PARK CITY, Kan. – Oklahoma City University's Keegan Luton and Cade Manion will strive to earn additional all-American acclaim in the NAIA men's wrestling championships this weekend at Hartman Arena.
Wrestling will commence 10 a.m. Friday with championship quarterfinals and the fourth round of consolation action to be complete by the end of the day. The second day will start 10 a.m. with the championship finals set for 7 p.m. Saturday.
Five Stars made the NAIA Championships field with Drake Vannoy securing a national-tournament berth for the third year in a row. Luton and Manion compete on the national stage for the second time. OCU's Hayden Brown and Kolbe Madron will make their national-tournament debut.
Luton, Madron, Manion and Vannoy stamped their tickets to the NAIA Championships by taking individual titles in the American Midwest Conference-Sooner Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 18 in Fort Worth, Texas. Brown became runner-up as the Stars took the team championship. Justin Ensign of the Stars scooped up SAC coach of the year for the second year in a row.
"These five athletes have been strong for us all season, and I am excited to see what they are capable of at the national meet," Ensign said.
Luton snared SAC wrestler of the year. Luton, a sophomore psychology major from Mustang, Okla., won 12-8 against Texas Wesleyan's Austin Loza, a 2020 all-American, for his second 149-pound conference title. Luton (20-2) gained the No. 5 seed and a first-round bye at his weight. Luton owns a 49-8 career mark with a seventh-place finish in the 2022 NAIA Championships.
Manion pinned Aiden Medina from Wayland Baptist (Texas) to take his second 141-pound SAC crown and improve to 22-2 this season. Manion, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla., studying criminal justice, landed the seventh seed in the bracket. Manion (36-8 in his career) grabbed fourth place at 141 nationally a year ago.
Vannoy clinched the 157-pound league title with a fall in 2:39 against Jerome Cannon of Central Christian (Kan.). Vannoy, a junior from Jenks, Okla., pursuing a nursing degree, moved to 21-6 on the season.
Brown hauled in conference freshman of the year. Brown, a freshman from Tuttle, Okla., majoring in business administration, has a 25-8 mark in 2022-23.
Madron reeled in outstanding wrestler of the SAC Championships. Madron, a sophomore marketing major from Sulphur, Okla., rolled to three wins by a combined score of 21-1 in the tournament.
