The NAIA National Championships return Thursday to Hartman Arena near Wichita for the fifth year in a row. For the first time in more than a decade, the tournament is back to a three-day format. This time around, each bracket features 28 wrestlers with the top 16 seeded. 

Here are the brackets and here’s a look at some of the top storylines to follow. 

The Team Race

We’re set for what should be a dramatic and exciting team race. Grand View won its 11th national title in 12 years last year, finishing 48.5 points ahead of second-place Life. The Running Eagles ended Grand View’s 13-year run without an NAIA dual loss in January when Life knocked off the Vikings in the NWCA National Duals championship. 

Grand View, Life and Southeastern each qualified the maximum 12 wrestlers for the this week’s tournament. Grand View has five #1 seeds, while Life has three. As for All-American projections according to seed, Grand View has 10, Life has nine, and Southeastern has five. 

Cumberland, Menlo and Providence each qualified 11 wrestlers. Menlo has five projected All-Americans, while Cumberland has four and Providence has three. 

Grand View and Life are seeded first and second at two weights. At 125, Grand View has #1 Aden Reeves, while Life has returning national champion Brandon Orum seeded second. At 184, Grand View has #1 Isaiah Luellen to Life’s #2 Kyle Homet. 

Life has an opportunity for separation at 165, where it has #1 seed Steven Villalobos and Grand View doesn’t have a representative. On the flip side, Grand View will want to capitalize at 149 with #1 Blake Gonzalez and #9 Blake Haney, a weight where Life does not have an entry.

The Returning Champions

Nine returning or past national champions are in the field this weekend. 

Life’s two-time 125-pound national champion Brandon Orum returned at semester. His only loss this season was to Grand View’s Aden Reeves at National Duals — Orum’s first event of the season. Orum has made the national finals each time he has entered the postseason and is projected to have a rematch of his 2023 national final against Eastern Oregon’s Hunter Sparks in this year’s semifinals. 

The 157-pound bracket has three past national champions. Top-ranked Brevin Balmeceda of Life was the champion at 149 last year. Last year’s 157 champion was Southeastern’s #5 Salvador Silva. Balmeceda has beaten Silva in both of their meetings this year. Southeastern has another former national champion in this bracket in #14 Andreus Bond, a 2021 national champion at 149. 

At 165, Menlo’s #2 Rysan Leong returns as a national champion from last year. This weight has been chaotic all year long. In the semis, Leong could get a fourth match against #3 Jonathan Kervin of Indiana Tech. Leong won their first two meetings but lost to Kervin at the Missouri Valley Invitational in their most recent bout. Leong just won the Cascade tournament where he took out the previously #1-ranked Keller Rock to win the bracket.

Second-seeded 174-pounder Cole Smith is back after winning the 165-pound title in 2022, and Grand View’s third-seeded Owen Braungardt returns after winning a title at 197. Braungardt has one loss to NAIA competition this year — a January defeat against Life’s #2 Demarco Lee, who he could see again in the semifinals. 

The 285-pound bracket has a pair of past champions: Grand View’s 2023 national champion Greg Hagan and Life’s Zane Lanham, who won the 197-pound title in 2022. Lanham is undefeated against NAIA competition at 285 but has yet to face the top two foes. 

Four weights are guaranteed to have a first-time champion: 133, 141, 149, and 184.

First-Round Fire on Flowrestling

Why should you tune in to Flowrestling on Thursday to watch the NAIA National Championships? You might be thinking about tuning in later in the weekend for the quarterfinals, semis, medal matches and finals. But here’s one can’t-miss match from each weight that you’ll want to watch Thursday.  

125: #8 Angel Banda (Reinhardt) vs. Clarence Lee Green (Lindsey Wilson)

Banda was the ninth seed last year and has maintained consistency this year with key wins over #11 Antonio Saldate and #16 Allen Calderon. Although unseeded, Lee Green might have a path to the quarterfinals. A win here gives Lee Green a rematch with #9 Austin Franco, a foe he beat earlier in the year 9-4.

133: #15 Dillon Witt (Missouri Baptist) vs. Isaiah Miller (Jamestown)

Witt is now a multiple-time qualifier who is heating back up at the right moment. He beat the #10 seed Alex Pena to make the finals of the AMC/Sooner conference tournament. Miller was unranked heading into the GPAC conference but turned things up a notch pinning Devin Avedissian in the semis and beating Jarrod Gilliam 8-4 in the finals. Witt won this matchup earlier in the year 9-6.

141: #14 Taylor Vasquez (Morningside) vs. Aric Williams (Dakota Wesleyan)

A year ago, Aric Williams shook up Hartman Arena by taking out the #4 seed Andreus Bond in the first round. Now down a weight class at 141, Williams will look to pull another upset in the first round. Taylor Vasquez is a four-time GPAC champion and has been in the blood round in the past. Both GPAC competitors, Vasquez won the title by beating Creighton Baughman, a foe who beat Aric Williams in the semis. With some more time to adjust to the weight, Williams will look to recreate some magic from a year ago.

149: #8 Drake Vannoy (Oklahoma City) vs. Irish Furthmyre (Ottawa)

Vannoy has had a great season down at the new weight class of 149. He is now a three-time national qualifier who has beaten three qualifiers in the field and only a loss to sixth-seeded Jace Luchau. He will oppose breakout true freshman from Ottawa, Irish Furthmyre. Like Vannoy, he only has one loss to a wrestler in the field — #10 seed Bryce Nickel. Furthmyre was a KCAC champion and enters the toughest competition he’s faced in his collegiate career thus far. 

157: #5 Salvador Silva (Southeastern) vs. Josey Jernegan (Saint Mary)

Silva was the national champion last year at this weight and has had a great year. Jernegan has had some flashes of greatness this season with his best win being over #9 seed Francis Morrissey in their dual meet. Jernegan also beat Silva’s teammate, #14 seed Andreus Bond earlier in the year. 

165: #16 Elliott Rodgers (Marian) vs. Cameron Hargrove (William Penn)

Both are in their fourth year of collegiate competition and both are multiple-time national qualifiers. Rodgers is a past All-American. He spent much of this season at 174 before cutting down to 165. Hargrove jumped two weight classes from last year, going from 149 to 165. He beat one returning All-American this year, Bridger Hall, before bonusing his way through the Heart of America Conference. A win here sets up a match against the #1 seed Steven Villalobos. Hargrove is no stranger to knocking off the top seed at nationals. In 2022, he took out the #1 seed at 149 before falling in the blood round.

174: #9 Alex Hernandez (Southern Oregon) vs. Brenden Parks (Missouri Valley)

Hernandez is back for another run at nationals, this time as the #9 seed. He’s got wins over the #7, #14 and #16 seeds. Opposing him will be Brenden Parks. He needed an at-large bid after a rough conference tournament, but Parks has proven to have firepower on his feet to take down most guys at this weight. His best win on the season was over #5 Alex Reynolds, who he pinned in the dual. Hernandez will be a favorite in this match, but one big move might be all it would take for Parks to pull off the early upset.

184: #13 Brett Bober (Baker) vs. Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern)

Bober’s best wins this season are over #7 Isaiah Morales and #9 Luke Jenness. A tough time in his conference dropped him to the #13 seed. Burns is back for his second national tournament. Last year, he knocked off the seventh seed in the first round. Burns’ best win this season was over the current #8 seed Kyle Knudston. He had a great Cascade Conference tournament where he placed third and outplaced returning All-American Austin Vanek.

197: #8 Garavous Kouekabakilaho (Grand View) vs. Andrew Herrera (Southern Oregon)

Kouekabakilaho has earned the #8 seed based highly on wins this season over two returning All-Americans — Malachi Karibo and Elijah Hynes. Last year, he was also seeded highly but was upset in the first round by Herrera. He gets the exact same first-round matchup this year with Herrera and a chance to flip the script. A win for Kouekabakilaho would get him a rematch with the guy who beat him in the blood round last year — Tucker Tomlinson. Both of those losses at last year’s nationals were by one takedown. Herrera has had a great season himself and is coming off a fifth place finish at the Cascade Conference.

285: #10 Jakob Jerabek (Morningside) vs. Wylie Dunn (Cumberlands)

Jerabek is a rare dual-sport athlete, playing football in the fall before rejoining the wrestling team for the winter. Because of this, he usually only gets one semester worth of matches in. He still did enough to earn the #10 seed, making the Missouri Valley Invitational finals with a win over the #13 seed Jacob Vincent. He’ll take on Wylie Dunn first match, a wrestler who is heating up with a big win over #14 Kawaun Deboe at the Mid-South Conference. The winner here will face Jerabek’s teammate, #7 Hunter Dejong.

Can Anyone Knock off the Big Four at 285?

Like last year, 285 will again be one of the most intriguing weight classes. Grand View’s Greg Hagan is the first seed as a returning national champion who has not lost to NAIA competition this year. The second seed belongs to K.C. Buday of Providence. Buday was fourth at nationals last year. The man who beat Buday for third at nationals that year was Southeastern’s Gabe Jacobs. Buday has since avenged that defeat by beating Jacobs in a dual in December. Buday has also lost two overtime matches to Hagan this year, indicating a small margin of difference between the competitors. The wild card at this weight remains to be Zane Lanham, a national champion and finalist at 197 last year. Now at 285, he is unbeaten against NAIA competition and recently beat Jacobs to win the AAC. The top four at this weight are undefeated against everyone else in the field. Can any of the others break into the top four? If seeds hold, we will see Hagan vs. Jacobs and Lanham vs. Buday each in the semifinals. 

The Lone Wolves

Ten teams qualified a single wrestler for the national championships. Two programs got their first-ever national qualifiers for their programs in Williams Woods and Friends. Ian Nelson (William Woods) won the 285-pound bracket at the Sooner/AMC Conference, while Gunnar Henderson (Friends) qualified at 149 by making the finals of the KCAC. Daryus Webb earned the #14 seed for Avila while Jacob Vincent secured the #13 seed for Simpson. Tyler Okada (Waldorf), Donte Lopez (Oklahoma Wesleyan), and Bruce Wagers (Rio Grande) have all qualified in the past. 

125: David Corretjer (Central Baptist)

133: Randy Frailey (Siena Heights)

141: Donte Lopez (Oklahoma Wesleyan)

149: Gunnar Henderson (Friends) 

149: Tyler Okada (Waldorf)

165: Diego Machado (St. Ambrose)

184: Daryus Webb (Avila)

285: Jacob Vincent (Simpson)

285: Ian Nelson (Williams Woods) 

285: Bruce Wagers (Rio Grande)