May I say once again how cool I think it is that a program still within its infancy host a huge in-season tournament full of great teams and great talent. It takes a tremendous amount of work to host a tournament with 19 programs attending. The dedication and commitment Friends has to their wrestling program & to NAIA wrestling in general is admirable. Hopefully contagious as well. Of the many things to be excited about, this will be our first look at both Health Sciences & Pharmacy out of St. Louis and Jarvis Christian out of Texas. Also competing here among the NAIA competition, DIII Schreiner & DII Newman.
For NAIA rankings used, I referred to the preseason Coaches Rankings. For NCAA DII rankings, I referred to wrestlestat.
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| 125 lbs |
Ooh, a lot of talent here at 125 lbs. Eight NAIA ranked wrestlers and one NCAA DII. How will things shape up? My bet on a final here would be between Doane's Daniel Vargas who has finished 5th & 6th in the NAIA the past two seasons and Johnathan Ortegon of Wayland Baptist who has twice finished R12. Harley Williamson of York (NE) who I was almost 100% would NOT be back this season, looks to be a good candidate for the bronze medal, but take a look for yourself, he'll have plenty of challenge. This will be a weight class worth placing in the top eight. Of those who probably won't be seeded to do so, but who could do so Saint Mary's Ethan Woods & York's (NE) Dezmond McSellers.
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| 133 lbs |
The polar opposite of 125 lbs, there are no ranked wrestlers at 133 for the Falcon Invite. Nevertheless there is still some quality talent here. Hold a gun to my head and say, "pick a champ!" I think I'll go with Alex Pena of Wayland Baptist. As to how the rest of this bracket pans out? I do think I've selected four other wrestlers who will contend for a top eight showing. Who to watch here may very well be Jacob Rymer of Friends. If the Falcons are going to have a hero at their own invite, Rymer will be it.
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| 141 lbs |
As he attempts to win his fourth NAIA title this season, Baagii Boldmaa of Doane is bound to win everything else along the way too. His likely finals opponent? I'd say Hartwell Taylor of Saint Mary, although I think both Jayce Cunha of Embry Riddle & Edrich Nortje of Hastings will be gunning to make names for themselves. A lot depends on seeding. I would also look for a top 8 showing out of Bethany's Kaden Goff.
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| 149 lbs |
A very competitive weight class where you will have to earn a top 8 placing. I would say if the rankings have anything to do with it, that our first six seeds should be pretty straight forward with five other candidates duking it out for spots #7 & #8. The R12 matches will be of most interest.
Of all the brackets at the Friends Invitational, I think his one has the potential to be won by the lowest seed. I can't see Beau Blackham being seeded anything higher that #5, but I can see him upsetting his way to a championship. He was 8th in the NAIA championships all the way back in 2020 & is due to find the spark that lit the fire three seasons ago. Perhaps here is where that fire will start.
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| 157 lbs |
I'm anxious to see how this one turns out. Probably looking at a final between Doane's Chinges Tsermaa & Briar Cliff's Ben Peters. Texas Wesleyan's Austin Loza a strong candidate for 3rd, although we have some unranked wrestlers here in both NAIA & NCAA DII all looking to have good showings as well.
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| 165 lbs |
I'm not even sure where to start with this one. What I can tell you is that if everyone I have listed in the photo above shows up, this is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Call him Seth or call him Cody, I'm not exactly sure what is up with Dixon from Wayland Baptist right now. 8th in the NAIA's last season, he is not currently listed in the rankings. My first thought was that he must NOT be back this year, but look at their current 22'-23' roster & sure enough he's listed. If he enters this tournament I would think he's a good candidate for the #1 seed.
I think we're going to see some really good things out of Keller Rock of Embry Riddle this season. He nearly made All American status last season & I think he'll be a man on a mission. I have to ask if a picture of Braeden Baller of Texas Wesleyan exist. Is he Lorenzo Music? Does he refuse to be photographed or something. I couldn't find a picture of him when I was doing the Texas Wesleyan preview either.
I think the guys to really watch in the bracket that could really open up some eyes are William Penn's Matheson Meade & Newman's Kameron Frame. Meade failed to place at Heart of America last season after looking pretty good up until that point. Frame a three time NCAA DII qualifier, like Meade wrestled well all season, but fell apart at the qualifier. I feel that both are getting slapped a little harder in the face than what they deserve by being kept out of the rankings. Both will show that they belong. Matter of fact, I wouldn't put it past Frame to win this tournament.
NOTE - #22 Kaleb Bigelow of Dakota Wesleyan could be participating in this tournament as well. I was not aware initially that Dakota Wesleyan would be here. He's most certainly a place-winner candidate.
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| 174 lbs |
I can see a lot of interesting things happening in this weight. Having attended Northwestern (IA), I of course want to see Jakob Francken-Small do well & hope to see him in the finals against Mike Scarponi of Doane. However, he'll have an extremely tough matchup with William Penn's Makail Stanley if the seedings go as I predict. I tell you the guy I'm really anxious to watch here is Clay Perry of Missouri Baptist. He was an NCWA champion for Central Florida last season & I'm anxious to see him against the NAIA as well as NCAA DII field. Central Florida wants compared & often favorably against the field, so I'm anxious to see if they put up or shut up.
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| 184 lbs |
I think Luke Jennes has the ability to be an All American this season & what a way to start of the season if he were able to win the Falcon Invite. He'll have some stiff competition from three other top 25 NAIA wrestlers & from some outside of the rankings as well. William Penn's Jesse Schwery's inconsistency is what is currently keeping him out of the rankings. A good showing here could possibly get him into the rankings & do wonders for his confidence.
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| 197 lbs |
The other weight class where you can be pretty confident in who will be the champion & it just so happens that he too competes for Doane. 4th in the nation last season & currently ranked #2 in the NAIA, I don't see much standing in the way of Bradley Antesburger. Now what I can see is a good match between Austin Carter of Saint Mary & DeAndre Rucker of Texas Wesleyan if that is to happen. I also think that Ivan Balavage of Newman will be a place-winner here as well.
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| HWT |
We may very well see another Antesburger win a title & it may very well be in the finals against another wrestler from Doane. Brandon Antesburger & Sam Peterson are likely to get seeds #1 & #2, and live up to them. Tre Mason of Bethany was 4th here last season & I'm anxious to see how he does this year. Emmett Bivens of Texas Wesleyan is another I expect to see place in the top 8.
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