History was made on Saturday when the University of Ozarks won the inaugural SLIAC Men's Wrestling Championship. The title was up for grabs with two matches remaining but the Eagles picked up wins in each of the contests, winning the tournament with 162.5 points.
The Eagles racked up 32 wins in the tournament, sending five wrestlers into the championship round; where they would eventually take four weight class titles.
Host school Eureka College pushed Ozarks all day long, using a pair of wins to start the championship round to grab the team scoring lead. Trevor Hedges opened up the championship round with a pin fall at 125 and was followed by teammate Gaige Owens at 133 with another pin fall. The back-to-back pins, put the Red Devils up by 3.5 team points.
The 141 match-up between Ozarks' Jacob Dado and Eureka's Nathan Berta played a pivotal role in the championship decision. Dado opened the match up with back-to-back take downs to build a 6-1 lead and closed out for a 17-10 win that put the Eagles back on top by a half point.
Eureka had a chance to take the lead back at 157 but Westminster's Michael Roberts pulled off an impressive last minute pin to keep any additional points from the Red Devils. Roberts had his back mounted with 52-seconds left and down 11-1 when he rolled out of a pin attempt and countered with a headlock and pin of his own for the Blue Jays' victory.
With four wrestlers in the final five matches, Ozarks was in strong position to take the title. Airamis Mendoza added to the Eagles' lead with a win at 165 but the Red Devils still had a chance heading into the final two matches.
The championship match at 197 would turn out to be the clinching battle as the Eagles Daniel Benoit and Red Devils Thomas Culp would take center mat. The two wrestlers would go to overtime at 1-1 when Benoit defended a throw and took down his opponent for a sudden victory win; clinching the title for Ozarks.
The final match of the day was at 285 where Ka'Ron Lewis put the exclamation point with a pin fall victory. In addition to their championship winners the Eagles had medalist efforts from Shelton Chastain (125), John Raymundo (133), Zander Payne (141), and Gabriel Sheikh (174).
Eureka College finished with 156 team points, recording 22 wins in the tournament including 10 pin falls. In addition to title from Hedges and Owens, the Red Devils picked medalist efforts from Berta (141), Hartnett (157), Sartori (165), Culp (197), and Creasy (285).
Westminster College placed 3rd with 118 points. Roberts and his teammate Austen Wetzel (184) became the first Blue Jays to win SLIAC championship medals, with both winning by pin fall. Wyatt Cooley also took home a 3rd place finish at 149.
Coming in 4th place was Schreiner University with 112.5 points. Julian Montelongo won a title for the Mountaineers at 149 as they finished the tournament with the 3rd most wins at 21. Jose Salinas Nava (125), Nawab Singh (184), and Luis Rodriguez (285) each placed 2nd with Levi Slaydon (184) taking 3rd place.
Lyon College finished with 98 points in 5th place. Lyon College had three medalists at the championship, led by Jacob Kehrer's 2nd place showing at 133. Liam Selhorst (174) and Eli Lupton (197) each finished 3rd in their weight class.
Fontbonne University finished 6th with 75.5 points. Connor Morin picked up a sudden victory at 174 to give the Griffins their program's first ever SLIAC individual title. Jay Strausbaugh (149) and Micah Dennis (165) both placed 2nd while Joe Beck finished 3rd at 157.