You know what excites me most about the 2023 RENO Tournament of Champions? The fact that I sincerely think we'll see more NAIA place-winners that we have ever seen before at this tournament. While the only ranked team in Division I is Oklahoma, the NAIA brings in some of its best programs. #1 Grand View, #11 Marian, #12 Southern Oregon, #13 Eastern Oregon, #16 Montana State Northern, & #18 Corban. It's still DI wrestling ranked or not, and it'll be a challenge to get on the award stand. However, with each bracket handing out medals for the top 6, I can see some of the NAIA's top talent getting onto the award stand.
NOTE -
#Black = DI ranking
#Blue = NAIA Ranking
#Red = DII Ranking
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| 125 lbs |
Our likely champion here is #15 Jore Volk of Wyoming who was 3rd here last season. The sophomore Cowboy has been having himself a pretty good season & adding a RENO title to his resume will only help his career. With that said, I wouldn't put it past Eli Griffin of California Baptist or Conrad Hendrikson of Oklahoma to perhaps pull off an upset, depending on who wins that likely semi-final. Griffin has been ranked at previous times & Hendricksen has already shown he can win big matches with a recent win over Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia. The real question here is, how does the NAIA match up against DI one? Could #1 Hunter Sparks or #2 Aden Reeves possibly pull off a win against any of the DI competition posted here? Reeves who competed for Iowa State for a couple of years is no stranger to Division I competition & I could see it happening. This of course leads us to another important question and that is who's gonna win between Sparks & Reeves? This could very well end up our 5th/6th place match or a bloodround match to see who ends up on the award stand and who doesn't. Gonna be some good wrestling here.
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| 133 lbs |
Don't let the fact that none of our DI wrestlers are ranked fool you. We're still dealing with some very tough wrestlers here. Haiden Drury has been an NCAA Qualifier in the past & I still wouldn't count him out of being top 33 by season's end. Our favorite to likely win RENO, he's had three nailbitter wins over Hunter Leake by scores of 3-1, 2-1 & 5-4 tiebreaker. Teammate Kase Mauger is pretty tough in his own right & Jace Koelzer could make some noise here as well. As to the NAIA's best Carson Taylor pulling off an upset or two against the DI competition? I wouldn't put it past him. The Viking has shown an ability to overcome DI talent in the past. For example a win over Stanford's Jason Miranda. I feel strongly one way or another Taylor earns his second RENO medal. He was 5th here last season. I also wouldn't be surprised if Alex Pena takes a top six showing as well.
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| 141 lbs |
Mosha Schwartz I believe is our likely champion here at 141 lbs, although I'm anxious to see if the NAIA's Evan Potter or Logan Wagner, either one can give him a match. Obviously seeds aren't out yet (or at least they weren't at the time this was written) but I would think somewhere along the line we see a match between Potter & Wagner. Help to see just how much of a race it really is for the NAIA crown at 141 lbs.
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| 149 lbs |
Here's a weight class that really interest me. I'm almost positive or in the least, very, very confident our champion here will be Gabe Willochell. He looked extraordinarily sharp taking 7th in a loaded CKLV bracket a couple of weekends ago, & I don't see him having any struggles here. With that said, I'm anxious to see who his finals opponent will be. Ty Smith of Utah Valley, good ol' inconsistent, unpredictable, two speeds at either 0% or 100% Ty Smith of Utah Valley. Here's a guy I can see giving Willochell a Hell of a lot more than he bargained for in the finals or not even making the top six. Could see the never ending saga between him and teammate Isaiah Delgado continue here as well. I'd also look for Willie McDougald to be somewhere on the award stand too.
As to NCAA DII that will be competing here, Lawrence Saenz seems criminally underrated at #15. I'm not knocking the rankers who do their best, but I am saying I think he's DII AA material & will prove so by season's end. He competed in DI for nearly his whole career, so while I can't see him upsetting Willochell, any other victory he might garner would be business as usual as far as I'm concerned. I'd actually be shocked if he didn't make top 6 here.
Then we also have Blake Gonzalez, the NAIA's #1 rated. Teammate Jack Latimer had a Hell of a good RENO last season, pulling off two huge wins to make the finals. Perhaps Gonzalez will repeat the history.
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| 157 lbs |
Last year at RENO we saw NAIA finalist at 149, 174 and 197. Could we possibly see an all NAIA final at 157? I'm not trying to take anything away from John Wiley, who could very well win this tournament, but getting wins over both David Rubio & Tanner Abbas would be two wins worth keeping track of, should he win them both. With that said, I'm anxious to see a Rubio Vs Abbas match. I swear Abbas was around back when I was in college, and that was almost 20 years ago!! Love to see that guy make a real go at an NAIA national title this year. It's gonna take beating guys like Rubio in order for that to happen and he could very well have his shot here.
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| 165 lbs |
As just stated, we saw the NAIA make the finals at three different weight classes last season. I think we could possibly see more this season & I can see Keller Rock making the finals here at 165 lbs. Nothing is a shoe-in of course, but I can see him doing so. Getting a win over top 15 ranked Cael Carlson? That's a different story. I'd say the former Gopher, now Sooner is our likely champion.
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| 174 lbs |
Last season Nakoda Siegel finished 5th & Alex Reynolds finished 6th in the RENO tournament of champions. This year, I can see this epic battle being a great semi-final between the two NAIA national champion contenders. The winner is likely to face a very tough Tate Picklo in the finals.
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| 184 lbs |
Does the NAIA stand a shot at winning a title at RENO? If anyone can do it, Grand View's Isaiah Luellen can. The Viking finished 2nd at least year's championships & he did so with a huge 6:33 fall over Indiana's D.J. Washington. This year, he's gonna have to wrestle every bit as good as the bracket is going to be loaded with some very tough competition. Not sure if currently redshirting D.J. Parker will enter the championships or not, but if he does, that makes Luellen's job all the harder. I would also look for Eastern Oregon's Kyle Knudtson to perhaps nab another top 6 finish for the NAIA as well.
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| 197 lbs |
I think Stephen Buchanan comes in here and shows us all why he's a contender for the NCAA DI championship this season. I just see him walking through the competition, easily adding a RENO title to his already impressive resume. Could I see Owen Braungardt possibly knocking off Evan Bockman in a semi-final? It wouldn't surprise me any. Braungardt is easily the NAIA's best at 197, hence why he has the #1 ranking. Teammate Garavous Kouekabkilaho (if you want to develop grip strength, write that 100 times a day) was 3rd here last season, and will likely battle for 3rd place again.
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| HWT |
Could I possibly see Greg Hagan giving Josh Heindselman a match? Yes, I can see the Viking giving the Sooner a decent match. Could I possibly see him beating Heindselman? Boy, that's a tough question. Hagan is an extremely tough wrestler, but I don't know exactly where he'd match up if he were competing in the DI ranks. I'd say it's more likely a win for the Crimson and Cream, with Grand View having a respectable showing. I will say though, what a statement it'd be for the NAIA if Hagan were to pull it off. With that said, he could have a very tough semi with Jayden Woodruff of Utah Valley too.
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Those are my RENO thoughts. I probably got a little too happy with my NAIA feelings, but I'm excited. I truly do think this particular RENO could be the best results the NAIA has ever seen. We'll see this weekend!
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