LOUSIVILLE, Ky.—Southeastern will compete in the National Wrestling Coaches' Association Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships beginning this afternoon at Freedom Hall.
The Fire are one of 16 NAIA Men's teams competing this weekend as part of "Mat Mayhem" that will also include matches among Division II, Division III, NCAA Women, NAIA Women, and junior college programs across the country.
All of the teams ranked in the Top 10 are present along with three others in the Top 20, including No. 15 Campbellsville which the Fire will face in their first match of the double-elimination bracket at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Southeastern is currently seventh with 10 ranked individuals in the third installment of the NAIA Coaches' Top 20 Poll which has been less consistent than the winter weather in the Midwest. The Fire also sport a 5-0 dual meet record and are looking to place for the third time in as many trips to national duals.
In 2019, SEU was fifth in its first trip to Mat Mayhem with the only loss coming to No. 2 Indiana Tech. The Fire beat three Top 10 teams that weekend and knocked off No. 11 Missouri Valley in the fifth-place match. Southeastern was eighth in 2020 the last time the tournament was held.
Campbellsville enters the tournament with six ranked wrestlers led by Mahlic Sallah eighth at 174. It will be an opportunity for
Coleman Bryant to move back up the rating after falling to 11
th at 174. The Fire are 2-2 against Campbellsville with the last meeting going to the Tigers by the count of 26-16 at National Duals in 2020. The highlight was a pin by
Andreus Bond over No. 5 Michael Diemer.
The winner of the SEU-Campbellsville match will take on the winner of the Brewton-Parker vs. Life match and the losers of those matches will also face off at 3 p.m. today in the second round. Life is the defending national champion, ending Grand View's streak of nine consecutive national championships.
To keep up with all the action, you can follow results on
Track Wrestling or watch with a
FloWrestling subscription.
