WICHITA, Kan.--After the first day of the NAIA National Championship, Sammy Shires and Victor Guzman advance in the Championship Bracket while Jared Dinh is still alive battling for his second-straight All-American honors.
Session I
Cumberland opened competition at the NAIA National Championships with a strong showing in Session I, sending four Phoenix wrestlers into tonight's championship second round during the opening session at Hartman Arena.
At 125 pounds, Chase Walker earned a hard-fought 9-4 decision over No. 16 Boden Banta of Providence to punch his ticket to the second round. After a scoreless opening period, Walker broke through in the second with an escape and a takedown to seize control. He added another takedown and a two-count near fall in the final frame to secure the win. Walker will now face No. 1 Ray Ray Harris of Doane in Session II.
At 141, Cumberland advanced two wrestlers. Third-seeded Sammy Shires picked up a 15-10 decision over Jace Province of Oklahoma City. Shires came out aggressive, recording three takedowns in the first period and adding another in the second to build a cushion. Province rallied with a pair of third-period takedowns, but Shires held off the late push to advance. He will meet No. 14 Horacio Godinez of Evergreen in the second round.
Sixth-seeded Jared Dinh followed with a 13-8 victory over Cole McKinley of Lourdes. In a tight bout that stood at 6-5 entering the third period, Dinh separated himself late with two takedowns to secure the decision. He advances to face No. 11 Yoshiya Funakoshi of Embry-Riddle in Session II.
At 149 pounds, fifth-seeded Victor Guzman delivered the most dominant performance of the session for the Phoenix, pinning Cal Price of Concordia in just 1:36. Guzman wasted no time, scoring an early takedown before locking up the fall to move into the championship second round. He will take on No. 12 Caden Eggleston of Morningside tonight.
At 157, Elijah Griffin and Antonio Parker both dropped into the consolation bracket after first-round setbacks. Griffin was defeated by No. 16 Vinnie Abbey of Indiana Tech by technical fall before falling 17-4 by major decision to Willard Spencer of Bismarck State to conclude his tournament. Parker was pinned by No. 6 Ben Miller of Doane in the opening round and later dropped an 11-6 decision to Brandon Bollinger of Missouri Baptist, ending his run.
Ethan Gomez rebounded at 165 pounds after falling 12-2 by major decision to No. 15 Brayden Shelton of Missouri Baptist in his opener. Gomez responded with authority in the consolation bracket, earning an 18-8 major decision over Braden Getz of Marian after scoring three takedowns in the opening period to build an early lead. He advances to the consolation second round to face Nathan Napolitano of Truett-McConnell.
At 174, Anthony Pyron bounced back in dramatic fashion. After dropping an 8-2 decision to No. 15 Nate Bukovich of Reinhardt in the championship bracket, Pyron earned a 5-1 tiebreaker victory over Landon Buchanan of Indiana Tech. Both wrestlers secured escapes in the second and third periods before Pyron delivered an escape and takedown in overtime to extend his tournament. He will face Konlin Weaver of Life in the consolation second round.
The Phoenix saw their runs conclude at 184 and 197. 12th-seeded Rocco Horvath fell 7-2 to Doug Dittmer of Georgetown and was later pinned by Noah Hollendonner of Marian in the consolation bracket. Logan Heckert was defeated by No. 15 Nate McDonald of Midland by technical fall before dropping a hard-fought 13-10 decision to Noah Poe-Hatten of Providence. Heckert opened that bout with a takedown and four-count near fall, but Poe-Hatten used three takedowns and a reversal to rally.
At 197, 13th-seeded Tyler Rowland was defeated 9-2 by Omari Smith of Oklahoma City and later fell 15-2 by major decision to Donivan Giangregorio of Dickinson State to close out his tournament.
Session II
Cumberland continued competition at the NAIA National Championships during Session II on Thursday evening, advancing two wrestlers to the championship quarterfinals while keeping one alive in the consolation bracket heading into Friday's Session III.
At 141 pounds, third-seeded Sammy Shires punched his ticket to the championship quarterfinals with a gritty 8-7 decision over No. 14 Horacio Godinez of Evergreen. Shires came out fast with two first-period takedowns to build an early cushion. Godinez earned an escape in the second for his only point of the period before Shires quickly escaped to start the third. Godinez closed the gap with a late takedown, and a stalling point was assessed against Shires in the final moments, but the Phoenix standout held on to secure the one-point victory. He advances to face No. 11 Yoshiya Funakoshi of Embry-Riddle in the quarterfinals.
At 149 pounds, fifth-seeded Victor Guzman delivered another dominant performance, earning a 20-3 technical fall over No. 12 Caden Eggleston of Morningside. Guzman totaled five takedowns and added a four-count near fall before closing out the bout at the 6:02 mark. He moves into the championship quarterfinals where he will face fourth-seeded Elvis Solis of Life.
Jared Dinh experienced both sides of the bracket at 141. The sixth seed was pinned by No. 11 Yoshiya Funakoshi of Embry-Riddle in the championship second round after trailing 7-0. Dinh responded in the consolation bracket with a dramatic 10-7 sudden victory win over Channing Porter of Arizona Christian. Trailing entering the third, Dinh rallied with a reversal and takedown while accumulating riding time to force overtime, where he secured the winning takedown. He advances to the consolation third round and will face No. 14 Horacio Godinez in Session III.
At 125, Chase Walker fell to the consolation bracket after dropping a 9-1 major decision to top-seeded Ray Ray Harris of Doane in the championship second round. Harris scored two early takedowns in the first period, added a reversal in the second, and secured riding time to seal the victory. In the consolation second round, Walker battled No. 15 Patrick Jones of Keiser but was eliminated in a 4-2 decision. Two stalling penalties forced Walker to surrender points, and Jones added a second-period reversal to hold on for the win.
Cumberland saw its tournament conclude for two more wrestlers in the consolation bracket. At 165, Ethan Gomez fell 9-2 to Nathan Napolitano of Truett-McConnell, who used two takedowns and riding time to control the match. At 174, Anthony Pyron was edged 4-2 by No. 16 Konlin Weaver of Life. Weaver secured a first-period takedown, while Pyron managed two escapes but was unable to generate additional offense.
At the conclusion of day one, the Phoenix sit in 22nd place with 12 points. Grand View and Life have created separation from the field at the top of the leaderboard. Grand View is in first place with 52 points and Life is second place at 46.5 points, however, Life has two more wrestlers left in the championship bracket than the Vikings at 10. Oklahoma City is in third place at 29 points followed by Southeastern in fourth at 28.5 and Southern Oregon in fifth at 27.
Session III resumes Friday with Shires and Guzman competing in the championship quarterfinals and Dinh continuing his run in the consolation bracket as Cumberland looks to push deeper into the national tournament.
