Wrestlers bring home fourth national team trophy, six individual crowns

Liberty University’s three-time defending NCWA National Duals championship men’s wrestling team became the first program since Grand Valley State University (from 2006-08) to claim three consecutive NCWA Grand National Tournament team trophies, Saturday night at the Allen (Texas) Event Center.

Liberty’s men advanced a program record eight wrestlers to Saturday’s championship finals and five were crowned individual champions, matching its performance from last season, which tied Grand Valley State’s record-setting total.

Starting at 157 pounds, where junior Chad Cantrell edged JMU’s Calvin Kopstein, 6-5, the Flames had at least one wrestler represented in the finals of every weight class.

At 165 pounds, they had two, with junior Joe Scott winning his MAC final rematch with sophomore teammate David Cox, 3-2.

Senior Sam Karel became a three-time All-American for the Flames by defending his 184-pound title, scoring a 6-4 decision over UCF’s Jarrod Smiley. That was the same score that Liberty four-time All-American Austin Amos won his 197-pound championship match over Ohio State’s Eldar Muradov by to become the Flames’ first three-time national champion.

Likewise, Liberty junior Jeffrey Allen defended his crown at 235 pounds, where Amos won his first title in 2018, defeating Grays Harbor’s Octavio Alejandre, 8-3.

Meanwhile, Lady Flames senior Cendall Manley captured her fourth consecutive national championship and was named the women’s tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. She scored a 6-0 decision over Megan Thomas of team champion Schreiner University (170.5 points) in the 155-pound final to lead Liberty’s third-year women’s program to a repeat of last year’s fourth-place team finish with 77.5 points.

Read the full story on Liberty’s Club Sports team page.