Men’s wrestlers ready to rumble at NCWA National Duals in Utah

Friday, February 13

St. George, UT

8:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Utah Tech

Men's wrestling NCWA National Duals preview

Matox Allen, the reigning 157-pound NCWA Grand National champion, leaps over fellow Flames sophomore Drake Bowers while Zack Kaminski (top left), Brodie Altman (bottom left), and Josiah Foss (right) strike poses. (Photos by Travis Clayton)

Men’s wrestlers ready to rumble at NCWA National Duals in Utah

2/12/2026 9:57:00 AM | Men's Wrestling

The third-seeded Flames look to continue their 14-year run of podium finishes at this tournament.

Liberty University's men's wrestling team, seeded third for this weekend's NCWA National Duals tournament hosted by Utah Tech University in St. George, Utah, will look to extend its streak of first-, second-, or third-place finishes to 15 consecutive National Duals.

The Flames landed in third place last February at Apprentice School, the defending champion and No. 1 seed from Newport News, Va. Prior to that, Liberty finished second in back-to-back seasons and first in the previous four times the tournament was held from 2018-22. That run brought the Flames' total number of team crowns to six, one more than their five NCWA Grand National titles, including four straight ending in 2022.

The Flames and Builders are two of the three East Coast teams in the 12-team field, along with the University of Central Florida.

"The majority of the teams are from the West," Willamson said. "Other than that, the farthest East is probably INebraska (No. 8-seeded Wayne State College)."

In the NCWA Team Rankings released this week, Liberty is ranked fourth behind Menlo (Calif.) College — the reigning NCWA Grand National team champion that is transitioning to the NCAA Division II ranks — Apprentice, and Tarleton (Texas) State University. Menlo is not competing in this tournament.

The Flames, who flew 18 team members out of Raleigh-Durham (N.C.) International Airport to Las Vegas on Wednesday before their two-hour drive to Utah Tech, will open competition Friday at noon EST against No. 9 Colorado State before challenging the No. 4-seeded host Trailblazers at 3:30 p.m. EST and No. 10 UCLA at 7 p.m. EST. Those pool-play matches will determine seedings for Saturday's championship bracket to start at 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. EST. (Complete tournament information is available on the NCWA website and action will be streamed live on FloWrestling.org.)

"We're within striking distance," Williamson said. "If our guys are focused and come out with an intensity that we should, we're a pretty formidable team and can beat some good teams out there. We want to try to send a message to (NCWA Division I) that we're going to be ready for the (March 26-28 NCWA Grand National tournament near Shreveport, La.)"

However, that hasn't always been the case this season.

"It's a tale of two teams right now, and a matter of which team goes out there and which team shows up," Williamson said. "I think they will show up and be physically, emotionally, and competitively ready to go."

He said the team has only wrestled a handful of dual matches this season — at the Rocky Top (Tenn.) Duals in December and the Virginia Duals last month in Hampton.

"We haven't wrestled a ton of dual meets, but this year, we have wrestled a very tough schedule, against mostly NAIA and NCAA DII and DIII teams," Williamson said. "No one at this event is going to outclass the competition we've seen this year. Our guys have seen some of the best non-NCAA Division I competition in the country this year. No one's there that we're not prepared for, and I am extremely confident in them. We look forward to the challenge."

He said the team is not at its peak conditioning level, which he hopes to have them at by the NCWA Grand Nationals in six weeks.

"We've got some injuries, and some sicknesses," Williamson said. "If there's one thing we've talked about this year, it's that it just doesn't matter. You've got to go and do your job anyway. We've got guys banged up and probably wishing they were healthier, but that's OK. We're going to be ready."

He likes the depth the Flames have at most weight classes, as well as the quality of wrestlers throughout the lineup.

"We're going to be solid at every weight class," Williamson said. "Our best weights are going to be 133 with (freshman) Brodie Altman and (sophomore) Wayshaun Hicks, and from 157 and up, we're very solid at every weight class."

That includes sophomore Matox Allen, the reigning NCWA Grand National champion at 157 pounds, senior Jordan Scott at 165, junior Drake Bowers at 174, sophomore Ron Black at 184, freshman Braden Ewing at 197, senior Zach Kaminski at 235, and senior Wade Wheeler at heavyweight.

The only team in the field the Flames have seen wrestle live matches is Apprentice. The Builders ended Liberty's run of consecutive Mid-Atlantic Conference tournament championships at 12 last season after finishing runner-up at the NCWA National Duals and before placing second at the NCWA Grand Nationals.

"We'll have to be ready to go if we wrestle (the Builders because) they're very good," Williamson said. "They've got a great team from top to bottom, and they wrestle with an attitude. They wrestle in your face. They're always ready to fight. You've got to be ready to match them or they'll punch you in the mouth and not feel bad for you."

"We want to show not just Apprentice, but everybody there that we will fight with everything we have on the mat and love you just the same off the mat," he added.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer