Antesberger Wins Title to Pace Men's Wrestling in Opener

Men's Wrestling opened the 2023-24 season on Saturday at the Friends Falcon Open in Wichita, Kansas. The Tigers had a strong showing in the opener at the home arena of the NAIA Men's Wrestling Championships and hope to have similar success in March. The Tigers posted 72.0 team points in the Elite Division to place fifth overall.

The Tigers picked up five Top Four finishes, led by Bradley Antesberger in the 197 division. Antesberger collected four wins as the division belonged to Doane. Kasten Grape went 3-0 to advance to the championship but would medically forfeit the championship match to Antesberger.

Antesberger opened with a 7-0 win over Grand View's Elijah Davis. He followed with a win over an unattached teammate to move into the semifinals. Antesberger defeated Ein Carlos, an unattached wrestler from Grand View, in overtime, 8-5. Grape posted a pin in 1:05 in his opening match and then rallied in the quarterfinals for a 12-11 win. Like Antesberger, Grape would go to overtime in the semifinals where he picked up a 2-1 win over unattached Grand View wrestler Trayvonne Jackson.

In the 184 division, Tyson Beauperthuy placed second with a 3-1 day. He opened with a pin in 54 seconds over Malakai Owens of Wayland Baptist. He then won a pair of matches by decision, 10-3 over Northwestern's Jakob Francksen-Small and 7-0 over NAIA No. 20 Jordan Lomeli of Ottawa. He was defeated in the championship match by No. 1 Jesse Daniel Perez of Ottawa by major decision.

Hunter Bennett placed fourth in the 125 division. He went 4-2 on the day with his two losses coming to unattached wrestlers from Grand View. Bennett recorded a 5-3 win in his opening match but would drop his first match in the quarterfinals. In the consolation bracket, he posted three wins by decision. In advancing to the third place match, Bennett defeated NAIA No. 12 Landon Smith of Embry-Riddle, 4-2.

In the Amateur Division, Gavin Smith earned a third place finish at 157. He opened with three straight wins, posting a 9-3 decision, a pin in 1:43, and a major decision of 12-0 to advance to the semifinals. After falling by tech fall in the semis, Smith bounced back with a 6-4 win in the third place match.

Tiger wrestlers combined to earn 39 wins on the day. The team will return to action on November 11 at the Embry-Riddle Mile High Open in Arizona.