DAVENPORT, Iowa - The Missouri Baptist University men's wrestling team kicked off their season with a dominant win over York (Neb.) 42- 3 in their first dual in the Tri-Match hosted by St. Ambrose (Iowa). Four wrestlers went undefeated on the day, to split the day with results.
The Spartans started off the dual with a forfeit victory at 125 by Kylan Bingham. Then three consecutive matches were tight: John Davis collected the win at 133, 12-10; Kory Kretzer claimed the 9-6 decision at 141; and redshirt-freshman Brayden Eikermann claimed the narrow 6-0 decision.
Brandon Bollinger claimed a forfeit at 157, before James Johnson made his debut for the Spartans and lost a tight match, which resulted in a 9-4 decision in favor of the Panthers, which led their sole team points.
The No. 14-ranked wrestler at 174, Joel Campbell, made an appearance against Caleb Davis and claimed a close 3-2 win.
Blake Johnson claimed the only bonus-point victory for the Spartans, which was a quick 36-second fall, before Marcel Gordon and Amad Soufi represented their respective weight classes unopposed to round out the 42-3 win over York.
The nightcap of the tri-match pitted two receiving-votes squads against each other in a close battle that went back and forth, but the Fighting Bees came away victorious.
St. Ambrose came out to defend their home turf with three victories, including two that were bonus-point victories at 125 and 133.
The only ranked match-up of the dual was at 141, featuring No. 11 Daryl Mills and No. 23 Giuseppe Guerra. Though the match primarily had Mills with the lead, Guerra found a take down in the third to squeak out the 5-4 decision. Fortunately, the Spartans did not let that shake them, as Brayden Eikermann claimed the 9-4 win at 149 and Brandon Bollinger claimed a 3-2 victory at 157.
The Bees claimed a major decision at 185 to put them ahead 17-6 in the team score. Joel Campbell picked up a major decision of his own, 11-3 over Broderick Schmidt. SAU took two more wins via decision at 184 and 197, before Amad Soufi captured the fall at 285 to finish the dual 23-16.
The Spartans look ahead to a tough opening season tournament at the Falcon Open on Saturday, November 1, 2025. Wrestling to start at 9 a.m.
