Warriors Perform at Missouri Valley Open

MARSHALL, Mo. – Midland University completed competition in the two-day Missouri Valley Open on Saturday inside the Burns Athletic Center. Among the 53 teams that competed, Midland finished in 33rd place with 27.0 team points. Top-ranked Grand View University won the meet with 248.0 points.

Eight Warriors competed in one of the more challenging events on the Midland schedule. At 141 pounds, Jackson Duncan (2-12) went 0-2. Duncan lost his opening match to No. 7-ranked Creighton Baughman of Concordia, by technical fall, 18-1, at 2:42. In consolation round one, Duncan was eliminated by Kane Butrick of Northwestern, by technical fall, 15-0, at 2:32.

Zion Amerson (14-18) went 0-2 at 149 pounds. After a first-round bye, Amerson lost to Jordan Tobias of Hastings, by major decision, 14-5. In consolation round two, Amerson was defeated by Cal Beadling of Campbellsville, by technical fall, 15-0, at 5:38.

Colton Horne (9-15) went 2-2 at 174 pounds. Horne won his opening round match over Josh Mojica-Smith of Montreat, 9-7. In round two, Horne lost to No. 20-ranked Johnathon Ward of Texas Wesleyan, by fall, at 3:00. Horne bounced back in consolation round two with a victory over Joe Juitt of Avila, by fall, at 2:26. Horne's weekend ended in consolation round three after a loss to Cameron Nesbitt of Cumberland, by technical fall, 16-0, at 6:18.

Treyton Tweton (11-13) went 1-2 at 184 pounds. Tweton suffered a loss in the opening round to No. 20-ranked Trevor Stuyvenburg of Indiana Tech, by fall, at 4:02. After a consolation round one bye, Tweton defeated Jeffrey Geller of Southeastern, by fall, at 2:35. Tweton was defeated in consolation round three by Jonathon Paramore of Reinhardt, by fall, at 1:17.

Two Warriors wrestled in the 197-pound weight class. No. 10-ranked Burton Brandt (9-2) picked up three victories but, after tweaking a knee, withdrew from the competition with a pair of medical forfeits. In round one, Brandt defeated Diogo Ramos-Padilha of St. Thomas University, by fall, at 1:41. In round two, Brandt won over Walker Anthony of Brewton-Parker, by fall, in 35 seconds. In round three, Brandt recorded another win via fall, this time over Jacob Ruff of Central Methodist, in 5:57.

Near the end of the bout, Brandt felt some discomfort. "We felt it was best to hold him out after that," said Midland head coach Doyle Trout. "With two weeks until the GPAC Duals, we want him healthy going in," Trout said. Brandt yielded a medical forfeit in the quarterfinals to No. 4-ranked Ryker Blackburn of the University of St. Mary and then did the same to Jake Henson of Central Methodist in consolation round six.

Ryan Kocovsky (4-9) went 1-2 in the bracket. Kocovsky opened with a victory over Matheson Rodriguez of Hastings, by fall, at 3:52. In round two, Kocovsky lost to No. 8-ranked Austin Vanek of Montana State-Northern, by fall, in 22 seconds. In consolation round two, Kocovsky was defeated by Jackson Geslin of Keiser, by fall, at 2:54.

Midland had two more wrestlers compete in the 285-pound division. Remington Gay (9-10) went 1-2. After a first-round bye, Gay dropped a major decision to No. 14-ranked Braden Morgan of Friends, 14-2. Gay bounced back in consolation round two with a victory over Michael Peneski of Rio Grande, by fall, in 46 seconds. Gay's weekend ended in consolation round three after a loss by technical fall, 16-0, to Mason Garcia of Concordia, at 5:19.

 No. 23-ranked Zeph Sivels (20-7) went 4-2 over the weekend. In round one, Sivels picked up a major decision over Jeremiah Vasquez of Concordia, 11-2. In round two, Sivels won by fall over Skyler Young of William Penn, in 2:47. Sivels suffered his first loss of the competition in round three. After a 2-2 tie, Sivels' opponent, No. 25-ranked Eli Criblez of Doane, won via criteria. Sivels bounced back with two straight wins in the consolation rounds. In round four, Sivels defeated No. 16-ranked Ethan Deroche of Providence, 6-2. In consolation round five, Sivels downed Ty Cobb of Lourdes, 6-1. However, Sivels was knocked out of the competition in consolation round six by Ian Clifford of Indiana Tech, in a close 7-4 decision.

"As a whole, I thought we improved," said Coach Trout. "I feel we wrestled better than we did in our dual on Wednesday night. Now it's time to get ready for the conference duals in two weeks."

Midland will return to action on Saturday, February 8, in the GPAC Duals, hosted by (RV) Dakota Wesleyan. The Warriors will face the host Tigers at 11 a.m., followed by No. 23 Morningside at 2 p.m. Midland will conclude dual competition against (RV) Northwestern at 3:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Christen Family Athletic Center in Mitchell, South Dakota.