Menlo College

#4 Kanaipono Tapia helped lead Menlo Men's Wrestling to a 4th place finish at the highly competitive Missouri Valley Invitational after taking the 157-Champion title. The sophomore transfer would begin the weekend with three tech falls on day one. On day two, Tapia would face all ranked opponents. The Oak would go down 1-3 in the first period to #20 Andreus Bond (Southeastern) before turning things around and coming from behind to win in an 8-3 decision with two takedowns and an escape. 

In order to make it to the Championship match, Kanaipono had to get through #6 Keegan Luton (Oklahoma City). The two faced off just a few weeks ago at the National Duals and ended up going into overtime for Kanai to secure the win. This time around Tapia scored a 10-0 tech fall in the second period ending with a 3-count nearfall to punch his ticket to the Championships. It would all come down to #4 Kanai against #2 David Rubio (Corban). Kanai was down 3-4 going into the third period after each earned a takedown and Rubio had an escape. The Oak pulled out all of his tricks to earn this win and totaled 2 escapes and two takedowns to come from behind and win, 11-4. This is Kanai's second time winning this title of his weight class, the first being at the Menlo Open back in November.