GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The
9th ranked University of Providence men's wrestling team will travel to Atherton, California this weekend for the Cascade Collegiate Conference Men's Wrestling Tournament.
The Argos will send 12 wrestlers to the conference tour.
Eli Walston (125 lbs.),
Clayton Gilliam (133 lbs.),
TJ Baun (141 lbs.),
Gavin Gies (141 lbs.),
Shonn Roberts (149 lbs.),
Casey Dobson (157 lbs.),
Boone Giulio (157 lbs.),
Jordan Komac (165 lbs.),
Hayden Schrull (184 lbs.),
John Hensley (197 lbs.),
Justin Harbison (285 lbs.) and
KC Buday (285 lbs.) will all look to qualify for Nationals.
The Cascade Collegiate Conference was
allocated 44 spots for the National Championship, the NAIA announced Thursday morning. The allocations dictate how many wrestlers from each conference weight class will earn a bid to Nationals. For example, the CCC was given five spots in the 125 lb. weight class, so the Top 5 finishers in that weight class this weekend will go to Nationals. (for full allocation, click
this link or scroll down to bottom of article).
"After seeing the allocations that came out, we are gong to step up in our lighter weights," interim head coach
Steve Komac said. "There are some good kids in our conference in those weights and we will need to perform well to get qualified there. Our upper weights have been solid all year and hopefully we can continue to lean on them but to have enough kids at the National Tournament to chase the front runners we will need to punch those smaller weights in."
Komac believes the schedule from the latter half of the year helped his team prepare for the upcoming tournament. The Argos have faced stiff competition in 2019, including the
National Duals and the
Missouri Valley Invite, followed by a slew of individual duals against conference opponents.
"We've had a mixed schedule with both tournaments and some individual duals," Komac said. "I think the kids are pretty prepared. They're very used to wrestling in tournaments and we've seen a majority of the conference opponents so I think we'll know what to expect."
Though the allocations allow little room for error, Komac has high expectations for his Argo team.
"In the last few years, this program has sent everywhere from six, seven, or eight kids to the National Tournament," he said. "Those are very reasonable expectations for this team. We've had some great weekends of wrestling and I think we're capable of meeting or beating those expectations. Anybody that's been involved in this tournament knows that some wild, crazy things are going to happen as people try to punch their ticket to the National Tournament. We would love to come out of there with eight plus kids qualifying for Nationals. I think that's within our grasp but I also know it's not going to be easy."
CCC Conference Allocations
125 - 5 spots
133 - 3 spots
141 - 2 spots
149 - 3 spots
157 - 4 spots
165 - 5 spots
174 - 7 spots
184- 7 spots
197- 4 spots
285 - 4 spots
Total - 44 spots
