OKLAHOMA CITY- For the third year in a row, Missouri Baptist men's wrestling has claimed the American Midwest Conference title, and for the first time since 2017, the Spartans are sending five wrestlers to the national tournament.
The Spartans outscored any other AMC opponent by over 60 team points and placed third in the AMC/SAC qualifying tournament.
The Spartans claimed an individual conference champion at 157 pounds as ET Rodgers Jr. rattled off two technical falls en route to the championship match. He dominated his opponent from the host school, Oklahoma City University, 14-7. Rodgers jr. outscored his opponents 47-10 on the day.
Daryl Mills and Tyler Deen appeared in the finals, which solidified their spots in the national tournament at 133 and 141, respectively. Mills picked up a fall and had a close decision with his ranked teammate in the semifinal bout. Deen also won in a revenge match over Wayland Baptist (Texas) to put him in the finals.
Dillon Witt was a backside warrior who picked up two falls to claim the third automatic qualifying allocation at 133.
Joel Campbell was the fifth qualifier for the Spartans at 174. Campbell won via fall and major decision to make it to the third-place bout, and after a tough 9-7 loss, Campbell had to wrestle in a "True 4th" match to determine the wrestler who would take the last automatic qualifying bid at 174. Campbell entered that match in utter dominance and won via fall in the first over the No. 24 ranked wrestler.
Other highlight performances for the Spartans came from Braeden Stotts, who placed third after going 2-1 on the day with two falls, and Amad Soufi, who also went 2-1 on the day with two falls to claim third at 285. Noah Richardson placed fourth at 157 with a technical fall and a major, and Nicholas Keim finished fourth at 184 and went 2-2 with two falls.
All-Conference Selection and Awards
The Spartans were nicely represented in the conference yearly awards, as Daryl Mills was named AMC wrestler of the year, Tyler Deen was named AMC newcomer of the year, and Coach Caleb McElfresh was named AMC coach of the year for the third time in his coaching career.
Here is a list of the ten Spartans named to the All-Conference Team:
133: Daryl Mills and Dillon Witt
141: Tyler Deen
149: Brandon Bollinger
157: ET Rodgers Jr. and Noah Richardson
174: Joel Campbell
184: Nicholas Keim
197: Braeden Stotts
285: Amad Soufi
Champions of Character: Avelino Mota
Some Spartans' hopes of qualifying for the national tournament are not over. With three allocations left at each weight class, the 16-member voting committee will choose the final 30 wrestlers to compete at the tournament. Those at-large bids will be announced on Tuesday, February 25, at 5 p.m. (CST).
The preliminary brackets will be released on Friday, February 28, at 5 p.m. (CST).
The Spartans will travel to Park City, Kan. t, on Thursday, March 6, 2025, to compete for a national title at the NAIA National Championships on March 6-8, 2025.
For information about the national tournament, please click here.
