Life University Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ---- The No. 15 Life University men's wrestling team took second place for the second year in a row at the 2020 NWCA National Team Duals over the weekend. The Running Eagles upset the number two, three and four team in the country in shocking fashion at the tournament.

Life U began its journey matching up with fellow Mid-South Conference member No. 4 University of the Cumberlands. Kevin Saravia started the bought with a pin 1:01 into the contest with unranked Tramon Jenkins earning the 14-5 upset major decision at 133 over the No. 7 ranked wrestler in the class. Unranked Julian Hernandez followed the performance with an upset of his own on a 6-5 decision at 141 over the No. 8 ranked wrestler in the class. Cumberlands bounced back with a technical fall at 149, before No. 8 Osvani Ley earned a dominant 22-6 technical fall at 157. Cumberlands won its second matchup of the dual at 165. No. 14 Sid Ohl swung the momentum back towards the Running Eagles with a win via pin fall at 174 as Mike Edouard tallied the pin at 184 to give Life U a commanding 30-8 lead. Cumberlands finished the dual with a pair of major decisions as Life U pulled off the upset 30-16.

The men had a short rest before they were back on the mat to face No. 3 Campbellsville University for a spot in the semifinals. Unranked Chase Ayers pulled off the upset to start the dual with a pin over the No. 8 wrestler in the class to put Life U ahead 6-0. No. 20 Sean Deshazer followed the performance with an upset of his own at 133 over the No. 2 wrestler in the class with an 8-6 decision in overtime. Hernandez kept the momentum rolling with his second upset of the day over the No. 1 wrestler in the class on a 3-2 decision. Campbellsville took a narrow 6-5 decision at 149 before Ley took a 3-2 decision at 157 to put the Running Eagles ahead 15-3. No. 14 Ohl earned his second bonus point victory of the day with an upset at 165 over the No. 12 wrestler in the class on a 9-1 major decision. Campbellsville responded with a 9-5 decision at 174, before unranked Michael Gibson pulled off the upset over the No. 19 wrestler in the class at 184 with a 5-4 decision. Diallo Matsimella picked up the pin at 197 as Andre Bissainthe won via forfeit at 285 to give Life U its second upset of the day in dominant fashion 34-6.

On day two In the semifinals, Life U matched up with No. 2 Reinhardt University. Reinhardt took an 11-5 decision at 125 before Jenkins tied the dual at three with a 9-5 decision at 133. Hernandez picked up his third upset of the tournament over the No. 10 ranked wrestler in the class with an 8-7 decision at 141. No. 11 Marcelo Sierra followed the performance with an upset of his own at 149 over the No. 6 wrestler in the class with a 6-4 sudden victory decision. Ley improved to 3-0 during the tournament with a 3-1 sudden victory decision at 157 as Reinhardt bounced back with a 3-0 decision at 165. No. 9 Mason McDaniel tallied the upset over the No. 3 wrestler in the class at 174 to put Life U ahead 15-6. Reinhardt earned a 6-4 decision at 184 and a 9-1 major decision at 197 to cut the Running Eagle lead to two, 15-14, with one weight class remaining. With the dual on the line, Bissainthe earned the exciting pin to send Life U to the finals for the second consecutive year on the 21-13 upset victory.

Grand View won the finals at every weight class to claim their ninth consecutive NWCA National Duals championship.

In total, Life U tallied ten individual upset victories over the weekend. Head coach Omi Acosta had this to say on his team's performance, "This week we saw how good we can be and also how much work we still have to do. This will get us ready for the Mid-South Conference Championships and the NAIA Nationals in March."

The men's wrestling team will return to action on Saturday, January 18, as they travel to West Palm Beach, Florida to face off against MSC opponents No. 10 Southeastern and Keiser University at Keiser.