OKLAHOMA CITY – A year's experience could make a difference for Oklahoma City University's wrestlers entering the 53rd Annual NAIA Wrestling Championships.
The Stars stand 13th in the NAIA wrestling rankings entering the national tournament starting Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU will field returning all-Americans in 285-pounder Corey Johnson and 157-pound Nik Turner.
Seven of OCU's 12 national qualifiers wrestled in last year's national tournament at Abe Lemons Arena, where the Stars finished 15th.
“They are sophomores and juniors this year,” OCU coach Archie Randall said. “They're more confident. I think maturity makes a difference for a lot of the kids.”
Johnson and Ronnie Hood are the only seniors on OCU's squad, meaning this tournament will also provide the Stars experience that should reap benefits next season.
“This is the hardest working group of athletes I've ever coached,” Randall said. “They're really inconsistent. We can beat the No. 1 kid in the nation one week, then lose to an unranked individual the next week. They're young.
“We must work on the mental aspect of the sport. We've changed practice a bunch, and it seems to be working. We have more excitement in the room than last year.”
Johnson, Turner, Cameron Ream (133), Jeremy Garner (141) and Mark Meyer (165) comprise OCU's ranked individuals. Those five and Kidd Gomez at 125 and Will Shelton-Delk at 149 were seeded among the top 12 at their respective weights.
Turner, a junior from Norman, Okla., earned one of four No. 1 seeds at 157 by capturing the NAIA Central Qualifying Group championship. Turner, 31-15, picked up a fall in the semifinals.
Turner is one of five returning all-Americans at 157. Three of them are on the other side of the bracket from Turner. Among those three is Southern Oregon's Tommy Hooper, who beat Turner in the fifth-place match last year.
“Winning the regional always puts you in good position,” Randall said. “In the semifinals, he could get Tommy Hooper. Nik is a lot different wrestler this year. His work ethic, attitude and mindset are different. He had a 3.75 GPA last semester. He has it all together now. He's only a junior, and that's exciting. Finishing as an all-American made a lot of difference in Nik's career.”
Turner said of last year's sixth-place finish, “It felt good having a payoff at the end from all the hard work you've done during the season.
“It's really important to do well in the regional and set yourself up for nationals. You don't want to face a tough guy at the first and catch yourself off guard. I really opened it up and wrestled like I should, like our coaches tell us to every week.”
Johnson, a senior from Oologah, Okla., will be one of five returning 285-pound all-Americans. Johnson picked up a second seed with his runner-up finish in the regional. Johnson, who finished sixth last year, will attempt to repeat his national-tournament performance of a year ago.
Last year, Johnson pinned the defending national champion on the first day. Johnson will face 2009 champion Arjan Bhullar of Simon Fraser (British Columbia) on Thursday.
“Corey Johnson has a difficult draw, but he is positive,” Randall said. “He is a returning all-American and confident. He has wrestled well the last part of the season. He has wrestled better than we've ever seen him. He attacks more. He is set on winning the national title. Bhullar beat us last year, but Corey is a different wrestler. He never stops working.”
Johnson, the first recruit Randall signed at OCU, will be finishing a four-year career with the Stars. Johnson has gone 28-17 this season and 90-72 in his career.
“It's kinda sad to know that I won't be wrestling after this weekend, so I know I've got to give this tournament everything I've got and hold nothing back,” Johnson said. “Last year I had so looked forward to being an All-American, that was my goal, but when I finally achieved it, I was dissatisfied. It left a bad taste in my mouth because I knew I could do better. This year I've been training hard and am going into the tournament with a mindset to win it.”
Garner, a junior from Oklahoma City, picked up one of the four No. 2 seeds at 141 with his finalist finish Feb. 20 in the regional. Defending national champion Adam Koballa of Notre Dame (Ohio) looms in Garner's bracket.
“Jeremy Garner has almost the same draw he had last year,” Randall said. “He is seeded second in his section, and he could see the defending champion in the second round.”
Meyer, a sophomore from Midwest City, Okla., finished as a regional runner-up to get a No. 2 seed at 165. Randall said Meyer's bracket favors him, but he could run into second-ranked Chris Chionuma of Lindenwood (Mo.).
“Their styles don't match up,” Randall said. “Meyer beat him in high school, but hasn't beaten him in college. We are studying his matches to see if we can correct the errors we've made.”
Gomez and Ream garnered No. 3 seeds, and Shelton-Delk became a fourth seed. They may be seeded outside of the top eight at their weights, but with more than 300 wrestlers in the tournament, upsets will happen.
“You don't know what's going to happen,” Randall said. “The competition level has grown. It's a dogfight to get to the top eight. Any one of those eight could be the champion on a given day. With six all-Americans, you can be in the hunt. The top two kids could wrestle at any level.”
Tournament schedule, ticket information
The tournament will start with opening ceremonies at 1 p.m. on Thursday. There will be two sessions on Friday, the championship quarterfinals at 10 a.m. and the semifinals at 6 p.m.
Then on Saturday, placing matches will be 10 a.m., and the championship finals 6:30 p.m.
Session tickets and ticket packages for all sessions are available. Session tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for children and students, and a tournament ticket package is $48.
For information, call Liz Richards at (405) 208-5309.
Notre Dame favored to win team title
Notre Dame College enters the NAIA Championships as the top-ranked team. Notre Dame, located in South Euclid, Ohio, boasts of Derek Foore, ranked No. 1 at 197 pounds, and defending 141-pound national champion Adam Koballa among its 14 qualifiers.
Notre Dame's Tyler Savage and Dante Rini are rated second and third, respectively, at 125 pounds.
“They're projected to win the tournament, and rightly so,” Randall said. “Notre Dame is the most solid team in the tournament up and down each wrestling class. They have ranked individuals at every weight. Even their two backups are nationally ranked.”
Championship finals to be broadcast
The championship finals will be broadcast live from Abe Lemons Arena at 6:30 p.m. Saturday via NeuLion.
The 10 individual championship bouts will be available for viewing at a cost of $7.95. To purchase a viewing package, go here. Your computer must have the latest version of Windows Media Player, which you can download for free here.
"Once again, the NAIA is proud to work with its digital media partner NeuLion to stream men's and women's basketball championships and, for the second year, to broadcast our wrestling championships event live over the Internet. This is an exciting opportunity for NAIA fans across the country," said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr. "This service allows the NAIA to broaden its fan base and bring new attention to the competition and quality of play going on in the NAIA."
Mark Van Paaschen and former NAIA all-American John Wilcox will call the action.
"We are pleased to provide the NAIA with streaming services for their men's and women's basketball championships for a fourth consecutive year and are excited about adding the wrestling championships to the NAIA's streaming schedule," said Chris Wagner, Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of NeuLion. "We pride ourselves in being able to connect fans to these high profile tournaments and deliver a best-in-class service."
Eddie Griffin to speak at awards banquet
Eddie Griffin, executive director and chief operating officer of the Jim Thorpe Association will be the keynote speaker for the NAIA Wrestling National Championships Awards Banquet on Saturday at Oklahoma City University prior to the championship finals.
Griffin was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and was given the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award Class of 2001. He coached Central Oklahoma, then known as Central State (Okla.), to NAIA national championships in 1979, '81 and '82.
For information on the tournament or banquet, contact the OCU athletic department (405) 208-5309 or www.ocusports.com. For additional information on the Jim Thorpe Association call (405) 427-1400 or www.jimthorpeassoc.org.
