The Baker University wrestling team is heading into the NAIA Central Regional Championships Saturday in Marshall, Mo., full of confidence after finishing its season undefeated in duals for the second consecutive year.
Baker defeated Newman University 34-12 Sunday in Wichita to end the season 7-0 in duals for the 2010-2011 campaign and 11-0 since the program started.
“If you would have told me, when I got the job here, that we would be undefeated in duals after two seasons, I would’ve told you that you were crazy,” head coach Jimmy May said. “It is quite an accomplishment for the program to win 11 duals against 11 different schools at the NAIA level and the (NCAA) Division II level. It’s a credit to these kids.”
The Wildcats entered Sunday’s dual against Newman with the added pressure of being nationally ranked for the first time in the program’s two-year history.
The pressure did not phase the Wildcats, though.
“I thought we wrestled pretty well considering it was the first time we’ve wrestled since we’ve been ranked,” sophomore Jakob Price said. “We were in better shape than they were.”
After dropping the 125-pound match, the ‘Cats were aided by a forfeit in the 133-pound match, which gave sophomore Jordan McGuire the victory.
BU had momentum and went on to win two matches on pins, with sophomore Jarell Price winning the 149-pound match and sophomore Nathan Sommer winning the 157-pound match.
“We wrestled pretty well for being a NAIA school against a (NCAA) Division II team,” freshman AJ Gassman said.
The Wildcats are set to compete in the regional tournament at 9 a.m. Saturday in Marshall, Mo.
Although 26 wrestlers qualified for the national tournament March 3-5 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May will only be able to take the top 12 wrestlers to the regional and national tournaments.
Baker placed fifth at the regional tournament last season, and May would be pleased with another top-five performance, considering the tough competition.
“There are five teams in our regional that are ranked nationally … so if we can duplicate that, or do a little bit better, I’ll be happy with where we are at,” May said.
The ‘Cats are ranked No. 20 going into the tournament and will go up against No. 2 Grand View University (Iowa), No. 4 Missouri Valley College, No. 14 Oklahoma City University, No. 17 Waldorf College (Iowa) and five other schools.
“I think we are looking better than we have all season,” Gassman said. “We are definitely ready for it, and we are peaking at the right time.”