I said this about Texas Wesleyan and now I'm going to say it about Wayland Baptist. It is just so cool to see a college program in Texas, made up of Texans, and furthermore succeeding. Wrestling has been such a predominately East Coast & Midwestern sport with a respectable showing on the West coast for such a long period of time, that it almost seems surreal to finally see it given its due in the south, especially as far southwest as Texas. Yes, Oklahoma has had a phenomenal wrestling presence for over 100 years, but it took forever for it to finally bleed into the lone star state. Not that there weren't attempts & gallant efforts in years past, but the year and now within the last decade and a half we have seen the most progress. I remember arguing as a kid, and people would laugh at me that if you put wrestling teams in colleges down south, you'd have kids from down south on them & they'd be holding their own. I'm not going to pretend that the Wayland Baptist Pioneers are the Penn State Nittany Lions or the Iowa Hawkeyes, but let's not compare apples to oranges here. Let's give this some accurate scale. The NAIA while not NCAA Division I is still a very competitive level of collegiate wrestling. Wayland Baptist with ALL Texas kids took six to the national tournament last season, with one All American & another who had he wrestled his R12 match 10 times, would have won it 5. That's what I'm saying. You create an opportunity and soon enough it'll prove itself. I know this would happen once we got collegiate wrestling into Texas. It wasn't overnight, but it happened & it'll continue to happen. For record Wayland Baptist was the first school in Texas to field varsity wrestling after LeTourneau dropped in 1989.
 |
125 lbs
Jonathan Ortegon |
Winning a Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) last season, Jonathan Ortegon for the second season in a row was one point short of earning his first All American honor. He'll look to achieve that status this season as he goes for another conference title.
 |
133 lbs
Alex Pena |
A 2021 All American, Pena had a disappointing 1-2 showing at last year's NAIA championships. He will look to get back to form & earn another All American honor this season.
 |
141 lbs
Michael Torres |
Lost a tough semi-final matchup in sudden victory last season at the SAC tournament, Torres came back to finish in 3rd place. An NAIA qualifier as well, this season he will look to find a spot in the finals of conference & improve upon his showing at the national tournament.
 |
165 lbs
Cody Dixon |
Cody Dixon had a great season last year, earning a SAC title & taking 8th place honors at the NAIA championships. He'll look to earn both another conference title & a second All American honor this season.
 |
184 lbs
David Willoughby |
NAIA qualifier David Willoughby was a SAC runner-up last season, who will look for another qualification to the NAIA championships this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment