(PARK CITY, Kan.) – The Thomas More University wrestling team had five wrestlers qualify for the NAIA National Championships that took place over the last two days at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas. The Saints tied for seventh in the tournament with Marian University, scoring 52.5 points. This is the program's best ever finish in the NAIA National Championships.
The five wrestlers who qualified were
Ryan Moore (Crittenden, Ky./Walton-Verona/Cornell University),
Wilder Wichman (Johnson Creek, Wis./Johnson Creek),
Daulton Mayer (Mentor, Ky./Walton-Verona),
Shay Horton (Verona, Ky./Ryle), and
Kailan Keith (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis).
- Moore: For the third season in a row, Ryan Moore made it to the National Championship match and the second straight season at 149 pounds.
- The No. 1 seed breezed his way to the semifinals yesterday, with a 17-0 technical fall win over University of the Cumberlands Gage Hudson, 8-1 decision victory over Embry-Riddle's Jonah Chew, and a pin in 4:17 against Doane University's Nathan Lendt.
- Those victories brought him to the semifinals, where he defeated Oklahoma City University's Keegan Luton by sudden victory 6-4.
- In the championship against Life University's Brevin Balmeceda, Moore fell in a tight 2-1 decision to finish in second place.
- This is the third year in a row that Moore is an NAIA All-American.
- He finishes the season 20-4 overall with 10 falls.
- Wichman: During the tournament, Wilder Wichman went 6-2.
- He won his first match by a 6-4 decision over University of Rio Grande's Westyn Moyer, before dropping into the consolation bracket with a 6-4 decision loss to Morningside University's Noah Styskal.
- Wichman then won four matches in a row to make it to the consolation semifinals.
- He beat Midway University's Brent Hudgins by fall in 4:10, Marian University's Bailey Moore by 12-3 major decision, Menlo College's Abraham Del Toro by fall in 4:00 and Life's Steven Villalobos by 4-3 decision.
- He was edged by Grand View University's Giovanni Bonilla by sudden victory 7-5 to drop into the fifth-place match.
- There he defeated Indiana Tech's Nate Wheeler by sudden victory 3-1 to finish in fifth.
- This is the third season in a row that Wichman is an NAIA All-American.
- He finishes the season 17-8 with four falls.
- Mayer: Saints junior Daulton Mayer finished 5-2 during the championships.
- He barreled his way into the quarterfinals with falls in 2:10 over Graceland University's David Toese and Keiser University's Earnest Johnson in 58 seconds.
- There he met the No. 2 seed, the University of Providence's KC Buday.
- He gave him all he could handle but fell by a 6-4 sudden victory.
- Mayer beat Southeastern University's Gage Braun by a 5-2 decision before pinning Toese again in the consolation bracket in 51 seconds to move to the consolation semifinals.
- He met Southeastern's Gabe Jacobs in that match and dropped it 5-1 to move into the fifth-place match.
- He dominated Eastern Oregon University's Noel Orozco, pinning him in 1:11 to finish fifth, the best finish of his career.
- This is the third time in a row that Mayer is an NAIA All-American.
- He finishes the season 29-5 with 21 falls.
- Horton: Shay Horton dropped a pair of tough luck, 6-4 decisions to finish his tournament 0-2.
- He lost to Lourdes University's Nick Rodriguez and Morningside's Evan Shell.
- He finishes the season 17-15 with five falls.
- Keith: Kailan Keith finished the tournament 0-2.
- He lost to Menlo's Abraham Del Toro 12-0 and Oklahoma City's Drake Vannoy 18-0.
- He finishes the season 17-13 with 16 falls.
This concludes the Saints 2022-23 season. For the third season in a row, the Saints had three All-Americans. They will begin next season, their first competing with an NCAA Division II schedule, next winter.
