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Reed wins third straight national championship

LWC wrestling finishes third in NAIA
lindseyathletics.com

Brandon Reed claimed his third straight NAIA National Championship in the heavyweight class as the Lindsey Wilson wrestling team finished in third place. The Blue Raiders totaled 89 points throughout the two-day championship.

After the event, Reed was named the NAIA Wrestler of the Year as well as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Reed is the first Blue Raider in program history to win three individual national titles.

Reed (No. 1 at HW) took a 2-1 lead into the second period of his championship match against Greg Hagan (No. 2 at HW) of Grand View after scoring an early takedown. Hagan tied the match after starting the second period down with an escape. Reed scored another takedown in the period followed by a Hagan escape that pushed the score to a 4-3 lead for Reed into the final stanza. Reed scored a late takedown to secure his national title with a 6-3 decision.

The senior from Louisville, Ky. made quick work of his semifinal matchup when he was able to pin Cumberland’s Patrick Depiazza in just 2:55 of the first period. It marked the fourth straight match at the championship Reed had produced a fall victory in the first period.

Trevor Lawson also advanced to a championship bout where he turned in a runner-up finish at the 197-pound weight class, improving on his third-place finish from a season ago.

Lawson opened his day with a 6-1 decision win over Jack Servies (No. 10 at 197) of Marian in the semifinals. Lawson and Isaac Bartel (No. 1 at 197) of Montana State-Northern then squared off in the championship match. Bartel controlled the action defeating Lawson on a 6-0 decision.

Lawson finished the championship with a 3-1 overall record.

Derrick Smallwood (No. 2 at 157) finished in fourth place at the championship after posting a 4-2 record across the two days of competition. The junior dropped his opening match of the day in the championship semifinal on a sudden victory period 5-3 decision loss to Giovanni Bonilla (No. 3 at 157) of Grand View.

Smallwood bounced back with a 6-2 decision over Tanner Abbas (No. 4 at 157) of Grand View in the consolation semifinals. He dropped his final match in the third-place bout when he was pinned by Wilder Wichman (No. 5 at 157) of Thomas More.

Tyler Hall (No. 4 at 184) finished with a 4-2 overall record after opening the second day of competition being pinned by No. 9 Tyson Beauperthy (No. 9 at 184) of Midland in the championship semifinals. He got back on track with a 9-3 decision against Ben Lee (No. 3 at 184) of Grand View in the consolation semifinals and would take sixth place when he lost to Baker Hadwan of Life on a 5-1 decision.

Trajan Hurd produced a 3-2 record as he opened his second day with a close 7-5 decision loss to Ben Lee (No. 3 at 184) of Grand View in the fifth round of the consolation bracket. He then downed Hayden Wempen of Missouri Valley on a 7-4 decision to take seventh place.

All five Blue Raiders earned NAIA All-American honors for their performances at the championship. The five All-American honors bring the Lindsey Wilson wrestling total to 50 student-athletes in the program’s history.

 

The third-place finish this season marks the fifth straight year the Blue Raiders have finished in the top-5 at the NAIA National Championship.

 

Life (Ga.) took home the team championship with 158 total points as Grand View (Iowa) was a close second with 153 points.

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