Eagles Have Great First Day at National Duals

January 6, 2022

David Finney

Louisville, KY - When one thinks of competitive wrestling, they might think of the sport solely as an individual sport and the team concept does not come into play, however, it is very much a team sport. The NWCA National Duals is a tournament that strictly focuses on the team aspect of collegiate wrestling. The National Duals puts teams into a tournament bracket setting and the only way teams advance is for them to outscore their opponent. Points are gained from each individual weight class win during the face-to-face dual to create a total for the team. Highest team points advance to the next round.

The #5 Nationally Ranked Reinhardt Eagles Wrestlers are coming off huge dual meet victories in December where they confidently beat a highly ranked Cumberlands (KY) team and also beat the #2 ranked Life University - who are the defending NAIA National Champions. Coach Bedard and his staff have the Eagles fiercely competing and they were ready for the NWCA National Duals which has all the top teams from the NAIA.

Reinhardt had two matches on Thursday against two nationally ranked teams - #13 ranked Ottawa University from Ottawa, KS, and the #3 ranked Warriors of Indiana Tech (Fort Wayne, IN). In the first match, the Eagles would win eight of the ten total individual matches giving them a commanding 36 to 6 team victory and moving them into the second round. Although all wrestlers did great, the highlights would be three pins by Ivan Arguello (133), Trevor Burdick (157), and Cole Tenety (174) - each pin earning 6 points to the total.

In the second round, Reinhardt would face a tough Indiana Tech team who beat Thomas More to advance. The Eagles would not slow down at all in this faceoff winning six of the nine individual matches and giving them a 22 to 10 victory. Both teams took a forfeit at the heavyweight class. The highlights of this dual were Koby Milner (125) with a technical fall, Matt Jenkins (165) with a major decision, and Cole Tenety (174) with another major decision. The win advances Coach Bedard's men to the semi-finals where they will face #1 nationally ranked Grand View of Iowa. Grand View is always a favorite to win the NAIA National Championship, however, the Eagles have a deep, solid team and can compete with anyone. The match will no doubt be the highlight of the day on Friday. The match is set to start at 11 am and the winner moves into the Championship Final! Make sure to keep up with the matches on the NWCA National Duals website. (click on "Bracket" then select NAIA in the drop-down bracket menu)

Here are the results from Thursday's victories: