Men's Wrestling Places Third at Missouri Valley Invite

Men's Wrestling competed at the Missouri Valley Invite on Friday and Saturday in Marshall, Missouri. The Tigers had five wrestlers earn Top 8 finishes as the team walked away with a third place finish, their best placement at the meet.

Hunter Bennett competed for the Tigers at 125 and finished in second place. He opened the tournament with a pin over Daniel Glenn (Oklahoma Wesleyan) in 4:11. In his next match, Bennett defeated NAIA No. 24 Robert Albert (Missouri Valley) by major decision, 17-4. He advanced to the second day of action with a 10-7 win over Thomas Zielinski (Cornerstone) in the quarterfinals. On Saturday, Bennett defeated No. 18 Kolten Powers (Montana State-Northern) by decision, 7-6. He dropped his match in the finals to No. 15 Allen Calderon (Indiana Tech) by tech fall, 21-5.

Brian Peck also competed at 125 and went 2-2. He opened with a pin in 1:11 over Zach Lewis (Midway). NAIA No. 10 Brody Gee (Saint Mary, KS) won the next match by pin in 1:34. Peck moved into Saturday's action with a forfeit win over Nolan McDowell (Siena Heights). On the second day, Brodie Christmas (Southeastern) defeated Peck by major decision, 18-8.

In the 133 bracket, Matthew Terrence placed third overall. He opened action with a pin over Gabriel Garcia (Wayland Baptist) in 4:32. Adonis Boyd (Cumberlands, Ky.) knocked off Terrence in the next match with a pin in 1:37. A medical forfeit win over Grant Wells (Concordia) moved Terrence into the second day of action. On Saturday, he faced off against teammate Anthony Harris, winning by a 6-0 decision. Terrence followed with a pin of NAIA No. 18 Dillon Witt (Missouri Baptist) in 6:18 and a pin over Jason Ramirez (Arizona Christian) in 3:47. A rematch with Boyd took place in the consolation semifinals and Terrence fell behind 7-0 after the first period. However, he racked up 23 unanswered points on his way to a 23-7 tech fall win over Boyd. In the final match, Terrence defeated No. 19 Daryl Mills (Missouri Baptist) by decision, 11-9.

Harris started the tournament with a 6-4 loss to Witt. He then defeated Anthony Piaia (Ottawa, KS) in 20 seconds, the seventh-fastest pin in program history and the fastest at 133. Harris then defeated NAIA No. 22 Kina'u McBrayer (Providence) by a 5-4 decision. He capped the first day of action with a pin of Jarrod Gilliam (Briar Cliff) in 1:02. His only match on Saturday was against Terrence.

Tristen Brown competed at 141 and won four matches. He dropped his opening match to Tony Mendoza (Grand View) by major decision, 10-2. Brown bounced back with a pin of Gant Browning (Hastings) in 2:11. He recorded back-to-back major decisions, defeating Dante Reviglio (Providence) by a score of 14-3 and Drake Montelongo (Lindsey Wilson) by a 12-3 final. Brown added a medical forfeit win over Cal Price (Concordia) to advance to Saturday where he bowed out with a 16-9 loss to No. 24 Noah Parmelee (Northwestern).

Chase Stieb had one win at 174, defeating Dawson Gregg (Jamestown) by tech fall, 20-5.

In the 197 bracket, Kasten Grape and Bradley Antesberger posted 5-0 records on their way to the championship match. The two teammates would not compete in the final match, tying for first place.

Grape opened with a 15-0 tech fall win over Jayden Angle (Graceland). He followed with a 4-0 decision against Jake Henson (Central Methodist) and a 19-4 tech fall win over NAIA No. 20 Jett McCauley (Keiser). Grape rallied for a 10-6 win over Torrance Keehn (Concordia) to advance to the semifinals on Saturday. In his last match of the tournament, Grape defeated Trayvonne Jackson (Grand View) by a 10-5 decision.

Antesberger picked up two tech fall wins to open the tournament, defeating Jaron Alf (Ottawa) by a final of 17-2 and Jackson Turner (Cornerstone) by a 16-1 score. He shutout Kaleb Grove (Northwestern) by major decision, 8-0, and blanked NAIA No. 12 Gentry Smith (Southeastern), 4-0, to move into Saturday's action. Antesberger met No. 4 Ryker Blackburn (Saint Mary, KS) in the semifinals and was ahead, 10-3, in the third period before the match stopped due to an injury to Blackburn.

Eli Criblez placed seventh in the 285 bracket. He opened with a pin over Maximiliano Taboada (St. Thomas) in 5:44. In the next round, he defeated Stephos Georgiou (Cornerstone) by a 6-0 decision. Criblez followed with a decision victory by tie-breaker over NAIA No. 23 Zeph Sivels (Midland), 2-2, following triple overtime. He dropped a 2-1 decision to No. 10 Johnny Cruz (Indiana Tech) in the quarterfinals that saw the two men switch mats due to the surface of the first mat. On Saturday, Criblez defeated Mason Garcia (Concordia) by decision, 4-2. He dropped his next match to Koen Mattern (Hastings) by a 4-0 decision. In the final match, Criblez won in overtime over Ian Clifford (Indiana Tech), a 2-1 sudden victory.

Angelo Franco added one win at 285, defeating Jesse Schwery (William Penn) in 6:29.

Doane will return to action on Friday, January 31, when they host William Penn in a dual at 6 PM.