LAKELAND, Fla.—Fire wrestling heads to a new venue for the 2024 NWCA National Team Duals at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Southeastern is competing in the multi-division national dual meet for the fifth time having placed in all four of its previous trips to the tournament that had been held at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
The Fire are seeded third in the 16-team tournament that starts Friday at 10 a.m. Central, facing Marian University. Last year, the two teams met in the second round of the tournament in Louisville with the Fire winning 21-13 to advance to the semifinals. Southeastern took a 12-3 lead after four matches with
Andreus Bond battling through his 149-pound match with a first period fall to get the first bonus points of the dual.
Marian fell out of the Top 20 in the latest poll and into the receiving votes category and are led by the second-ranked 141-pound wrestler in Logan Wagner. The Knights also have ranked grapplers at 133, 165, and 174. In duals, Marian is 1-3 but wrestled a JV group during those four matches at the NAIA Challenge. Despite that, Anthony Hughes came away with a couple of big wins at 133 and has made his way into the individual rankings.
Based on that result, Southeastern will face Doane or Southern Oregon in the second round. The Fire and Doane squared off in the third-place dual in last year's tournament with the Tigers a 24-11 winner. Doane is ranked fifth in the latest coaches' poll, just three points behind fourth-ranked Southeastern and have 12 individuals ranked. Nathan Lendt is the highest-ranked at third in the 149-pound rankings.
Southern Oregon is the alma mater of SEU coach Travis Patrick and is ranked 18
th in the coaches' poll and are led by the top-ranked 141-pounder in Evan Potter.
Opposite of the Fire in the bracket are Indiana Tech and Cumberlands, and Life and Graceland.
Grand View won the event last year and is the top seed in this year's event.
FloWrestling will carry every match of the tournament on their subscription-based platform. Live results can be viewed on the
TrackWrestling tournament hub.
