Webb Becomes Avila Men’s Wrestling’s First All-American
PARK CITY, Kan. – Standout senior Daryus Webb authored a perfect finish to his stellar Avila career, finishing in sixth place at 184 at the 2024 NAIA Men's Wrestling Championship at Hartman Arena this weekend, becoming the first national placer and, by extension, the first All-American in Avila men's wrestling's history.
It's just season three in the young history of one of Avila's newest programs, but this achievement represents a dream realized for new head coach Eric Mateo, the founders of the program, and, of course, for Webb himself. The mission of becoming "The First" something has guided Avila's two wrestling programs since their inceptions: the first dual win, the first tournament championship, the first conference qualifiers, placers and champions, the first national qualifiers. All of those firsts had been achieved over the first two years. And now, the dream, the vision, the goal of becoming "The First" All-American has been realized by a true program superstar: Daryus Webb.
In NAIA wrestling, All-American status is awarded to everyone who places 8th or better at the national championship event. A wrestler will probably need to win four matches to place, and five to stand atop the podium as the national championship. A straightforward process, but far from easy. Webb has wrestled strong competition in good fields nearly all year long, but, precisely by design, this was his most challenging run yet.
In each of the ten weight classes, 16 wrestlers are awarded seeds by the seeding committee. Webb was ranked No. 15 by a panel of NAIA coaches in the final NAIA national rankings, and was seeded 14th in his bracket in the national tournament. Then, first-round byes are randomly assigned depending on the number of wrestlers competing in each weight class. Webb was one of four wrestlers assigned a bye (interestingly, the three lowest seeds all got byes, as did the No. 4 seed), meaning Webb would not have to wrestle until later on Thursday in the second round.
The NAIA Men's Wrestling Championship has expanded into a three-day event, and Avila ended up having someone compete in all three days as Webb made his historic run to the top eight. After his first-round bye, a familiar face was waiting in round two: Ottawa's JD Perez, the tournament's No. 3 seed, who just defeated Daryus in the finals of the KCAC Championship less than two weeks prior. Perez didn't wrestle Webb for various reasons in 2023, but Perez proved he is a true guy to beat in their second straight matchup – Perez prevailed in a 19-8 major decision to advance into round three.
That knocked Webb into the consolation bracket in an event where two early losses means your weekend is done. Now fighting for his life, Webb reeled off an incredible run of results on Thursday and Friday, which booked his spot in the placement matches on Saturday and secured a piece of history. First up after his defeat to Perez, Webb faced Baker's Brett Bober in a 13 vs. 14 matchup of seeds. The two local foes split their two meetings in the regular season, but Webb won where it mattered most with a late third period pin to advance. Next, Webb faced No. 11-seeded Alan Badley of Providence, and pulled off a 12-6 decision to stay alive.
Waiting for him was Thomas Ketchen-Carter of Cumberlands, who was ranked 20th in the coaches' poll but was not seeded in this event, and promptly knocked out two top ten seeds on day one of the event. Ketchen-Carter was in form, but in this match Webb was better, and he picked up the pin late in the first period to secure a spot on the podium. Grand View's Jameel Coles, the No. 10 seed fresh off an upset of No. 5 Tyson Beauperthuy, was next, but Webb dispatched him handily in a 10-3 decision: Coles' only points came off three escapes.
Webb's fourth straight victory put him two wins away from third place. But standing in his way once again was Ottawa's JD Perez, and Perez earned the win for the third straight matchup to move into the third-place bout and send Webb into the fight for fifth. Facing him there was unseeded Rylin Burns of Montana State-Northern, who lost to No. 4-seed William Speight twice on the weekend but lost to nobody else in a near-perfect run through the consolations. That set up an intriguing matchup, but Webb has used up all his gas in his run to that point, and Burns pushed past him in a major decision to secure fifth place.
His run didn't end with a victory and his hand in the air, but Webb's four victories on Thursday and Friday were more than enough to see him through to his seminal moment: a sixth-place finish, a spot on the nationals podium, and All-American status for the first time in program history. The senior from St. Louis was a standard bearer and a trailblazer for his second college squad, and he will end his college career as a true history-maker at Avila University.
The 2024 NAIA Men's Wrestling Championship officially brings the third season of Avila men's wrestling to a close. Webb is expected to depart, as is fellow senior Karter Brink, a national qualifier from a year ago, but with many other Eagles – many of whom will be true four-year seniors next year – slated to return, the goal for the program will now shift from "The First" to "The Next," as Avila continues to work towards the status as one of the best wrestling programs in the region.
