PARK CITY, KS. – Menlo Men's Wrestling completed their 2023-24 season at the NAIA National Championship Tournament inside Hartman Arena on Saturday. After a grueling three-day tournament, 6 Oaks finished in the top 7 of their weight class to earn All-American status, including a National Champion at 133, Jovan Garcia, and a National runner-up at 125, Nicolas Aguilar. Rysan Leong (165) and Kanaipono Tapia (157) each placed 3rd with Maximus Zamora (174) and Antonio Dacosta (285) rounding out the group each taking 7th. 
 

Head Coach Joey Martinez led the Oaks to a 3rd place finish as a team with 95.5 points in his 14th National Championship Tournament appearance at the helm. Menlo was back-to-back Cascade Conference Champions with 3 individual Champions and 11 National Qualifiers in the 2023-24 season. Coach Martinez was named Cascade Coach of the Year and Rysan Leong was awarded Outstanding Wrestler for his accomplishments. What a tremendous season it was for this group of Oaks!

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All-Americans:

Jovan Garcia (133) - National Champion

After placing 7th in the National Championship last season, #2 seeded Jovan Garcia was well prepared to take the title in his last ride. A first round bye would send Isaiah Miller (Jamestown) as Garcia's first opponent of the tournament. Jovan built up a hefty lead which would result in a 20-3 tech fall to advance to the quarterfinals. There he would face 10th seed Alex Pena (Wayland Baptist) and totaled up an 11-4 win by decision to make it to the semifinal match. #6 Dominic Chavez (Texas Wesleyan) put up a tough fight in the semis taking a 2-3 lead going into the third period. It was an all-out brawl in the third with Chavez and Garcia each taking one another down and earning escapes. Down by two points with time expiring down to 8 seconds, Jovan found it in him to get the takedown and punch his ticket to the championship rounds. The Championship match was against #4 seeded Thaddeus Long (Life) who took a 1-5 lead before Jovan flipped the script and got a takedown and a near fall. After that the momentum was in the Oaks corner and was able to hold the lead until the very end. Jovan Garcia came to Menlo as a junior transfer and left his mark on the Wrestling program history books as a 2x All-American and 2024 National Champion!     

    

Nicolas Aguilar (125) - National Runner-up

Nicolas' first and final NAIA National Championship tournament was one to remember! The 13th seed won both of his matches on day one after only allowing two points scored against in a 16-1 tech fall over Conner Hueck (St. Thomas) and a 12-1 major decision over #4 seed Brody Gee (Saint Mary). The Quarterfinals brought 5th seed Izaeah Beavers (Campbellsville) who added up a 5-7 lead over Aguilar before he was able to come back with an escape and a takedown in the third period to win in a 9-7 decision. 16th seed Allen Calderon was the next matchup in the semifinals. Nicolas dominated the mat and did not let Calderon score a single point in a 12-0 decision victory to advance to the Championship match. It was a Conference Championship rematch against #3 Hunter Sparks (Eastern Oregon). The two would fight until the very end but fell in favor of the Mountaineer. Aguilar went 4-1 and walked away a National Runner-Up at the NAIA National Championship to cap off his wrestling career!      

   

Rysan Leong (165) - 3rd place

Rysan Leong will most certainly be remembered in the NAIA and at Menlo College for being one of the Wrestling greats! Leong took victories over Diego Machado (St. Ambrose) by a 19-3 tech fall and #15 Devin Crawford (Montana-Northern) in a 5-0 decision to make it to day two. After a 4-1 decision over Roman Garcia (Central Methodist), the Oaks would advance to the semifinals to face Jonathan Kervin (Indiana Tech). A neck-and-neck battle would end in favor of the Warrior to send Rysan to the money rounds. The consolation semis brought up 6th seed Shadrick Slone (Campbellsville) where Leong totaled a 14-3 major decision to punch his ticket to the 3rd place match to see #1 seed Steven Villalobos (Life). Villalobos earned a 0-1 lead but in the third period, Rysan brought out all of his tricks to earn a reversal, nearfall, and a point for riding time to come back and win 7-1. Rysan leaves Menlo a 3x National Qualifier, 2x All-American, National Champion, 3rd place finisher, and Cascade Conference Champion!     

 

Kanaipono Tapia (157) - 3rd place

4th seed Kanai Tapia made his first NAIA National Championship Tournament appearance as an Oak and made a name for himself. Day one the Oak won over Elijah Chacon (Indiana Tech) in a 17-2 tech fall and 13th seed Ben Miller (Doane) in an 8-4 decision. His only loss of the tournament came on day two against Trevor Burdick (Reidhardt) to be pushed to blood rounds. Two victories by decision over 9th seed Francis Morrissey (Ottawa) and 2nd seed Antwuan Burns (Campbellsville) meant a rematch with Trevor Burdick for the 3rd place title. Tapia took an early lead with a takedown a minute into the first period. A scoreless second period brought the pressure in the third. Kanai secured the title after one more takedown earned him a 6-1 victory for the 3rd place finish! Tapia took 1st place at countless tournaments this season and an All-American finish was just a way to cap off his sophomore season!     

 

Maximus Zamora (174) - 7th place

Maximus is a 2x National Qualifier after placing 7th at the CCC Championships. 13t seed Zamora advanced to day two after taking victories over Anthony Pyron (Cumberland) in a 8-2 decision and 4th seed NaKoda Siegel (Montana-Northern) after a 4-2 decision. A loss to begin day two sent Max to the blood rounds where he took a 12-9 decision victory over 7th seed Daniil Gorshkov (Embry-Riddle). One more tight match would end in a 0-1 loss to 3rd seed Abel Nava to advance to the 7th place match. Zamora faced 9th seed Alex Hernandez (Southern Oregon). The first period was an active one with each totaling point up and Hernandez taking a slight 6-9 lead. Max came back and scored an escape and takedown in the second period to make it 10-9. Although Hernandez earned an escape, Zamora had enough riding time to win the match and take 7th place! This is Max's first time being an All-American in his junior season!        

 

Antonio Dacosta (285) - 7th place

Tony the 285 6th seed qualified for the NAIA National Championship last season but fell short of placement so this year was his year! Day one ended with a 14-1 major decision over Excell Brooks (Marian) and a 7-2 decision over 11th seed Kenneth Copley (Embry-Riddle). A tight loss to the 3rd seed meant Tony had to fight for his All-American title in blood rounds. Dacosta tallied an 8-2 decision over Wylie Dunn (Cumberlands) to secure himself a placement. One more loss in the consolation rounds sent Tony to the 7th place round to face Kenneth Coley (Embry-Riddle) one last time in a rematch. The two would stay defensive in a 1-1 tie match to push to overtime. There, Dacosta sweeped the leg and earned the takedown to win in sudden victory. This is Tony's final NAIA National Championship Tournament and will get to walk away an All-American with a 7th place finish!