Men's Wrestling Opens Season Ranked No. 6

Doane Men's Wrestling will open the season on October 28 at the York College Duals and they will take a No. 6 national ranking into the event. The 2022-23 preseason NAIA poll was announced on Thursday, placing the Tigers in the Top 10 for the ninth consecutive poll and 11th out of the last 12 rankings. Doane had one Top 10 ranking prior to the current run.

Grand View (Iowa) is the preseason favorite, followed by Life (Ga.), Southeastern (Fla.), Marian (Ind.), and Indiana Tech. Following Doane to round out the Top 10 were Ottawa (Kan.), Eastern Oregon, Morningside (Iowa), and Campbellsville (Ky.).

Doane placed 10 wrestlers on the Individual Top 25 rankings, led by three-time defending national champion, Baagii Boldmaa (SR/Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), at 141. Boldmaa has posted back-to-back seasons of finishing 25-0 and brings a 67-match win-streak into the season. He was named the NAIA Wrestler of the Year for 2022 and holds the most wins at nationals for a Tiger wrestler with 14.

Bradley Antesberger (SO/North Pole, Alaska) is ranked No. 2 at 197 to start the season. He qualified for nationals each of the last two years and finished fourth in 2022 to earn All-American honors.

Daniel Vargas (SR/San Diego, Calif.) will move up a weight class this season to 133 and starts the season at No. 6 in the rankings. He is a two-time All-American at 125 and has eight wins at nationals, second-most in program history.

Michael Scarponi (JR/Temecula, Calif.) is a two-time national qualifier and will start the season ranked No. 10 at 174. Chinges Tsermaa (JR/Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) qualified for nationals last year, his first at Doane, and opens the year at No. 11 at 165 as he moves up from the 157 division. Tristan Zamilpa (JR/Madera, Calif.) is a two-time national qualifier for Doane and will open the year ranked No. 12 at 149. Ellsworth CC transfer Nate Lendt (FR/Des Moines, Iowa) is also ranked at 149, coming in at No. 13.

At heavyweight, two-time national qualifier Brandon Antesberger (JR/North Pole, Alaska) is ranked No. 13 after back-to-back years with two wins at the national meet. In the 184 division, Garrett Cornwell (SR/Albion, Neb.) is ranked No. 23, marking the second time he has been nationally ranked. In the heavyweight division, Samuel Peterson (JR/Bonney Lake, Wash.) is ranked No. 24 to garner his first national ranking as a Tiger.

As expected, Doane also led the way in the GPAC for the conference rankings. Doane placed 12 wrestlers on the conference rankings. They are as follows:

125 - Hunter Bennett (SO/Tilden, Neb.) - 3rd
133 - Daniel Vargas - 1st
141 - Baagii Boldmaa - 1st
149 - Tristan Zamilpa - 2nd
149 - Nate Lendt - 3rd
165 - Chinges Tsermaa - 2nd
165 - Benjamin Dobler (SO/Torokszentmiklos, Hungary) - 6th
174 - Michael Scarponi - 1st
184 - Garrett Cornwell - 3rd
197 - Bradley Antesberger - 1st
285 - Brandon Antesberger - 2nd
285 - Samuel Peterson - 3rd

Doane is the defending two-time GPAC regular-season champion and the defending GPAC Tournament champion.