The American Midwest Conference/Sooner Athletic Conference championships will be held this Saturday, February 22nd. Ironically enough, host #22 Oklahoma City is the favorite to win this year's team title. With that said, we'll see plenty of good wrestling out of many of the other teams in participation. While the conference is rather small compared to some of the others in the NAIA, it has grown tremendously over the past few seasons. My job today is to look at the allocations per weight class and determine who I think will be our representatives' come nationals.
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| #24 Garrett Johnson Oklahoma City 125 |
Call me a soothsayer if you will, but I find it peculiar that there's a good chance we could crown two of the Stars this tournament as four-time AMC/SAC champions. Makes we wonder if we could be looking at a future four-time AMC/SAC champion when we look at Garrett Johnson. Only a freshman, he's the favorite to win the 125 lbs class this Saturday.
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| 133 |
Three allocations, our favorite to win the 133 lbs AMC/SAC title is last year's champion Dom Chavez, who also took 4th in the NAIA nation. Our battle for runner-up status will be between teammates Darryl Mills & Dillon Witt. While Mills currently has the upper-hand via the rankings, Witt has the experience of already being a two-time AMC/SAC finalist. He was also R12 at the NAIA championships last year as well. Should prove to be a semi-final worth watching.
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| 141 |
Back to back NAIA 5th place finisher Cade Manion has the opportunity this weekend to become a rare four-time AMC/SAC champion. In fact, I think sense the merge, he will literally be the first to do so. The only thing that could possibly stand in his way would be Tyler Deen of Missouri Baptist. The Spartan spent the majority of his career competing in NCAA DI, wrestling for both Nebraska & Cal State Bakersfield. The odds strongly favor Manion, but Deen lingers within the back of my mind.
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| 149 |
If Cade Manion wins his fourth AMC/SAC title this Saturday, he may very well have to share the spotlight with teammate Keegan Luton, who is also going for his fourth AMC/SAC title. I believe his journey to a fourth title, may be a bit more challenging than will be Manion's. Standing in Luton's way is a very tough Alex Pena, who has tasted AMC/SAC gold in his own right. (Champ in 2023, 2nd last year). Pena, who was also R12 at last year's NAIA championships, gave Luton a close 5-3 match earlier this season.
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| #23 E.T. Rodgers Jr Missouri Baptist 157 |
Phone it home, E.T! I believe the Spartan will be our AMC/SAC champ at 157 lbs this weekend!
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| #15 Braeden Baller Texas Wesleyan 165 |
I've been watching Braeden Baller compete for quite some time now. Tall, holy cow is this guy tall. Uses that leverage to his advantage. A guy that gets on the mat as much as he can, I'm surprised he hasn't legally changed his name yet. We call basketball and baseball players ballers, right? He's more of a matter, or a grappler. A two-time AMC/SAC champ, going for his third title, I'm surprised he isn't ranked a bit higher than what he is. R12 at last year's NAIA championships, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Ram finally make the award stand.
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| 174 |
The toughest weight class in the AMC/SAC, as far as allocations are concerned. 174 lbs is granting four spots to the NAIA national tournament, and here are the four I believe we'll see qualify. As to who places 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, I'm anxious to see how that all folds out. Joel Campbell has the highest ranking, but Jonathan Ward majored him 13-4 earlier this season. Daxton DeFrange owns an 11-8 victory over Ward & Campbell owns an 11-8 victory over Jordan Lomeli. Both Lomeli and Ward are transfers. Lomeli competed for Ottawa last season & placed 3rd in the KCAC. Ward competed for Ozarks.
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| #23 Bryce Milster Oklahoma City 184 |
Another Star looking to shine this AMC/SAC championships will be Bryce Milster, the favorite to win a title at 184 lbs.
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| #22 John Bray Wayland Baptist 197 |
A former NJCAA standout, John Bray is now showing us his skills within the ranks of the NAIA. A favorite to win the AMC/SAC title at 197 this weekend.
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| HWT |
Been quite the journey thus far for Emmett Bivens, but he seems to be on track and settled in his new home of Wayland Baptist. Looking to possibly win an AMC/SAC title this Saturday, but will face a good challenge from Wilbert Martin of Texas Wesleyan, who is also gunning for gold.
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