WICHITA, Kan. – The Tigers finished T-15th at the 2023 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships over the weekend with
Shad Slone leading the way to a seventh-place finish in the 165-lb. weight division and All-American honors.
Slone had a first-round bye before facing #7 Elliott Rogers of Marian. Slone eked out a 7-6 decision win to advance to face #2 Marty Margolis of Grand View (Iowa). This time, the result was inverse as Slone just lost 10-8. Going into the consolation bracket, Slone battled Kaleb Bigelow of Dakota Wesleyan to a 6-3 decision victory, but then lost to #4 Cole Smith of Mid-South Conference rival Cumberland via pinfall. Slone then would need a final victory to secure seventh place, and he did just that with a convincing 6-1 over #25 Bridger Hall of Providence.
Slone becomes the 37th NAIA All-American in Campbellsville's program history, stretching back to 2005. On the season, the freshman went 7-1 in duals, 12-3 in opens, and 6-3 in the postseason.
Dayton Marvel,
Jake Hurst,
Gavin Smith,
Brice Parks,
Pate Eastin,
Kiernan Sherwood,
Greyson Stevens,
Levid Rodriguez, and
Jaden Sonner all took to Wichita but were bounced from their respective brackets before they could place. Marvel, Smith, and Parks (including a decision loss for Parks against #1 Isaiah Luellen) went 3-2, Hurst lost in the opening round to #5 Steven Villalobos of Life, and Stevens went 2-2.
Grand View won their 11
th National Championship in the past 12 seasons.
The Vikings scored 206 points to secure the overall win. Life was second with 157.5 points, Southeastern (Fla.) took third with 90 points, Menlo (Calif.) came in fourth with 74 points, and Indiana Tech had 61. The Running Eagles and Grand View both took home three individual champions. This season, all ten champions were newcomers from 2022.
