OSKALOOSA, Iowa – Nik Turner of Oklahoma City University captured the NAIA Central National Qualifying Group wrestling tournament championship at 157 pounds Saturday at the Penn Gymnasium.
The Stars' Jeremy Garner at 141, Corey Johnson at 285 and Mark Meyer at 165 finished as runners-up within their brackets. OCU took third place in the team standings.
Kidd Gomez at 125 and Cameron Ream at 133 of OCU finished third in the tournament. Will Shelton became an NAIA Championships qualifier through his performance in the 149-pound bracket. Shelton finished fourth Saturday.
Shelton brought the Stars' number of national qualifiers to nine. Garner, Gomez, Johnson, Meyer, Ream, Turner, Bryce Dicus and Andrew Pontikes had already qualified for the NAIA Championships on March 4-6 at Abe Lemons Arena.
“We wanted to make sure we got better each weekend,” OCU coach Archie Randall said. “We wrestled lights out. That's what you want to do leading up to the national tournament.
“We wrestled pretty well. We upset people all the way through. It's important that they wrestle well at this time. What's most important is what they do in two weeks.”
Randall expects to field three additional national qualifiers via host team berths.
“All 12 of them will go to the national tournament,” Randall said. “Nine of them should be in good position when the brackets come out.”
Turner, a junior from Norman, Okla., won 7-4 over Trae Reed of Grand View (Iowa) for the 157-pound title. Turner also had a pin over Issiah Sullivan of Grand View in 6:42 in the semifinals.
Turner, ranked fifth among NAIA 157-pounders, will be expected to be one of four No. 1 seeds at his weight in the NAIA Championships.
“He had a great tournament,” Randall said of Turner.
Garner, a junior from Oklahoma City, fell 3-0 to Eric Graham of Missouri Valley in the 141-pound final. Garner is ranked ninth at his weight nationally.
“He had an excellent semifinals match,” Randall said of Garner. “He had the No. 1 seed in this tournament. He wrestled a great match in the final.”
Johnson, a senior from Oologah, Okla., dropped a 5-3 decision to Travis Ewart of Missouri Valley in the 285-pound championship match. Johnson picked up a pin over Ryan Groom of William Penn (Iowa) in 4:29 in the first round.
Ewart took a 4-2 lead over Johnson and held on the rest of the match.
“He has always had trouble with the kid from Missouri Valley,” Randall said of Johnson. “Once he got down 4-2, he chased him the rest of the match. You can't be down two points like that in a heavyweight match. Corey will be in a good slot anyway.”
Meyer, a sophomore from Midwest City, Okla., stuck two falls before falling victim to a pin in the final. Grand View's Brad Lower won the 165-pound title.
Meyer beat D.W. Bradshaw of Missouri Valley in 8:26 during the sudden-victory period in the semifinals. Meyer finished off Jakob Price of Baker (Kan.) in 5:46.
“He had an exceptional match in the semifinals,” Randall said of Meyer.
For ticket information for the NAIA wrestling championships, call Liz Richards at (405) 208-5309 or see the form here.
Results
