ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist had two men's wrestlers finish Saturday's NAIA East Regional Qualifier with a championship, leading the team to a third-place tie.
Gabe Roman and Luis Contreras ran through their respective weight classes and took home titles for MBU. Roman was the top-ranked wrestler in the 125lb weight class and recorded pins in his first two matches before entering the semifinals. In that match, he faced Robert Boston of Campbellsville, whom he beat by technical fall, 15-0 to advance to the finals.
On the other end of the 125lb bracket, Detorious Prayther was the No. 2-ranked wrestler and made it all the way to the semifinals where he was bested by Ethan Miller, the No. 12-ranked 125lb wrestler in the nation in a 10-4 decision.
Prayther finished fourth overall and Miller's win set-up a final matchup against Roman. The MBU wrestler took command of the match from the outset and completed his championship with a 9-1 major decision over Miller.
At 133lbs, Chris Padilla made quick work of his first two opponents. In his first round against Saint Ambrose's Patrick Wells, Padilla won by a 14-4 major decision. After a 20-4 win by technical fall in the quarters, the senior dropped a narrow 4-0 decision to Jacob McCombs of Lindsey Wilson. McCombs is the No. 8-ranked wrestler in the NAIA at 133 and lost in the finals to No. 10 Travis Barroquillo of Indiana Tech. Padilla won his next match by a 2-1 decision before losing in the third place match to No. 7 Tyler Alsip of Campbellsville.
A.J. Carter-Johnson rebounded from a loss at home against McKendree to take home third place over the weekend. The talented sophomore won a nail-biter against Michael Johnson of Campbellsville in a 5-4 decision. Carter-Johnson went on pin Sean Bateman of University of the Cumberlands to advance to the semifinals.
The No. 6-ranked Tanner Martin met Carter-Johnson in the semis and beat the No. 14-ranked MBU wrestler. Carter-Johnson finished his day with two consecutive wins to take home third.
Perhaps the most surprising result of the day was in the 184lb weight class. Weston Keleher advanced to the quarterfinals after a first-round bye. He advanced to the semifinals with a big victory over the No. 11-ranked wrestler from Cumberland University, Cody Linton, but that was his last of the day.
Keleher was upset in the semifinals by the No. 14-ranked Trey Hicks of Life University and moved to the wrestleback. The junior came up just short in his only match on the back-end and lost a 5-4 decision to No. 3-ranked Josh Ashbrook of Campbellsville. After the tournament had concluded, it was announced that Keleher would receive a wild card bid to the National Championship Tournament.
In the heavyweight class, MBU's Luis Contreras won his opening-round match to advance to the quarterfinals to face his Missouri Baptist counterpart, Julius Anglikas. Contreras controlled the match from start to finish and beat Anglikas by an 11-3 major decision.
Anglikas went on to take fourth place while Contreras upset Theodore Furnish of Lindsey Wilson to head to the finals. Contreras, a junior from Madera, Calif., bested Joe Gallegos of Cumberland University to take the crown.
Gabe Roman, Detorious Prayther, Chris Padilla, A.J. Carter-Johnson, Luis Contreras, Julius Anglikas and Weston Keleher will all represent MBU in two weeks at the NAIA National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
