Avila Wins Twice at 2023 Eagle Duals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Avila men's wrestling team had a solid showing at the 2023 Eagle Duals on Saturday in Mabee Fieldhouse, winning two of their four duals on their home floor, including their first win over a nationally-ranked team this season.

The third annual installment of the Eagle Duals featured a total of 11 teams from across the NAIA, with close to 200 athletes competing in 23 duals over the span of about seven hours on Saturday. The annual event is always action-packed with plenty of intriguing matchups and results, and this year's showcase was no exception.

After some schedule shuffles earlier in the week, the Eagles had four NAIA opponents on the docket on Saturday. Up first was Waldorf, the only one of the 11 teams in Mabee Fieldhouse that isn't appearing in the latest NAIA national rankings, either in the Top 20 or in the receiving votes tier. The Warriors struggled across the board on Saturday, and the Eagles did everything they could to make Waldorf's second annual trip to Kansas City was a difficult one.

Avila won eight of the ten bouts en route to a 41-11 walloping of Waldorf late on Saturday morning. Tyler Johnson took a forfeit win to start the day, and Ryan McNeel kicked things off in earnest with an 11-1 major at 133. Waldorf won its only contest bout of the match at 141 before Avila responded with tech fall victories from Terrell Carter-Williams and Karter Brink to take a stranglehold on the match.

165 was an open weight for the Eagles all day, but after the Warriors got a positive result there the Eagles went full throttle to finish off a resounding win. Corey Holmes, Daryus Webb and Nathan Coley all pinned their opponents in less than two minutes and Blake Becker provided a bruising 22-6 tech at 197, wrapping up a 41-11 victory for the Eagles to start the day.

Avila's next three opponents all figured to be much bigger challenges, and they all were. The Baker Wildcats struck first in Avila's second dual of the day before the Eagles reeled off three straight wins – from Luke Ward, Jacob Ramirez, and Carter-Williams – to go up 13-5. Baker countered with two wins to vault back in front 15-13, but a pin from Holmes at 197 gave the Eagles the edge heading into the final three weights.

That set the scene for a true prizefight at 184 in arguably the most intriguing matchup, on paper if nothing else, across any of the two dozen duals on Saturday: Avila's Daryus Webb against Baker's Brett Bober, a Top 15 tussle. Bober had just been knocked off by Ottawa's Braden Anderson in a nailbiter less than an hour previously, while Webb was coming off the pin against Waldorf to start his day.

In the end, however, this hotly-anticipated matchup ended up a lot more one-sided than many would have expected. Webb set the tone early with a takedown in the first 20 seconds and truly never let up: he took Bober down five times in the match in total, the final one coming with about 30 seconds left in regulation, wrapping up a statement win in a 20-3 tech fall.

The dual was still very much in the balance after that, especially after a Baker victory at 197, but Nathan Coley stepped up and sealed the deal, pinning Elijah Eslinger in less than a minute at heavyweight, clinching a 30-21 victory for the Eagles over the No. 18-ranked team in the NAIA.

Concordia, Avila's third opponent, did not come into the day as a tournament favorite – the Bulldogs have only one wrestler ranked in the recent ratings, while most other squads had multiple – but a feisty Concordia squad clearly came in with something to prove and had a strong day on the mat as a team. Tyler Johnson got the Eagles started strong by stretching out a 6-3 victory in the first period of overtime at 125, but Concordia surprisingly reeled off the next six weight classes to surge ahead.

Avila recovered some ground in the final few weights thanks to Webb's third victory of the day – a pin of Garret Moser in just 14 seconds – and Gavin Howes' first victory of the day at heavyweight, but the damage was done: Concordia prevailed 34-12, handing the Eagles their first loss of the day.

Finally, Avila faced off with Missouri Valley, their second nationally ranked opponent of the afternoon. Avila once again started off right with Johnson receiving a forfeit to begin the day, but the Eagles once again were unable to string wins together while the Vikings certainly were. MVC won eight of the ten bouts, with Avila's only contested win coming courtesy of – no surprise – Webb, who outlasted Drake Tipton in overtime. Missouri Valley prevailed 44-9, part of a strong day at the office for the Vikings.

Webb stole the show with four total victories in another stellar day for the Eagle senior. Johnson got three wins, even if two were by forfeit, in his first extended action of the season at his new weight, and Holmes, Carter-Williams and Coley each won twice.

Avila men's wrestling will now get a bit of a break for Christmas and the start of the new year before the Eagles return to the Mabee Fieldhouse mat for the final time this season to ring in 2024 with the Avila Duals on Saturday, January 6. More details on that event will be shared and posted on our website, avilaathletics.com, when they become available.