espen Conley put the Spartans in the driver's seat with a comfortable 20-4 lead. Keleher added another victory at 184 to secure the upset win, 26-20.
MBU advanced to face the No. 9-ranked Dickinson State. Though the Spartans posted four wins, they came up short with a 12-28 loss. Of the four wins in the dual, the best was at 184lbs. Weston Keleher, ranked eighth in the NAIA, notched his third consecutive win of the weekend. Keleher bested No. 4-ranked Jesse Hellinger by decision 4-1. In fact, all of the wins in the dual recorded by Missouri Baptist were by decision.
Next up for MBU will be its biggest home dual of the season pitting the No. 13-ranked Spartans against the No. 6-ranked Oklahoma City University Stars on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 7:00 p.m. in the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex.
