Men’s Wrestling Wallops William Woods to Begin Year Three

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila men's wrestling kicked off year three of the program with a dominant display, winning 11 of the 12 matches on the night, leading the (RV) Eagles (1-0) to a resounding 49-4 victory over William Woods (0-1) on Saturday night in Mabee Fieldhouse.

One of the best dual teams in the NAIA last season, Avila kicked off the 2023 dual campaign with about as dominant of a display as could be expected against a William Woods team that has some college experience but was competing in its first dual in program history. Last year's top assistant coach, Eric Mateo worked closely with all of the athletes last year and deserves a lot of the credit for the success the Eagles had in year two; now in year three, the Eagles earned Mateo his first dual win as a collegiate head coach with a comprehensive team showing.

William Woods managed one major decision win at the middleweights, but that was pretty much the only bring spot on the night for the Owls: the Eagles eased to victory in each of the other 11 matches – including a pair of exhibitions – in a dominant display. Every Eagles win was a major decision or better, and a squad that won 17 dual matches a season ago begins the 2023 campaign with a routine team victory.

Forfeit victories for Aleksei Wojtkiewicz, Ryan McNeel and Logan Johnson paved the way for Avila to start, but when the Eagles actually hit the mat the results weren't much different. Luke Ward began the actual competition with a dominant 19-1 tech fall at 141, followed by a hard-earned pin for Jacob Ramirez in his Avila debut at 149 – Avila won 29 of a possible 30 points over the first five bouts to begin the night.

William Woods won its only bout of the night at 165, but the Eagles immediately answered with a bruising pin from Jake Callahan and an easy pin from Daryus Webb. Blake Becker and Nathan Coley, both wrestling up weight classes, closed the countable competition with a pair of major decisions, wrapping up a resounding 49-4 team victory. Terrell Carter-Williams and Joshua Martinez joined the party with victories in exhibition matches.

The Eagles know the competition only gets tougher from here. Up next, is a dual against Embry-Riddle, a squad just outside the preseason NAIA Top 20, on Friday night, before the Eagles take the mat for their first open event, the massive Falcon Invite, in Hartman Arena on Saturday, November 4. You can follow those events and every competition all season long on TrackWrestling; details on other ways to watch will be posted on our website, avilaathletics.com, when they become available.