Three Eagles Ranked, Team Receiving Votes Ahead of Third Season

As it has been at the start of every season of program history now, Avila men's wrestling opens the 2023-24 campaign, year three of the program, by receiving votes in the 2023-24 NAIA Men's Wrestling Coaches' Preseason Top 20 Poll, unveiled by the organization on Thursday.

The Eagles earn their place in the national picture thanks to the presence and talents of three wrestlers that begin the season ranked in the national Top 25 of their respective weight classes. All three of Avila's NAIA Championship qualifiers – the first in Avila program history – from a season ago (Logan Johnson, Daryus Webb and Karter Brink) return for 2023, looking to lead the Eagles back to contention in the KCAC and beyond.

Third-year Eagle Logan Johnson returns for his junior season as one of the best middleweights in the NAIA. The junior from Belleville, Illinois led the Eagles in victories for the second straight season last year with an overall mark of 29-10, placing third at the 2023 KCAC Tournament and ultimately becoming the first Eagle to win a match at Nationals, an 8-0 major decision over Missouri Valley's Bryson Anderson.

One of Avila's three 2023 NAIA NWCA Scholar All-Americans, Johnson is an elite student in addition to a gifted wrestler. He finished last season ranked 20^th at 149 pounds and begins this season ranked 14^th.

A new member to the team last year in year two of the program, Karter Brink battled for mat time in the middleweights before ultimately locking down a starting role at 157 for much of the year. The junior from Monett, Missouri finished the season 12-11, but that record included a couple of marquee wins over the course of the year, as well as a pair of wins at the KCAC Championships where he became the first conference tournament champion in program history.

Brink had a tough draw at nationals, ultimately falling to eventual national champion Sal Silva of Southeastern, but Brink still completed his first season as an Eagle on the sport's biggest stage. Despite winning the KCAC Championship Brink entered last year's NAIA Championship unranked, but he begins this season ranked No. 25 at 157.

By no means a new member of the team, rising senior Daryus Webb returns for his third year as an Eagle already regarded as one of the better upperweights in the NAIA. The senior from St. Louis had the best winning percentage on the team last year with a stellar mark of 25-4, which included one traditional win and one medical forfeit at the KCAC Championships to quickly succeed Brink as the second KCAC champion in team history.

Making a return trip to the national stage, Webb lost to eventual national champion Asher Eichert of Life but still completed his season on the national mat. And this summer, Webb became the first athlete in Avila wrestling history to earn All-American status in any discipline by placing eighth at the USA Wrestling U23 Greco-Roman Championship in Geneva, Ohio in June. Webb finished last season ranked 13^th in the NAIA at 184 pounds, and begins this season ranked 14^th.

Unlike in many other sports, the rankings of the teams in the Top 20 of the coaches' poll are dictated by the rankings of the individual athletes in the Top 25 of the individual rankings. Any school that has even one wrestler appearing in the Top 25 of any of the ten weight classes will automatically be receiving national votes in the team rankings; as such, schools with more ranked wrestlers receive more team ranking points, and the highest-ranked teams always either have the most ranked wrestlers, the highest-ranked wrestlers, or both.

With three national ranked wrestlers, including two in the top 15 of their weights, Avila is firmly in the receiving votes tier of the team rankings to begin the season – exactly where the Eagles have now begun each of the first three seasons of the team's history. Six conference teams are appearing in the preseason edition of the NAIA rankings; KCAC ever-presents Ottawa is the only team in the Top 20, slotting in at No. 9 to begin the year. Avila was rated fourth by the conference's rating committee, behind Ottawa, Saint Mary and Oklahoma Wesleyan; the official conference coaches' poll will be released following KCAC Media Day next week.

Avila men's wrestling begins its first season as a standalone program under the direction of new head coach Eric Mateo, who was the men's squad's top assistant coach in year two. After a successful Black and Purple Dual as the dress rehearsal, Avila men's wrestling will raise the curtain on the 2023 season next Saturday, October 28, inside Mabee Fieldhouse against William Woods. Further details to be announced; as always, you can watch all the action on the Avila Sports Network.

The complete 2023-24 NAIA Men's Wrestling Preseason Coaches' Poll can be found below, as well as on the NAIA website:

Receiving Votes: Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 74; Missouri Valley 71; Keiser (Fla.) 60; Briar Cliff (Iowa) 58; Lourdes (Ohio) 58; Central Methodist (Mo.) 54; Saint Mary (Kan.) 52; William Penn (Iowa) 46; Corban (Ore.) 45; Midway (Ky.) 45; Cornerstone (Mich.) 44; Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 37; Oklahoma Wesleyan 33; Texas Wesleyan 33; St. Thomas (Fla.) 32; Rio Grande (Ohio) 32; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 32; Avila (Mo.) 28; Graceland (Iowa) 24; Northwestern (Iowa) 22; Vanguard (Calif.) 22; Dickinson State (N.D.) 21; St. Ambrose (Iowa) 20; Concordia (Neb.) 17; Missouri Baptist 16; Simpson (Calif.) 12; Arizona Christian 10; Bethany (Kan.) 8; Rochester (Mich.) 8; Waldorf (Iowa) 6; Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 5; York (Neb.) 5; Montreat (N.C.) 3; Central Baptist (Ark.) 2