OKLAHOMA CITY  – Oklahoma City, ranked fourth in the NAIA, begins its quest to win a national championship in men's wrestling Thursday morning.
 
The event is hosted at the Heartland Credit Union Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
 
OCU Notebook:
Conference Champions: Oklahoma City dominated the field at the Sonner Athletic Conference-AMC Championships last month, taking nine of 10 weight class championships and finishing second in three weight classes. OCU ran away with the team title with 192.5 points. Last year's champion, Wayland Baptist, was second at 147.5. Cash Donnell, ranked 13^th, won the 125-weight class title, defeating 10^th-ranked Jesse Lewis of Wayland Baptist in a sudden-victory decision, 7-4. Cole Olguin beat No. 20 Dayne Stormer of WBU by major decision to claim the 184-pound crown. Kaden Fetterolf scored a 1-0 decision in a top-10 matchup for the 149-pound class, edging No. seven Haden Two Lance of WBU. The Stars went head-to-head in two championship bouts. Top-ranked John Wiley beat his No. 9 teammate Jake Moon by technical fall, 18-2, and No. 21 Hayden Brown narrowly defeated OCU's eighth-ranked Jordan Lomeli 6-5, for the 165-pound title. Vincent Citrano decisioned Johnathon Ortegon of Wayland Baptist, 7-1 for the 133-pound championship. Jace Province claimed the 141-pound class with a 12-5 decision over Timothy Murabito of TWU. Tate Picklo was dominant all day, proving his top-ranking with a technical fall in the finals, 16-1, over Robert Rocha of TWU. Omari Smith had no trouble with Jaykob Mills in the 197-pound final, getting an 18-3 technical fall. Rafael Lovato was runner-up, falling 8-4 to No. 14 Emmett Bivens of WBU at the heavyweight level – OCU's lone loss to an opponent not wearing a Stars singlet. Lovato was 2-1 on the day.
 
Award Sweep: Oklahoma City swept the major awards and had all 12 wrestlers earn All-Conference in men's wrestling. Oklahoma City was paced by the conference Wrestler of the Year, John Wiley, as he won the 157 lb. weight class, while teammate Kaden Fetterolf earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the meet by winning the 149 lb. weight class. Tate Picklo was named the conference Newcomer of the Year after he won the 174 lb. weight class, while teammate Cash Donnell grabbed the Freshman of the Year award following his victory in the 125 lb. weight class. Oklahoma City Head Coach Justin Ensign was named the league's Coach of the Year after leading the Stars to the tournament title. Those four wrestlers, along with Jake Moon, Cole Olguin, Hayden Brown, Jordan Lomeli, Jace Province, Omari Smith, Rafael Lovato and Vincent Citrano earned All-Conference.
 
Brackets: Three Stars enter as the top seeds. Kaden Fetterolf took the top spot at 149 pounds, John Wiley is seeded first at 157 and Tate Picklo owns the top seed at 174. Cash Donnell is the 11^th seed at 125 and opens with Kane Bryson of Montreat. A win would pit Donnell against Isaac Gibbs of Doane or No. 6 Isaac Hampton of Southern Oregon. Vincent Citrano enters as the fourth seed at 133 and he'll square off in the first round against Kai Carson of Eastern Oregon. A winner's bracket match for Citrano would mean facing No. 13 Alex Tabor of Lindsey Wilson or Kipp Cordes of Dakota Wesleyan. Jace Province has the task of squaring off against top-seeded Adrian Ayala in the first round at 141. If he gets that win, Province would meet No. 16 Michael Trujillo of Arizona Christian or Conner Kimbrough of Indiana Tech. Fetterolf's initial opponent at 149 is Brayden Elkermann of Missouri Baptist. A win would have Fetterolf facing No. 16 JR Downing of Corban or Joshua Zeman of St. Ambrose. Wiley meets Willard Sprenger of Bismarck State in the first round with No. 16 Vinnie Abbey of Indiana Tech or Elijah Griffin of Cumberland waiting in the second round. Joining Wiley at 157 is ninth-seeded teammate Jake Moon, who faces Cole Zoller of Southern Oregon. Moon could face No. 8 Hunter Hobbs of Providence or Jordan Tobias of Hastings in the second round. Wiley and Moon could meet in the third round. Jordan Lomeli is seeded 13^th at 165 and meets Graham Kilpper of St. Mary in the first round. Fourth-ranked Jasitin Kubwimana of Campbellsville and Cole Price of Concordia meet and could face Lomeli in the second round. OCU's Hayden Brown also is in the weight class and opens with third-ranked Zander Ernst of Morningside. Brown, with a win, would face No. 14 Jalen Vladic of Providence or Hayden Santora of Reinhardt in the second round. A Lomeli vs. Brown battle could be a winner-take-all bout in the finals. Picklo begins with Jackson Potts of Southern Oregon and could face No. 16 Konlin Weaver of Life or Michael Durham of Indiana Tech in the second round. Cole Olguin at 184 pounds begins with No. 3 Tre Morrisette of Life. A win would pit Olguin against No. 14 Jason Bowers of Friends or Kolton Kammeyer of Doane. Omari Smith gets No. 13 Tyler Rowland of Cumberland in the first round and would face No. 4 Asher Ruchti of Southern Oregon or Donivon Giangregorio of Dickinson State in the second round with an opening win.
 
Event Schedule
March 5 | Wichita, Kan.
10 a.m.: Doors and Box Office Open
11 a.m.: Session I - 1st Round, 1st Round (Consolation)
5 p.m.: Doors and Box Office Open
6 p.m.: Session II - 2nd Round (Championship), 2nd Round (Consolation)
 
March 6 | Wichita, Kan.
10 a.m.: Doors and Box Office Open
11 a.m.: Session III - 3rd Round (Championship Quarterfinals), 3rd Round (Consolation)
5 p.m.: Doors and Box Office Open
5:15 p.m.: Parade of Scholar-Athletes
6 p.m.: Session IV - 4th Round (Championship Semifinals), 4th Round (Consolation All-America Round), 5th Round (Consolation Quarterfinals)
 
March 7 | Wichita, Kan.
10 a.m.: Doors and Box Office Open
11 a.m.: Session V -  6th Round (Consolation Semifinals), Consolation Placements (3rd, 5th and 7th place)
6 p.m.: Doors and Box Office Open
6:30 p.m : Parade of All-Americans
7 p.m.: Session VI - Championship Finals