DWU MEN’S WRESTLING GPAC CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
February 13, 2024

DWU MEN’S WRESTLING GPAC CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

Mitchell, S.D. –

With the GPAC Men's Wrestling Championships around the corner, the Tigers are getting prepped for a big post season run for several athletes. The Tigers posted a 5-3 conference dual record and had several big finishes in tournaments including an individual champion in Kaleb Bigelow when he won the 165 class in the DWU Open back in November.

In the latest NAIA Coaches Poll's, the Tigers were receiving votes as a team with four individuals in the Top 25.

A Look Back at the Season –

The Tigers opened the season with an exhibition dual on November 10th and then hosted the DWU Open where Kaleb Bigelow won an individual title. In the next home dual, the Tigers put away Northwestern with big wins from Freshman Kipp Cordes, Tyson Johnson, and Bigelow. The wrestling team would win three conference duals in a row against Concordia, Hastings, and Jamestown. In the final set of GPAC Duals, the Tigers split the day with a win over Midland and were defeated by Doane. In the three conference losses that the Tigers had this season, one was decided by criteria, one was a three-point loss, and the other was against No. 7 ranked Doane. Some noticeable high lights of the season include Bigelow's title in the DWU Open, Tyson Johnson upsetting the No.22 wrestler from Briar Cliff in the 157 class on January 23rd, Lane Miller defeating No. 21 Jackson Chapin from Morningside on the Tiger's senior night, and Zach Zitek getting the big time upset victory over the No. 10 wrestler also from Morningside back in November during the DWU Open.

Athletes to Watch –

  • Grad. Senior Aric Williams has posted a season record of 6-2. After starting 1-2 at the DWU Open and having to sit to hold onto his eligibility, Williams would not be back on the mat until January. Once he was back, he went on a 5-0 run to finish off his senior season.
  • Senior Trevion Sample was in a similar situation to Williams, sitting the first portion of the season to hold onto his eligibility. Once he was back with the team, Sample went on a hot streak and defeated all six of his opponents including at the time No. 5 Hunter DeJong of Morningside on the Tiger's senior night dual. Sample has moved up to the No. 6 spot in the NAIA polls.
  • Junior Zach Zitek has put up a strong season, leading the Tigers with the most matches and going 11-9 so far. Zitek went 4-2 to finish the season including two wins on the second day of the GPAC Duals.
  • Red shirt Sophomore Lane Miller has gone 13-2 and has been a dominant member of the Tiger's squad. Miller has been ranked in four of the seven polls that came out through the season with his highest-ranking being 19th.
  • Junior Kaleb Bigelow leads the Tigers with the best record going 12-2 with his first loss coming against a Mustang from Morningside. Kaleb had won 10 straight before his first loss and then finished the regular season with a pair of wins at the last set of GPAC Duals.
  • Kipp Cordes has put in an impressive freshman campaign in the 125 class. Although he went 11-7, he kickstarted several duals for the Tigers by pinning his opponent in the opening round. The freshman has been the starting wrestler in eight duals for DWU.

Head Coach Martin Mueller's Thoughts –

"Going into this weekend, we need to trust our training and understand that this is a new season. Some of our guys are expected to do big things and they can't let that get to them, they just need to trust themselves and our coaching staff and they will be ready. Looking back, some of the highs and lows of the season would have to be during that two day stretch where we went from being undefeated in conference to losing two in a row. We have done a really good job of taking our losses and learning from them."

GPAC Men's Wrestling Championships –

The Tigers will travel to Seward, Nebraska to the campus of Concordia University for the two-day tournament. Friday's face offs will start at 2 p.m. after the teams are seeded in their brackets and Saturday will pick up at 10 a.m. The tournament will be hosted inside the Walz Human Performance Complex.

 Live Video and Live Results will be provided by the GPAC.