PARK CITY, Kan. – With a 5-4 decision in his fifth bout of day one, Steven Weathers locked in All-American honors during the 2022 NAIA National Championships over the weekend.
 
Senior Steven Weathers and freshman Dillon Witt both competed for the Spartans this weekend with All-American aspirations. Witt competed at 125-pounds and went 1-2 during day one of competition. He dropped his first match to Dennis Mcneal, before winning his second and dropping his third against Koby Milner ending his tournament. Mcneal went on to place seventh and Milner fourth. Witt did however pick up a win during his second match as he pinned Ottawa's 20^th ranked Eddie Daniel to avenge the early season loss.
 
Weathers dropped his first bout against eventual runner-up Ryan Moore (Thomas More (Ky.)) but refused to quit despite the early loss. The senior from Highland Park, Ill. earned an injury default during his second match. While leading 6-3 his opponent fell awkwardly on a legal mat return and was forced to forfeit out of the bout. During the next bout Weathers fell behind 8-1 during the first period of action. With his back against the wall, Weathers chased down three takedowns and four near fall points to take the lead and the match 14-11 against Ben Peters (Briar Cliff). Steven would use this momentum to propel himself the rest of day one as he took out sixth seeded Avry Mutschler (Reinhardt) 7-5 and 18^th ranked Nick Gates (Indiana Tech) 5-4. With his victory over Gates, Weathers locked in a top-8 finish and All-American honors with his fourth straight victory.
 
Weathers would drop both his matches on day two. The first to eventual fifth-place finisher Salvado Silva (Southeastern). Silva used a second period takedown to take the lead and was able to run for the entirety of the third period without conceding points to take the victory. In the seventh-place bout Keegan Luton (Oklahoma City) appeared to have more left in the tank after the grueling tournament and earned the decision victory.
 
Weathers capped of an impressive season as an All-American with an eighth-place finish as the Spartans finished in 32^nd out of the 62 teams represented.