Burdick, Irwin, Jenkins, & Tenety Place Nationally and Named NAIA All-Americans

Burdick, Irwin, Jenkins, & Tenety Place Nationally and Named NAIA All-Americans
March 5, 2023

Wichita, Kan. - On March 3rd and 4th, nine wrestlers from RU Wrestling qualified and competed at the NAIA Nationals. The Eagles were able to finish in 11th position overall after starting the season ranked #13 in the NAIA. 

The nine wrestlers that represented RU Wrestling were:

125 wt class: Angel Banda, #9 seed

133 wt class: Jackson Bond, unranked

141 wt class: Dawson Bates, unranked

149 wt class: Cole Luallen, #12 seed

157 wt. class: Trevor Burdick, #9 seed

165 wt. class: Wyatt Higgins, #11 seed & Matt Jenkins, 12th seed

174 wt. class: Cole Tenety, #8 seed

184 wt. class: Sam Irwin, unranked

Out of these nine, four were able to make it through the gauntlet of wrestle-backs to place and take All-American status. The four that were able to place were the following:

• Trevor Burdick placed 8th at 157 and is now a 2-time All-American

 

• Sam Irwin placed 8th at 184 and received his 1st All-American 

 

• Matt Jenkins placed 5th at 165 and received his 1st All-American

 

• Cole Tenety placed 5th at 174 and is now a 3-time All-American

For a complete look at the brackets and to see each wrestler's journey process, please see the below link. Burdick, Jenkins, and Tenety all made it to the quarterfinal stages of their bracket before their first loss and had to go back through the wrestle-backs to place. Going through the wrestle-backs is tough and you have to really battle your way back just to place. The fact that these four wrestlers were able to do this is a huge accomplishment. Coach Jeff Bedard had this to say about his wrestlers and the program overall, "Even with minimal support or recognition,  our wrestlers still achieve great things. Very proud of our 4 All Americans and the program our staff has built "

NAIA Wrestling Championships 2023 Brackets

https://www.naia.org/sports/mwrest/2022-23/Files/FINAL_Championship_Brackets.pdf

Congratulations to our four 2023 NAIA All-Americans and Eagles Nation is proud of your success on and off the mat.