Life University Athletics

WICHITA, Kan.--- The weekend saw multiple program bests for the Life University men's wrestling program at the NAIA Men's Wrestling Championships, the team placing six guys in championship bouts with three of them earning the highest honors as the Running Eagles recorded a second place finish in Hartman Arena.

Despite being down two wrestlers, Life U amassed 157.5 team points, creating nearly 70 points of separation with the third placed team Southeastern, 90 points, but came up short of champions Grand View who won their 11th title in 12 years with 206 points. 

Brandon Orum made his way to the 125 lbs title match for the third straight year, pulling off his second championship. The redshirt senior was the second highest scorer for the team with 23.0 points. His first day saw a pair of victories that came in the bonus, starting the day with a first period pin and ending the day in the quarterfinals with a 10-1 major decision over the 7-seed. Orum's ability to force his opponent into his own pace could not have been more clear on the second day, earning a 1-0 decision victory over the 14-seed in the semis to secure a spot in the title bout. In his final match Saturday night, a late escape and riding time secured the Camden County native his second title in a 5-4 decision.

The second title of the night came from Brevin Balmeceda at 149 lbs. After a third place finish last year, the junior seemed unstoppable during the tournament, being the team's high scorer with 23.5 total points. All of Balmeceda's first day matches came as bonus point victories, opening with an 18-1 tech fall, before back-to-back major decisions-- 10-0 and 9-1--saw Balmeceda through to the semifinals. On the second day dominated the 2-seed from Grand View in the semis, earning a 6-0 decision victory to advance to the title bout. Balmeceda matched up with the top seed that has been the runner-up in each of the last three 149 lbs finals, and provided him the same result, earning a 2-1 decision victory.

The last title came as a redemption story, Asher Eichert returning to the final mat two years after being a 174 lbs. finalist to claim  the top spot at 184 lbs. Entering the tournament as a 5-seed, Eichert earned bonus point victories in his first two matches, starting with a third period fall and then majoring the 12-seed in the second round 13-2. The quarterfinals matched Eichert up with the 4-seed, pulling off a hard fought 2-1 decision to stay on the championship side of the bracket headed into the second day of competition. In the semis, he faced the top seed and returning national champion at 184 lbs, securing a strong 4-1 decision victory. The finals saw an AAC Conference rematch, Eichert going against the 14-seed from Southeastern, controlling his opponent to a 5-2 decision victory.

Life U had three other men make it to the championship, Julian Hernandez making a run at 141 lbs., Zane Lanham returning to the title match at 197 lbs., and transfer Austin Harris making a push at 285 lbs. 

Hernandez's trip to the finals saw all of his matches end as decisions, starting with two 3-2 victories before winning in a 3-1 sudden victory in extra time against the 7-seed in the quarters. A 4-3 victory over a conference foe from Keiser in semis earned Hernandez a spot in the final where he suffered a decision loss to be the 141 lbs runner-up.

Lanham kept finding a way to advance on his way to a runner-up finish at 197 lbs. After starting day one with a first period pin, decision victories 6-2 and 1-0 saw him stay on the championship side of the bracket for the second day. The semis saw a 6-4 decision victory over the 4-seed, with Lanham coming up just short in the finals for a decision loss.

At heavyweight, Harris provided the team tons of bonus points during the first day. A first and second period pin in his first two matches followed by a day one ending 15-5 major decision over the 6-seed saw Harris enter the second day as one of the hottest wrestlers in the tournament. In the semis, he continued dominating his opponents, making easy work over the 2-seed in an 8-3 decision. In the finals, after what looked like a strong start, Harris got caught while looking for a takedown to lose via pin for the team's third runner-up.

Other All-Americans included Jack Bass at 165 lbs., making it to the semifinals with dominant performances. A lingering injury was aggravated again in the semis where he took a 3-2 decision loss, medical forfeiting his remaining two matches for a sixth-place finish. Riley Smucker also stayed perfect on his way to the semis, earning a 3-2 decision and 10-0 major to advance to the second day. After a decision loss, the senior ended his day with back-to-back hard fought decision victories to lay claim to third place at 174 lbs. The last of Life U's nine All-Americans came from Stephen Villalobos, bouncing back from a quarterfinals loss to win through the blood round and earn a spot as an All-American. In the 157 lbs. seventh-place match, Villalobos beat a conference opponent from Reinhardt, 5-3 to end his tournament on a high note.

Head coach Omi Acosta spoke about the highs of the tournament and where the program goes from here, "We don't train for second place, but hopefully now we have proven ourselves as a worthy rival [of Grand View] and really learned from this experience; especially the freshmen. It's a bittersweet lesson for me as a coach and for my team. I'm excited to see how good we can be in the future. We had six guys in the finals and three champs which is a program high for us. We are going to continue getting better. We had a lot of guys fighting through adversity this weekend. Second isn't what we train for, but its what God gave us. Life U is not going anywhere."

With the close of the NAIA Men's Wrestling Championship the 2022-23 season draws to an end, the team getting ready to make a run in the 2023-24 seasoon.