Men’s Wrestling Unveils Team of 12 Eagles Competing in KCAC Championships
Avila men's wrestling has unveiled the team of 12 Eagles that will take the mat at York University and compete for a conference title and a spot in the national tournament field at the 2024 KCAC Men's Wrestling Championships this Saturday, February 17.
KCAC squads are permitted to send a maximum of 12 athletes to the conference tournament, and Avila will hit that quota with 12 Eagles set to compete Saturday at York's Freeman Center. A team can spread that crew of 12 across any weight class they choose, with a maximum of two athletes per school in a weight class. Avila will have at least one combatant in eight of the ten weight classes, including two Eagles in the field in three weights.
The NAIA awards each conference [eight in total] with automatic berths to the NAIA Championships "based on the number of wrestlers ranked in each weight class," according to the NAIA's release earlier this month. The KCAC has fewer wrestlers ranked in the national polls compared to most other conferences, so the KCAC has fewer allocations – and fewer automatic berths.
For some of the ten weight classes, a wrestler that places in the top three of this weekend's tournament will receive an automatic berth to nationals, but for many weights, only the KCAC Tournament champion will be assured of a spot in the NAIA Tournament. A wrestler that does not receive an automatic berth can still be selected as an at-large by a panel of NAIA coaches and raters, but that would be far from a guarantee for many wrestlers from the KCAC.
To put it simply, the most straightforward way for an Eagle to qualify for Nationals next weekend is to win their bracket this Saturday. Of course, that would also carry with it a KCAC Championship, no small feat in its own right. And Avila will send out 12 wrestlers who will vie for those accolades and more starting on Saturday morning.
Tyler Johnson has been working to this point all season. After coming to Avila from Ottawa ahead of last season and establishing himself in the mix in the lower weights, Johnson has worked his way down to 125 – an area of need for Avila all season – and has qualified for the KCAC Championships. 125 is one of two brackets with only five contestants, meaning Johnson (11-8) will enter with a great chance to do some damage – but he will likely have to go through Saint Mary's Brody Gee (28-3) at some point to win the title.
It's been a battle between Ryan McNeel and Luke Ward for the right to be Avila's number one at 133 since the start of last season, and now both Eagle veterans are slated to compete for the Eagles in Nebraska this weekend. This is one of just two weight classes with double-digit combatants, so there will be a 16-man bracket with multiple first-round byes. Ward and McNeel (10-11) will likely be seeded in the top half of the field when action begins, and would need to place in the top three to qualify for nationals for the first time.
141 is the other weight with double-digits wrestlers and a 16-man bracket this year, and Avila will roster two of the 12 total combatants in this weight class. Jacob Ramirez (11-12) has been Avila's representative at this weight all year, and this weekend he will be joined by Terrell Carter-Williams (10-16), making the drop down from 149. Both Eagles are likely to be seeded in the top half of the 12, and only two automatic berths are up for grabs.
Karter Brink made an impressive run through the field last year and became a KCAC champion at 157, but this year will try to retain his title at 149. It'll be just the second event this season for Brink (5-11) at his new weight, which means he will be seeded in the middle of the pack in an 8-man field. Three of the contestants are ranked in the latest NAIA poll but they're all towards the bottom part of the rankings, and there are three automatic bids on offer, which means there could be an opening for Brink if he can recapture some of last year's postseason form.
Jake Callahan is one of the few third-year Eagles representing the third-year program in the postseason this year. Callahan (12-9) has settled into his role at 165 this year, and was good against conference opponents – he went 5-1 in Avila's duals against KCAC opponents this season (though two of those wins were forfeits) and Francis Morrissey, the only conference doe to defeat him, is not competing in this weight. There are two auto berths on offer, so if Callahan can continue this form against KCAC opponents, he will have a great chance at placing.
Daryus Webb will enter the KCAC Championships as one of the leading candidates to place, if not win, the bracket at 184 and retain his title from last season. That possibility and expectation is nothing new for Webb, who's ranked No. 15 in the latest NAIA poll. What is different, however, is that there are a lot of other contenders for that crown, including, of course, Ottawa's JD Perez, the former NAIA No. 1. Is this the year we finally see Webb and Perez face off? Regardless, there are three auto bids up for grabs, and Webb should be in position to grab one of them and head back to the NAIA Championships if all goes well.
Avila will roster two wrestlers in the 8-man field at 197: mainstay Blake Becker and newcomer Josh Martinez. Martinez (5-12) is in his second year on the squad, but has seen his mat time soar recently to help him earn a trip to conference for the first time. Becker (9-15), a third-year Eagle, is no stranger to this stage, but is competing in another new weight class – albeit the one he's been at all year. There are two automatic bids open for a field of eight athletes, and both Becker and Martinez have a chance to do some damage against this field.
Gavin Howes and Nathan Coley have been battling it out for mat time at heavyweight all season for the Eagles, and both athletes will compete in a field of just six at 285 this weekend. Third-year Eagle Nathan Coley (10-10) has been the steadier of the two this season while first-year Eagle Gavin Howes (14-8) certainly has the flashier overall resume, and was featured in the national rankings for about half the year. Howes will be the bracket's No. 1 seed, and Coley will likely be second. Since no one is in the national rankings right now, there's only one automatic berth to nationals on the line, which means it could well come down to one more matchup of Coley vs. Howes to determine who has a shot at the tournament title.
Brackets and seeding were not announced as of Friday evening, but everything will be finalized by Saturday morning. Competition in the Freeman Center begins at 9 AM Saturday. Tickets must be purchased ahead of time using the link on the KCAC website or our schedule page; all matches will be streamed live on the KCAC Network courtesy of York; all matches will be scored and entered live on TrackWrestling as usual. Stay tuned to Avila Athletics on social media and avilaathletics.com for complete coverage of the 2024 KCAC Men's Wrestling Championships.
Avila's 2024 KCAC Men's Wrestling Championship Roster:
125: Tyler Johnson
133: Ryan McNeel; Luke Ward
141: Jacob Ramirez; Terrell Carter-Williams
149: Karter Brink
165: Jake Callahan
184: Daryus Webb
197: Blake Becker; Joshua Martinez
285: Gavin Howes; Nathan Coley
