CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – As the calendar turns to 2019, the No. 19 ranked Campbellsville men's wrestling team will compete at the NWCA-NAIA Multi-Divisional National Duals in Louisville this weekend starting on Friday.
 
The Tigers will face a familiar foe in the first round in Lindsey Wilson College Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET at Exhibition Hall. The Blue Raiders are ranked No. 8 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll.
 
CU will wrestle for the first time since Dec. 16 when they competed at the Smoky Mountain Duals, going 3-1 on the day. Their wins that Sunday came against Lyon College, Midway Unversity and Bluefield College as their loss came against now No. 7 ranked Life University.
 
LWC has a 5-2 duals record this season with wins against Williams Baptist, Marian, Bellarmine, Southeastern and Brewton-Parker. The Blue Raiders have seven individuals ranked in the Coaches' Poll including the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in Brandon Reed.
 
The full list of seven ranked wrestlers for Lindsey Wilson is listed below.
 
WEIGHT CLASS    RANK           NAME
125                            #14                Cagen Wallace
133                            #15                Brady Moser
141                            #5                  Trent Johnson
157                            #8                  Derrick Smallwood
174                            #10                Brett Bradford
197                            #13                Avery Buckman
285                            #1                  Brandon Reed
 
The Tigers will wrestle in at least two duals on Friday depending on results and will face either No. 16 Williams Baptist or No. 5 University of the Cumberlands in their second match of the tournament.
 
Of the 16 teams in overall field in the national duals, 14 of them are in the NAIA top-20 and the other two teams are receiving votes. Highlighted by the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country in Grand View and Indiana Tech, seven of the top-10 teams are going to be competing in Louisville over the weekend.
 
The full field is listed below.
 
RANK                       TEAM
#1                              Grand View
#2                              Indiana Tech
#4                              Providence
#5                              Cumberlands
#7                              Life
#8                              Lindsey Wilson
#9                              Midland
#11                            Missouri Valley
#12                            Southern Oregon
#13                            Southeastern
#16                            Williams Baptist
#17                            Marian
#17                            Baker
#19                            Campbellsville
RV                              Cumberland
RV                              Bethany
 
After last year's eighth place finish at this event, the Tigers have placed nine times in the last 10 seasons at the national duals. Prior to last year they had seven-straight top five finishes, as they will hope to get back to that form this season.
 
The double-elimination format will take place over two days with a team needing three wins to capture the championship and if a team loses, the best they can do is fifth place.