TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

TEAM SCORES (top-10 of 54) – 1. Grand View (Iowa) 204, 2. Life (Ga.) 149, 3. Southeastern (Fla.) 114.5, 4. Doane (Neb.) 73, 5. Indiana Tech 70, 6. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 69.5, 7. Providence (Mont.) 61.5, 8. Corban 61, 9. Southern Oregon 60.5, 10. Central Methodist (Mo.) 51.5

PARK CITY, Kan. – The Southern Oregon men's wrestling team left the NAIA Championships with its best finish in eight years, placing ninth in the team standings when the 68th annual tournament concluded Saturday.

It wasn't a perfect week for the Raiders at Hartman Arena, but another step forward under fifth-year head coach Joel Gibson.

Evan Potter ended his four-time All-America career at second place in the 141-pound bracket for the second year in a row. Sophomore 125-pounder Vonn Fenn took fifth place, and junior 197-pounder Asher Ruchti did the same.

That trio of All-Americans accounted for 40 ½ of the Raiders' 60 ½ team points. They landed a half-point behind Corban, one point behind seventh-place Providence (Mont.), and 10 points out of a top-five spot.

Potter, the No. 3-seeded senior from Junction City, will depart with a career record of 104-23 and as the eighth individual in the program's rich history with four top-eight finishes. He's also just the fourth Raider with a trio of top-three places but was stopped short of his first title by the No. 1 seed at 141, Grand View's Carson Taylor, in a 10-0 major decision. It happened a day after he won a rematch of last year's championship against Hartwell Taylor of Saint Mary (Kan.) in the semifinals.

Fenn, the No. 13 seed at 125, lost his consolation semifinal by 3-0 decision to No. 11 Brody Gee of Saint Mary and accepted a medical forfeit in the fifth-place match. He finished his sophomore season, and second appearance at the tournament, with a 22-10 record. He was the lowest-seeded All-American in his weight class.

Ruchti – who joined Potter as a Cascade Conference champion two weeks ago – eked out a 1-0 decision over No. 11 seed Gentry Smith of Southeastern (Fla.) in his fifth-place match. Seeded No. 8 at 197, he defeated three top-nine seeds before losing his consolation semifinal 4-2 to No. 2-seeded Brad Antesberger of Doane (Neb.). Ruchti completed his debut season at SOU as the team's wins leader with a 32-7 record.

The last time the Raiders had finished among the top 10 was 2017, when they finished fifth. They're just five years removed from a 44th-place finished. Their finale resume also includes the team's first CCC title since 2018 and a new SOU single-season record for dual wins at 19-3.

COMPLETE SOU RESULTS
125 – No. 13 Vonn Fenn (5th place)
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Fenn major dec. Clemente Delgado, Graceland, 8-0
Round of 16 – Fenn dec. No. 4 Landon Smith, Embry-Riddle, 4-1 (SV-1)
Friday's Results
Quarterfinals – Fenn dec. No. 5 Angel Banda, Reinhardt, 8-6
Semifinals – No. 1 Aden Reeves, Grand View, tech. fall Fenn, 20-4
Saturday's Results
Consolation Semifinals – No. 11 Brody Gee, Saint Mary, dec. Fenn, 3-0
5th-place Match – Fenn wins by medical forfeit over No. 7 Allen Calderon, Indiana Tech

133 – No. 16 Dylan Clark
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Bye
Round of 16 – No. 1 Dominic Chavez, Texas Wesleyan, major dec. Clark, 14-2
Consolation R2 – Simon Graeber, Southern Oregon, major dec. Clark, 12-1

133 – Simon Graeber
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – No. 2 Thaddeus Long, Life, major dec. Graeber, 17-3
Consolation R1 – Graeber p. Dillon Witt, Missouri Baptist, 6:40
Consolation R2 – Graeber major dec. No. 16 Dylan Clark, Southern Oregon, 12-1
Friday's Results
Consolation R3 – Graeber p. Justin Rodriguez, Hastings, 3:31
Consolation R4 – No. 11 Izaeah Beavers, Campbellsville, dec. Graeber, 9-6

141 – No. 3 Evan Potter (2nd place)
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Bye
Round of 16 – Potter dec. Tyler Deen, Missouri Baptist, 4-1
Friday's Results
Quarterfinals – Potter dec. No. 6 Creighton Baughman, Concordia, 5-1
Semifinals – Potter dec. No. 2 Hartwell Taylor, Saint Mary, 6-4
Saturday's Results
Championship – No. 1 Carson Taylor, Grand View, major dec. Potter, 10-0

157 – No. 2 Aaron Gandara
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Brayden Shelton, Missouri Valley, p. Gandara, 2:01
Consolation R1 – Bye
Consolation R2 – Gandara p. Josey Jernegan, Saint Mary, 3:58
Friday's Results
Consolation R3 – Gandara major dec No. 8 Ben Miller, Doane, 12-0
Consolation R4 – No. 6 Elijah Chacon, Indiana Tech, dec. Gandara, 13-6

157 – No. 11 Dylan Straley
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Straley dec. Malachia Harris, Cumberlands, 5-1
Round of 16 – No. 6 Elijah Chacon, Indiana Tech, p. Straley, 4:09
Consolation R2 – No. 5 Elliott Rodgers, Marian, major dec. Straley, 13-2

174 – No. 16 Braylin Ruchti
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Bye
Round of 16 – No. 1 Alex Reynolds, Grand View, tech. fall Ruchti, 18-2
Consolation R2 – Nolan Saale, Saint Mary, dec. Ruchti, 5-1

184 – No. 13 Adrian Chavez-Morales
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Chavez-Morales p. Kolten Kaymmeyer, Daone, 3:49
Round of 16 – No. 4 Kendall Norfleet, Life, major dec. Chavez-Morales, 8-0
Consolation R2 – Chavez-Morales p. Justin Bartee, Rio Grande, 2:27
Friday's Results
Consolation R3 – No. 12 Brice Parks, Campbellsville, major dec. Chavez-Morales, 13-3

197 – No. 14 Elias Corona
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Corona p. Kaleb Grove, Northwestern, 5:42
Round of 16 – No. 3 Khalil Abdushshakur, Life, tech. fall Corona, 19-2
Consolation R2 – Corona dec. Hunter James, Corban, 12-6
Friday's Results
Consolation R3 – No. 6 Trayvonne Jackson, Grand View, p. Corona, 6:44

197 – No. 8 Asher Ruchti (5th place)
Thursday's Results
Round of 32 – Bye
Round of 16 – Ruchti dec. No. 9 Burton Brandt, Midland, 8-1
Friday's Results
Quarterfinals – No. 1 Garavous Kouekabakilaho, Grand View, dec. Ruchti, 10-4
Consolation R4 – Ruchti dec. No. 6 Trayvonne Jackson, Grand View, 5-2 (SV-1)
Consolation R5 – Ruchti tech. fall No. 7 Elijah Hynes, Missouri Valley, 18-1
Saturday's Results
Consolation Semifinals – No. 2 Brad Antesberger, Doane, dec. Ruchti, 4-2
5th-place Match – Ruchti dec. No. 11 Gentry Smith, Southeastern, 1-0