Between NJCAA, NAIA, NCAA Division III, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division I, I spent the summer researching & writing about 432 wrestling teams. Out of all the teams I previewed for the 2026-2027 season, California Baptist has been the most difficult one to write about.
Why?
Because Dr. Micah Parker, who also took his ax of avarice to chop up the golf and men's swimming & diving teams, slaughtered the wrestling program in an underhanded, dishonest & surreptitious manner in hopes to build the basketball program into a serious money maker. We are losing the only DI program we had in Southern California, an area with great high school wrestling that was already being severely underserved, now not being served at all.
People like Dr. Micah Parker are the kind of people that usually end up selling illegal narcotics or figuring out ways to jack up pharmaceuticals to unaffordable astronomical prices. Always doing something crooked to line their sociopathic pockets. Lucky us, he got a job as an athletic director.
I can't help but wonder what CBU wrestling would look like in 2026-2027 if it did exist. Under the leadership of Derek Moore & Mark Munoz, two NCAA DI champions, I have no doubt that the program was headed in the right direction. As for this year specifically, I think four NCAA DI qualifiers was very realistic.
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| 133 Richard Murillo |
Richard Murillo was ranked most of last season within the top 30. He missed out on being top 33 last year, but keep in mind how unbelievable stacked his 133 lbs BIG 12 bracket was. The top 8 were automatic qualifiers, with two others getting At-Large qualifications. The 2025 BIG 12 champion didn't even place!! Murillo who will only be a sophomore this season, probably would've easily been a three-time NCAA DI qualifier for the Lancers.
UPDATE: Headed to St. Cloud State! I have a feeling that he's going to kick some major ass in NCAA D2!!
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| 149 Drayden Morton |
Drayden Morton finished 7th at the BIG 12's last year, just coming up short of NCAA DI qualification. He will represent Minnesota this upcoming season.
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| 149 Paul Kelly |
Paul Kelly is one of those guys you could just tell a few tweaks here, and a few tweaks there, he was going to be good. He had a very nice win over DI R12'er Gabe Willochell & was bound for many other successes representing the navy blue, white & gold.
UPDATE: Heading to CPU-Humboldt & what a force he will be in NCAA D2! Very excited about this!!
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| HWT Tristan Kemp |
Like Richard Murillo, Tristan Kemp who finished 8th in the BIG 12's, was in an extremely tough weight class within the conference. Let me put it to you this way. Of the NCAA DI HWT All-Americans, half of them came from the BIG 12, plus one more who finished in the R12. Kemp would have for sure been an NCAA DI qualifier for CBU in 2027. Anxious to see who picks him up.
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