Men’s wrestlers battle adversity, finish fifth at NCWA Grand Nationals

Flames 197-pound freshman Braden Ewing competes in the March 15 Mid-Atlantic Conference Championships at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex. (Photo by Travis Clayton)

Men’s wrestlers battle adversity, finish fifth at NCWA Grand Nationals

3/28/2026 11:44:00 PM | Men's Wrestling

The Flames had five All-Americans while Liberty’s women’s wrestlers came in 12th with two.

Liberty University's men's wrestling team remained in fifth place and its women's team landed in 12th after the final day of competition at the NCWA Grand National Championships in the Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City, La.

The Flames wound up with five All-Americans with three fourth-place and two sixth-place finishers to total 121.5 team points and finish behind Menlo (Calif.) College (235.5 points), which is transitioning to NCAA Division II; Life (Ga.) University (196), an NAIA powerhouse and NCWA Division II team champion; Tarleton (Texas) State University (164), which is transitioning to NCAA Division I; and Mid-Atlantic Conference rival Apprentice School (128).

"This was probably one of the most competitive NCWA Grand National tournament fields in the past 10 years or so," said Liberty first-year Head Coach Chris Williamson, who spent six years as assistant coach under Jesse Castro before serving as the founding head coach at Cornerstone (Mich.) University, an NAIA program, the past four seasons. "It was extremely deep and absolutely one of the toughest. We beat Apprentice at the (NCWA National Duals and the MAC) conference tournament but they're a very good team as well. It was a stacked field."

After winning his consolation quarterfinal match by 12-3 major decision over UNLV's Sam Gallardo, 157-pound sophomore Matox Allen — the Flames' lone national champion last season — won his consolation semifinal by default before losing to Menlo's Lincoln Vick by 15-2 major decision in his third-place bout.

At 133 pounds, freshman Brodie Altman advanced to the consolation final with a 7-4 victory over Menlo's Giancarlo Plaza before dropping a 2-0 decision to Elijah Nose of Jamestown (N.D.) University, which is transitioning to NCAA Division II.

Liberty 165-pound sophomore Drake Bowers won his consolation semifinal match over VCU's Calvin Kopstein, 7-2, before falling to UConn's Victor Petkov 4-3 in the third-place final.

Sophomore Ron Black dropped a 5-4 decision to Menlo's Matthew Diamond in the 184-pound fifth-place final. Senior heavyweight Wade Wheeler earned a 4-1 decision over Iowa State's Paul Ballard in his consolation semifinal before losing his fifth-place final to Life's Devin Dudley, 9-6.

"We're disappointed in the finish (but) I thought our guys battled really hard in spite of the circumstances," Williamson said. "We had a lot of behind-the scenes stuff not go our way. They did what we asked them to do, but we didn't have things fall in our favor. The putts were not going in; we could not find the back of the net or could not seem to get across the finish line with some of our matches. That's the way it goes sometimes."

He and the Flames were encouraged that they only graduate two wrestlers — senior heavyweights Josh Herrmann and Wheeler.

"We bring almost all of our team back," Williamson said. "Only one of our All-Americans (Wheeler) this year was a senior, so we return practically everybody, and we expect to get better. We're very excited about the recruits we have coming in, and we are very excited about the future of our team because I think it's very bright."

He said four wrestlers advanced to the blood rounds — Herrmann, 197-pound freshman Braden Ewing, 141-pound sophomore Gordon Watkins, a transfer from Shenandoah University, and 133-pound sophomore Wayshaun Hicks — and could have brought the number of All-American finishes from five to nine with one or two more wins apiece.

"Braden has beaten three of the (eight 197-pound) All-Americans from this weekend, including national finalist (the University of South Carolina's Aaron Coverdell) at the MAC Championships, so he is more than good enough to be one himself," Williamson said. "It would have been a totally different weekend, but that's just the way it goes. Sometimes things don't go your way, but we are not going to grow weary of doing good. We're going to keep fighting and getting much better."

In the women's bracket, Liberty had All-American finishes from two of its sophomores — Faith Kiefer, who was pinned by Grand Valley (Mich.) State University's Zamaria Hemingway 4 minutes, 8 seconds into their 180-pound fifth-place final, and June Welch, who scored a 14-0 major decision over the University of Maryland's McKinley Jovanovic in the 141-pound seventh-place bout.
Complete results are available on FloWrestling.org.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer