A wrestler recently received an all-American honor at the men’s wrestling NAIA championships.
Seven OCU men’s wrestlers competed in the NAIA championships March 5-6 at Hartman Arena in Park City, KS. The Stars finished 33rd overall with a final score of 8.5 at the conclusion of the two day tournament.
Easton Rendleman, nursing junior, placed eighth at 197 pounds and earned all-American honors, scoring the team 7.5 points. Other OCU wrestlers to compete were Billy Sullivan, business administration freshman, who scored 1.0 point, Chase Vincent, business senior, Connor Holman, nursing junior, Drake Vannoy, nursing freshman, Jaxen Gilmore, nursing junior and Jon McGowan, biology junior.
Nate Gomez, head men’s wrestling coach, said the team’s overall performance was lacking at the tournament.
“We are a much better team than what we showed in Wichita,” Gomez said. “I take responsibility for that. If one guy has a bad tournament, it’s probably on that individual, but if several guys underperform, it’s on the coach.’’
Gomez said the team did well at the Feb. 12-13 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference-Sooner Athletic Conference prior to the national championships, but he said he felt they did not meet all their expectations.
“We did well at the conference tournament with qualifying seven, but honestly we should qualify at every weight,” Gomez said. “If we want to be the best team in the country, we have to be the best team in our conference.”
Gomez said he is thrilled about Rendleman’s accomplishment.
“He fought every second of every match he wrestled,” Gomez said. “Easton decided that nothing was going to stop him from becoming an all-American this year. He found a way.”
Gomez said he is proud of the team.
“We have some great leaders in the room,” Gomez said. “I am proud of our team for who they are on and off the mat. We have a great group of guys who love each other.”
Rendleman said the team overcame several obstacles during their season, which was much shorter than usual due to COVID-19 concerns and the 2021 U.S. Cold Snap.
“We went into nationals with only two or three matches a piece, when we normally have 20 or 30,’’ Rendleman said. “We had a season in five weeks when our seasons normally go from the start of October to the start of March.”
Rendleman said the team was still able to hold practices to prepare for the season.
“We were able to practice both first and second semester. We went off campus to a different facility,” Rendleman said. “The practices consisted of warming up with a game, or drills, and then practice matches.”
Rendleman’s honors mark the 10th year in a row the team has ended their season with at least one all-American wrestler.
“My main goal this year was to be on the podium and to all-American,” Rendleman said. “I’ve gone to nationals the past two years and haven’t been able to achieve that until now.”
Rendleman said he looks forward to the 2021-2022 season.
“I would like to see us qualify more people to nationals and see more of the team earn All-American status,” Rendleman said.
For more sports updates, fans can visit the OCUSports website, or the MediaOCU sports page.
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