One of the season's most exciting events goes down Friday and Saturday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. The NWCA National Duals will be full of entertaining duals and must-watch individual matches. The past four editions of the National Duals have concluded with Grand View versus Life in the NAIA final. Those two are the favorites again this year, but there are few locks in this year’s bracket. Menlo is back in the bracket, checking in as the fifth seed. Central Methodist has earned its first bid to the National Duals after a stellar national tournament last spring. Here are five things to keep your eyes on in the men’s division.

First-Round Fire

These are the first-round matchups: 

#1 Grand View vs. William Penn

#8 Providence vs. Ottawa

#5 Menlo vs. Oklahoma City

#4 Campbellsville vs. Central Methodist

#3 Southeastern vs. Marian

#6 Doane vs. Southern Oregon

#7 Indiana Tech vs. Cumberlands

#2 Life vs. Graceland

Here’s one individual match to watch for in the opening round from each dual

165 — Cameron Hargrove (William Penn) vs. #11 Justin McCunn (Grand View)

197 — #6 Tucker Tomlinson (Ottawa) vs. #5 Sawyer Hobbs (Providence)

157 — #9 Keegan Luton (Oklahoma City) vs. #6 Kana’i Tapia (Menlo)

125 — #11 Izaeah Beavers (Campbellsville) vs. #6 Colton King (Central Methodist)

133 — Anthony Hughes (Marian) vs. #5 Andrew Voiles (Southeastern)

157 — Dylan Straley (Southern Oregon) vs. Ben Miller/Ben Dobler (Doane)

165 — #7 Turner Black (Cumberlands) vs. #8 Jonathan Kervin (Indiana Tech)

141 — #11 Jackson Wenberg (Graceland) vs. #5 Tyree Johnson/ #8 Bret Minor (Life)

As far as first-round duals go, keep your eyes on Indiana Tech and Cumberlands. Cumberlands has a big win this season over Reinhardt, a team that beat third-seeded Southeastern. These teams faced a few weeks ago with Indiana Tech winning 19-15. If one match goes differently here, we could see an early upset.

Top-Ranked Individuals In Action

Eight of NAIA’s 10 top-ranked individuals could be on display this weekend in Cedar Falls. 

Grand View has five of the #1-ranked wrestlers with Carson Taylor (133), Blake Gonzalez (149), Isaiah Luellen (184), Owen Braungardt (197), and Greg Hagan (285). Life will have Brevin Balmeceda (157) and Riley Smucker (174). The other #1 is Evan Potter (141) from Southern Oregon.

The top-ranked wrestlers will likely meet some stiff competition. If Menlo takes out Campbellsville and makes the semis, Taylor could see #2 Jovan Garcia. If Marian and Southern Oregon both lose in the opening round, we could see #1 vs. #2 at 141 right away on the backside with Potter and Marian’s Logan Wagner. We could see two national champs collide in the semis if Southeastern and Life advance to the semis with Southeastern’s Sal Silva and Balmeceda. At 184, Luellen may run into Ottawa’s highest-returning All-American, J.D. Perez, in the second round. We could see the third meeting of the season between Hagan and Providence’s K.C. Buday in the second round. The top two guys in the nation have faced twice this season with Hagan winning both in overtime.

Which Conference Reigns Supreme?

Here’s a hot topic in NAIA: Which conference supplies the most talent to the NAIA? We will surely gain insight into that question this weekend. Here are the teams competing listed by conference and seed: 

Heart of America (4): #1 Grand View, Central Methodist, Graceland, William Penn

Cascade (3): #5 Menlo, #8 Providence, Southern Oregon

Appalachian (2): #2 Life, #3 Southeastern

Mid-South (2): #4 Campbellsville, Cumberlands

Greater Plains (1): #6 Doane

Wolverine-Hoosier (2): #7 Indiana Tech, Marian

Kansas Collegiate (1): Ottawa

Sooner (1): Oklahoma City

If seeds hold, we should see an All-Applalachian semifinal between Life and Southeastern. The KCAC and SAC each only have one school representing, but both unseeded teams could pull off a few wins over the other conferences. The Cascade has two seeded teams on the top half of the bracket. The Heart of America Conference leads with four teams, but only Grand View earned a seed.

Second Semester Additions

Around this time of year is always when we start to see new additions to the field. Which athletes will we see debut officially for their teams? Life is expected to see more of key transfers Thaddeus Long (125/133) and Fabian Padilla (157), both NJCAA champions. Each wrestled sparingly in the first semester but is likely to appear at the National Duals. 

For Grand View, we’ve gotten glimpses of DI transfers Cam Robinson (157) and Lucas Rodriguez (125). Grand View has solid options at each of its weights, but the Vikings are used to swapping guys out in different duals and this could be their best opportunity to solidify their spots in the lineup. 

Menlo has a few transfers who will be key but did not compete first semester. Could this be our first chance to watch former Rutgers starter Nico Aguilar (125) and NJCAA champion Brant Porter (141) in Menlo singlets? Ottawa is unseeded but could benefit greatly from getting Ohio State transfer Kevon Freeman (165) and NJCAA All-American Gunner Cash (285) into the lineup. Abel Nava (174) had a great true freshman year for Providence and is expected to make his return second semester. Reese Davis (149) transferred to Oklahoma City after a solid redshirt season at Nebraska, and also may make his debut here.

How Would Grand View vs. Life Look?

We could see Grand View and Life in the finals for the fifth straight time. On paper, the biggest swing matches would be 125, 157, 184, and 285.  Here are possible lineup options for each team:

125 — Aden Reeves/Lucas Rodriguez vs. Chase Ayers/Thaddeus Long

133 — Carson Taylor/Jackson Cockrell vs. Antonio Saldate/Thaddeus Long

141 — Tony Mendoza/Marckis Branford vs. Tyree Johnson/Bret Minor

149 — Blake Gonzalez/Blake Haney vs. Reese Jones

157 — Tanner Abbas/Cole Ferguson/Cam Robinson vs. Brevin Balmeceda/Fabian Padilla/Alex Couto

165 — Justin McCunn/Jack Ervien vs. Steven Villalobos/Jaden New

174 — Alex Reynolds/Thomas Even vs. Riley Smucker/Tre Morrisette

184 — Isaiah Luellen vs. Kyle Homet/Myles Starke

197 — Owen Braungardt/Garavous Kouekabakilaho vs. Demarco Lee/Khalil Abdushshakur

285 — Greg Hagan vs. Zane Lanham/Spencer Dacus