Mid-South Conference Preview (MSC) Friday February 16th

 

It may be small, consisting of only six programs, but the Mid-South Conference is still one of the toughest qualifiers in NAIA wrestling. Last season, 10 All Americans came out of the MSC & five of them return to do battle this tournament. Every weight class features ranked wrestlers & some could even qualify the whole bracket!  Got some great wrestling coming up this weekend! 

125 lbs

Getting things started, we have one hell of a tough bracket here at 125 lbs! The thing of it is, it could be even tougher! While teams in the NAIA are allowed more than one wrestler per weight, you are not allowed more than two wrestlers at a weight. If that were the case, the Patriots of Cumberlands would have TWO more wrestlers battling for NAIA qualification here at the MSC! Matteo Vargo who was 3rd at the Patriot Open & Antonio Mills who won the Life Open.  Who knows, maybe one of them might end up starting here instead, but I would highly doubt it considering the other two 125 lbs Patriots are both ranked. 

Looking over the bracket, Conner Diamond of Lindsey Wilson looks to be among the title contenders.  2nd in the MSC last season, he broke through & earned an NAIA All American honor of 8th place. A Patriot Open champ earlier this season, he'll be challenged by last year's MSC champ Austin Franco, who recently plowed through the consolation bracket at the Missouri Valley Invitational to capture 3rd place.  

Also in this bracket is a tough Izaeah Beavers of Campbellsville who took 3rd at the Life Open & Adonis Boyd, another Patriot who was 4th at the Patriot Open.   Also look for Clarence Lee Green, a former NJCAA All American for NIACC, now at Lindsey Wilson to perhaps shine this tournament.  Last, but certainly not least, don't let the fact that Chris Busutil of Cumberland is unranked fool you. He was 3rd here last season & is quite capable of a good finish yet again. 

Very confident that '23 5th place NAIA All American Sammy Shires will once again repeat as MSC champ at 133 lbs. 

141 lbs

Could see an All Florida final here at 141 lbs as both Adrian Ayala of Lindsey Wilson & Nick Yancey of Campbellsville are both natives of the Sunshine State.  Ayala was an MSC runner-up last season, as Yancey is one of the standout freshmen of the NAIA this season.  Also competing here is last year's 5th place finisher Jared Dinh & last year's 4th place finisher Kyler Adams. 

149 lbs

I am very interested to see how things unfold at 149 lbs.  We have some chips on the ole shoulder in this bracket & I think that could lead to some very interesting results.  An MSC champion last year & 4th in the NAIA nation, our favorite going in is Jace Luchau of Cumberlands. He adds testimony with both a Patriot Open title & a runner up finish at the Missouri Valley Invitational among his '23-'24 credentials thus far. 

In perhaps what might be the best semi-final of the entire MSC championships, we have two former All Americans in Jack Latimer of Cumberland & Bryce Nickel of Cumberlands.  Earlier this season, Latimer was 3rd at the Patriot Open. Nickel who was 7th in the NAIA in '21 & 6th in the NAIA in '22, failed to earn a third All American honor last season. You know good and well he's hungry to get back on top. He was 3rd at the MSC last season competing at 141 lbs. 

These three are far from the only super tough wrestlers in this bracket.  We also have Victor Guzman of Cumberland, Nick Moore of Campbellsville & Westyn Moyer of Rio Grand.  Moyer competing at 157 last season, was 4th here. 

157 lbs

Talk about not wasting anytime. Only a freshman, Antwaun Burns of Campbellsville has quickly introduced himself as an NAIA title contender & he'll most likely walk out of his first MSC with a title. The question is, who does he end up facing in the finals? Weston Milnes of Cumberlands or teammate Jake Hurst?  Milnes was recently one match shy of a top 8 finish at the Missouri Valley Invitational. 

165 lbs

Ranking or result, take your pick.  Shadrick Sloan has the higher ranking, but it was Turner Black who won in the dual by a convincing 11-3 major decision.  This day in age, those type of results can be turned around, but it still makes a statement as we go into this weekend.  Sloan was 3rd here last season & 7th in the NAIA nation.  A plausible contender for MSC bronze? Eli Clemmons of Cumberland, who was 6th at the Patriot Open earlier this year. 

174 lbs

It's been one heck of a good career for Cole Smith of Cumberland as he nears the end of it.  Thus far he's been 3rd-1st-3rd in the NAIA & he looks to win yet another MSC title this weekend, as he'll soon go into the NAIA's, looking to contend for gold. I don't see him being challenged here, but I do see quite fight throughout the rest of the bracket. Gabe Martinez has the next highest ranking, but teammate Brice Parks is not one to look past.  An MSC runner-up last season, he finished once match shy of NAIA All American honors.  Cory Cannan was a runner-up to Cole Smith at this year's Patriot Open, as Charlie Friedenriech was 4th.  Then we also have Sherman Dixon, who finished one match shy of a medal at the Missouri Valley Invitational. 

184 lbs

An MSC champion last season, I think it's most likely that Thomas Ketchen Carter repeats this tournament. Finals opponent? My pick is Chandler Woenker Of Campbellsville. 

197 lbs

I see a good final here between Patriot Open champion Nikolas Perovic of Lindsey Wilson & last year's MSC champion Greyson Stevens of Campbellsville. 

HWT

MSC HWT could turn out to be a lot of fun this weekend.  We have some really good wrestlers here & all of these guys are fairly familiar with one another.  Three of the five participated in last year's MSC championships, with Bruce Wagers of Rio Grande taking runner-up honors, Jaden Sonner of Campbellsville placing 4th & Carlos Figueroa of Lindsey Wilson placing 5th.  This year, Gabe Craig also of Campbellsville won the Patriot Open, while Wagers finished runner-up & Figueroa placed 4th.  Wide & I'm not saying that because we're talking HWT, open weight.