Grand View three-peats as NAIA Men’s national champion with three titlists; Life is second

PARK CITY, Kansas – Grand View powered to its third straight NAIA Men’s National Championships title on Saturday, led by three individual champions and 12 All-Americans.

Grand View, which entered as the No. 1 ranked team, scored 209 points, ahead of No. 2 ranked Life with 154 points. Placing third was Menlo, with 95.5 points. Rounding out the top five were Southeastern with 91 points and Doane with 63 points.

Individual champions for Grand View were Alex Reynolds (174), Isaiah Luellen (184) and Garavous Kouekabakilaho (197).

Reynolds, a No. 5 seed, beat Graham Calhoun of Southeastern in the finals, 5-4. Luellen, a top seed, beat No. 2 seed Kyle Homet of Life, 4-1. Kouekabakilaho defeated his teammate and returning NAIA national champion Owen Braungardt in the finals, 4-2.

Grand View has won every NAIA men’s national title since 2012, except for 2021, when Life was the team champion. That gives them 12 NAIA titles in the last 13 years, one of the greatest dynasties in college athletics in any sport.

Life finished off with two champions, Brevin Balmeceda (157) and Zane Lanham (285). Balmeceda repeated as NAIA national champion with a 2-0 win over David Rubio of Corbin. Lanham defeated 2023 NAIA national champion Greg Hagan of Grand View by injury default in 4:30.

No. 15 seed Hartwell Taylor of Saint Mary finished off an amazing run by winning the national title at 141, defeating No. 1 seed Evan Potter of Southern Oregon in the finals, 4-2. Taylor also defeated the No. 2 seed and the No. 7 seed on the way to the finals.

Other individual champions were Hunter Sparks of Eastern Oregon (125), Jovan Garcia of Menlo (133), Chase Zollmann of Missouri Valley (149) and Jonathan Kervin of Indiana Tech (165).

NAIA MEN’S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Park City, Kansas, February 29-March 2

125

1st Place Match - 3 Hunter Sparks (Eastern Oregon) won by decision over 13 Nicolas Aguilar (Menlo) (Dec 6-5)

3rd Place Match - 1 Aden Reeves (Grand View ) won by decision over 2 Brandon Orum (Life) (Dec 7-2)

5th Place Match - 6 Trevor Marsman (Cornerstone) won in sudden victory - 1 over 16 Allen Calderon (Indiana Tech) (SV-1 9-6)

7th Place Match - 4 Brody Gee (Saint Mary) won by fall over 5 Izaeah Beavers (Campbellsville) (Fall 1:20)

133

1st Place Match - 2 Jovan Garcia (Menlo) won by decision over 4 Thaddeus Long (Life) (Dec 11-9)

3rd Place Match - 1 Carson Taylor (Grand View ) won by tech fall over 6 Dominic Chavez (Texas Wesleyan) (TF 16-1)

5th Place Match - 7 CaRon Watson (Briar Cliff ) won by decision over 5 Jackson Cockrell (Grand View ) (Dec 9-4)

7th Place Match - 8 Andrew Voiles (Southeastern) won by injury default over 3 Sammy Shires (Cumberland) (Inj. 3:44)

141

1st Place Match - 15 Hartwell Taylor (Saint Mary) won by decision over 1 Evan Potter (Southern Oregon) (Dec 4-2)

3rd Place Match - 4 Nicholas Yancey (Campbellsville) won by decision over 5 Kael Brisker (Southeastern) (Dec 4-1)

5th Place Match - 7 Cade Manion (Oklahoma City) won by fall over Gage Hudson (Cumberlands) (Fall 2:04)

7th Place Match - 12 Edrich Nortje (Dickinson State) won by fall over Aric Williams (Dakota Wesleyan) (Fall 2:56)

149

1st Place Match - 3 Chase Zollmann (Missouri Valley) won by decision over 5 Jack Latimer (Cumberland) (Dec 7-2)

3rd Place Match - 4 Parker Dobrocky (Southeastern) won by decision over 1 Blake Gonzalez (Grand View ) (Dec 5-2)

5th Place Match - 9 Blake Haney (Grand View ) won by fall over 2 Nathan Lendt (Doane) (Fall 7:00)

7th Place Match - 8 Drake Vannoy (Oklahoma City) won by decision over 10 Bryce Nickel (Cumberlands) (Dec 9-3)

157

1st Place Match – 1 Brevin Balmeceda (Life) won by decision over 3 David Rubio (Corban) (Dec 2-0)

3rd Place Match - 4 Kanaipono Tapia (Menlo) won by decision over 12 Trevor Burdick (Reinhardt) (Dec 7-1)

5th Place Match - 2 Antwuan Burns (Campbellsville) won in sudden victory - 1 over 7 Nate Wheeler (Indiana Tech) (SV-1 4-1)

7th Place Match - 9 Francis Morrissey (Ottawa) won by decision over 6 Dylan Whitt (Grand View ) (Dec 8-3)

165

1st Place Match - 3 Jonathan Kervin (Indiana Tech) won by decision over 4 Keller Rock (Embry-Riddle) (Dec 11-5)

3rd Place Match - 2 Rysan Leong (Menlo) won by decision over 1 Steven Villalobos (Life) (Dec 7-1)

5th Place Match - Roman Garcia (Central Methodist) won by fall over 6 Shadrick Slone (Campbellsville) (Fall 0:54)

7th Place Match - 12 Trace Braun (Southeastern) won by major decision over Zander Ernst (Morningside) (Maj 14-2)

174

1st Place Match - 5 Alex Reynolds (Grand View ) won by decision over 10 Graham Calhoun (Southeastern) (Dec 5-4)

3rd Place Match - 3 Abel Nava (Providence) won by fall over 2 Cole Smith (Cumberland) (Fall 3:00)

5th Place Match - 1 Riley Smucker (Life) won by major decision over 14 Michael Scarponi (Doane) (Maj 10-1)

7th Place Match - 13 Maximus Zamora (Menlo) won by decision over 9 Alex Hernandez (Southern Oregon) (Dec 11-10)

184

1st Place Match - 1 Isaiah Luellen (Grand View ) won by decision over 2 Kyle Homet (Life) (Dec 4-1)

3rd Place Match - 3 J.D. Perez (Ottawa) won by decision over 4 William Speight (Lourdes) (Dec 6-0)

5th Place Match - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over 14 Daryus Webb (Avila) (Maj 9-1)

7th Place Match - 10 Jameel Coles (Grand View ) won by decision over 8 Kyle Knudtson (Eastern Oregon) (Dec 8-6)

197

1st Place Match - 8 Garavous Kouekabakilaho (Grand View ) won by decision over 3 Owen Braungardt (Grand View ) (Dec 4-2)

3rd Place Match - 7 Malachi Karibo (Baker) won by decision over 6 Kasten Grape (Doane) (Dec 10-3)

5th Place Match - 12 Elijah Hynes (Missouri Valley) won by decision over Andrew Herrera (Southern Oregon) (Dec 4-2)

7th Place Match - 1 Bradley Antesberger (Doane) won by major decision over 15 Cameron Cornman (Central Methodist) (Maj 11-2)

285

1st Place Match - 3 Zane Lanham (Life) won by injury default over 1 Greg Hagan (Grand View ) (Inj. 4:30)

3rd Place Match - 2 KC Buday (Providence) won in sudden victory - 1 over 7 Hunter DeJong (Morningside) (SV-1 4-1)

5th Place Match - 5 Joshua Isaac (Missouri Valley) won by major decision over 4 Gabe Jacobs (Southeastern) (Maj 18-7)

7th Place Match - 6 Antonio Dacosta (Menlo) won in sudden victory - 1 over 11 Kenneth Copley (Embry-Riddle) (SV-1 4-1)

Men’s Team Standings

1             Grand View, 209.5

2             Life, 154.0

3             Menlo, 95.5

4             Southeastern, 91.0

5             Doane, 63.0

6             Campbellsville, 58.0

7             Missouri Valley, 57.0

8             Cumberland, 53.0

9             Providence, 53.0

10           Indiana Tech, 49.5

11           Southern Oregon, 43.5

12           Eastern Oregon, 41.5

13           Saint Mary, 40.5

14           Embry-Riddle, 39.5

15           Cumberlands, 34.0