MARSHALL, Mo. – Steven Weathers made a statement on his way to a fifth-place finish at a loaded Missouri Valley Invitational on Saturday.
 
MBU men's wrestling took a small squad to the always tough Missouri Valley Invite and Weathers shined. MoBap's lone senior now owns a 10-2 record on the season and despite being unranked coming into the weekend, will no longer be overlooked. The Highland Park, Ill. native battled his way into the semifinals with a 7-4 victory over Travis Thorpe (Southern Oregon) in the round of 32, an injury default victory over Levi Green (Baker) in the round of 16, and pulled off the big upset over #12 Nick Gates (Indiana Tech) with a last minute takedown to take the lead and match, 8-6.

Weathers battled right with eventual tournament champion #15 Brevin Balmeceda (Life University) in the semifinals, falling 10-7 dropping him into the consolation bracket. After getting caught by #4 John Diener (Morningside (Iowa.)) in the consolation-semis, Weathers capped off his breakout performance with a 3-1 victory over Nicholas Camacho (Menlo (Calif.)) in the fifth-place bout.

Coach Jackson stated after the tournament, "Steven made a name for himself this weekend, truly proving he is a wrestler with All-American potential."
 
Avante Williams was the only other Spartan to register a win this weekend as he knocked Graceland University's Ben Watson into the consolation bracket with a 7-3 decision before dropping his next two bouts.
 
Weathers will continue to lead the Spartans as they travel down the road to Fontbonne University for a dual on Wednesday, Jan. 26^th. Wrestling is set to begin at 7:00 PM.