Flames 157-pound freshman Matox Allen team’s only finalist at NCWA Grand Nationals

Liberty University's men's wrestling team remained in fourth place after Friday's second day of competition in the NCWA Grand Nationals at the Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City, La.

Flames freshman Matox Allen, seeded sixth at 157 pounds, earned an 11-5 decision over Life (Ga.) University's Enrique Santana before winning his semifinal showdown over Tarleton State's No. 7-seeded Lane Snyder, 6-3, to become the Flames' only championship finalist. He will face Ana G Mendez University's No. 5-seeded Rafael Garcia from Puerto Rico in Saturday's final.

Liberty has accumulated 119.5 points and trails only MAC Tournament champion Apprentice School (160), Menlo (Calif.) College (146), and Tarleton (Texas) State (143.5) in the point standings. The Flames have eight wrestlers still competing in the consolation rounds.

In addition to Allen, freshman Drake Bowers, seeded fifth at 165 pounds, advanced to the championship semifinals by winning his quarterfinal match over Ohio State's Boede Campbell by a 12-2 major decision. However, he suffered a 16-3 major decision at the hands of Tarleton State's No. 8-seeded Finn Shepard to drop to the consolation bracket.

Flames wrestling coaches Jesse Castro Josh McIlhenny — Liberty Head Coach Jesse Castro and Assistant Coach Josh McIlhenny watch the first day of competition in the NCWA Grand Nationals.

Sophomore Aiden Scheeringa, a returning All-American seeded No. 2 at 125, lost a 5-3 decision to Thomas More's No. 3-seeded Trevor Wilcox to slip to the consolation semis.

Liberty 133-pound freshman Blaise Verdino, seeded fifth, lost his first match Friday to Florida A&M's No. 4-seeded Gaetano Tedesco, 2-1, but rebounded to score a 4-3 decision over Vanguard's No. 11-seeded Robert Villegas and set up a consolation Round of 4 match against Virginia Tech's Benjamin Levy.

At 141, Liberty senior Garrett Good, seeded eighth, was edged by Washington State's No. 4-seeded Ryan Wilson, 2-1 in the quarterfinals.

Liberty teammates Zach Kaminski, a senior, and freshman Ronnie Black were scheduled to meet in the consolation Round of 4. Kaminski advanced by pinning Utah Tech's Brennen Benedict after being decked by Menlo's Ledger Petracek; Black responded to a 16-1 technical fall setback against Menlo's Nikita Smatov by pinning MIT's Samuel Calvert.

Flames 197-pound senior Gabe Hayes, seeded 10th, dropped a 10-2 major decision to Menlo's No. 2-seeded Diego Morales before defeating Kansas State's Andrew Husband, 7-3.

At 235 pounds, Liberty graduate Seth Ellsmore, seeded seventh, recovered from losing an 8-2 major decision against Fresno State's Michael Brent by pinning his next two opponents — Slippery Rock's Michael Kreinbucher in 4:03 and Albany's Dominic Wood in 5:26. That set up a consolation Round of 4 showdown with LSU's No. 4-seeded James Baldwin.

On the women's side, Liberty ended Day 2 in ninth place with 26 points out of 52 schools. Lady Flames 180-pound freshman MAC Tournament champion Faith Kiefer, the No. 5 seed, is the only remaining female Liberty wrestler competing in the consolation semifinals. After losing her first match on Friday to Grand Valley State's Krysta Luce by fall in 5:33, she stayed alive by scoring an 8-0 major decision over Xavier-Louisiana's Hime Moore and 5-1 decision over Utah Tech's Kayla Harrison.

Complete results are available online and action will resume Saturday with consolation rounds at 10 a.m. EST and championship finals at 3 p.m., streamed live on FloWrestling.tv.

Flames 157-pound freshman Matox Allen team’s only finalist at NCWA Grand Nationals

Players Mentioned

Matox Allen

Drake Bowers

Seth Ellsmore

Garrett Good

Faith Kiefer

Aiden Scheeringa

Blaise Verdino

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