Men's Wrestling Caps Season with Best Nationals Finish

Men's Wrestling posted 73 points at the 2025 NAIA National Championships, finishing fourth overall. The Tigers' placement is the best in program history, garnering the first NAIA trophy for Doane. In total, four wrestlers earned NAIA All-American honors with 11 wrestlers qualifying for the national tournament in Park City, Kansas.

Tyson Beauperthuy earned Second Place at 184 to pace the Tigers. He opened the tournament with a pin over Justin Bartee (Rio Grande) in 1:33. In the second round, he defeated 14-seed Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) by tech fall, 17-4. In the quarterfinals, he needed extra time as he defeated 11-seed Jameel Coles (Grand View) by sudden victory, 4-1. Beauperthuy took on 7-seed Sawyer Hobbs (Providence) in the semifinals and posted another 17-4 tech fall victory.

In the championship match, he faced 1-seed JD Perez (Life). Perez led 6-1 after three minutes of action, recording two takedowns in the final 72 seconds of the period. He added a takedown in the second period to take a 9-2 lead. The final two minutes were a flurry of points as Perez recorded a takedown for a 12-2 lead. Beauperthuy landed his first takedown with 1:03 left in the match but a challenge from the Life corner would give Perez a breather despite the call standing. Beauperthuy picked up two near-fall points to cut the score to 12-8 only to have Perez get a reversal. The final score would end up 15-9.

In the 197 bracket, Kasten Grape and Bradley Antesberger worked their way to the third place match with Grape receiving a medical forfeit win for Third Place while Antesberger took Fourth Place.

Grape opened action with a pin over John Schuttler (Graceland) in 3:43.In the second round, he pinned Jett McCauley (Keiser) in 3:57. Grape rallied in the quarterfinals to defeat 4-seed Ryker Blackburn (Saint Mary, KS), 8-7. He trailed 6-5 before landing a takedown with 19 seconds left in the match to avenge an earlier season loss to Blackburn. In the semifinals, he dropped his match to 1-seed Garavous Kouekabakilaho (Grand View) by major decision, 16-2. He advanced to the Third Place match with a 15-0 tech fall win over 11-seed Gentry Smith (Southeastern).

Antesberger opened with a 17-2 tech fall win over Michael Moreno (Arizona Christian). He defeated 15-seed Trillyon Fils-Aime (Southeastern) in the second round with a reversal standing as the only points recorded, winning 2-0. In the quarterfinals, Antesberger defeated 10-seed Austin Vanek (Montana State-Northern) by major decision, 8-0. In the semifinals, he was edged out in overtime by 3-seed Khalil Abdushshakur (Life), 4-1 by sudden victory. Antesberger advanced to the Third Place match with a 4-2 win over 8-seed Asher Ruchti (Southern Oregon).

Doane's fourth All-American was Nate Lendt, taking sixth place at 149. He opened the tournament with a 15-0 tech fall win over Chris Kelly (Southeastern). In the second round, he defeated 15-seed Jaxon Morlan (Eastern Oregon) by decision, 13-9. In the quarterfinal round, a takedown by 10-seed Alex Pena was the difference in a 4-2 loss. Lendt came back with a 4-1 win over Devin Griffin (Reinhardt). He added a 3-2 win over 9-seed Bret Minor (Life) before dropping an 8-2 decision in the consolation semifinals to 5-seed Victor Guzman (Cumberlands). In the Fifth Place match, 13-seed Mario De La Torre (Southeastern) picked up a narrow 16-12 win.

Ben Miller advanced out of the first day of action and went 2-2 at 157. He opened with a pin over Caden Eggleston (Morningside) in 3:59. He dropped a 4-1 decision to 9-seed Fabian Padilla (Life) in the second round. A pin over Noah Smith (Oklahoma Wesleyan) in 4:22 sent Miller into the second day of action. He dropped his first match on Friday to 2-seed Aaron Gandara (Southern Oregon) by major decision, 12-0.

Doane received additional team points with victories from Matthew Terrence and Devin Avedissian. Terrence won his opening match by major decision, 11-1, over Wyatt Hinton (Campbellsville) while Avedissian won by sudden victory, 5-2, over Bo Davis (Corban) in his opening match.

Also representing the Tigers were first-time qualifiers Hunter Bennett and Brian Peck as well as two-time qualifiers Kolton Kammeyer and Eli Criblez.

The team's 73 points are the most scored in program history, topping the mark of 68.5 set in 2022.