Graceland’s Brennan Swafford Repeats As NAIA National Wrestling Champion

Graceland’s Brennan Swafford successfully defended his 174lb NAIA National Wrestling Championship Saturday evening in Park City, Kansas. The Mediapolis, Iowa junior won the NAIA title for a second time with a victory over Asher Eichert of Life University 10-7. The decision completed a sweep of championships and an undefeated season for Swofford. Swafford won previous rounds comfortably. He won his opening bout by fall over Chase Short of Montana State-Northern by fall in 2:38. He defeated Johah Egli of Morningside by major decision 13-0 in the second round and over Isaiah Luellen of Baker 13-3 in the semi-final.

NAIA 174
1 Brennan Swafford’s place is 1st and has scored 24.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) won by fall over Chase Short (Montana State – Northern) (Fall 2:38)
Quarterfinal – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) won by major decision over 9 Jonah Egli (Morningside) (Maj 13-0)
Semifinal – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) won by major decision over 5 Isaiah Luellen (Baker) (Maj 13-3)
1st Place Match – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) won by decision over 10 Asher Eichert (Life) (Dec 10-7)

Graceland finished with two other All-Americans in addition to Swofford’s national championship. Drew Sams also made the semi-finals. He eventually placed 4th over. He won his consolation semi-final over Baker Hadwan of Life University by fall in 1:32. He lost by decision in the 3rd place bout 3-1. Israel Casarez was the other All-American in at 157. He worked his way through the consolation after a quarterfinal loss with a 6-1 decision win over Kevin Almond of Midway. He lost another consolation round by tiebreaker and the 7th place match 4-2.

Full Graceland National Wrestling Championship Results.

NAIA National Championships Results for Graceland

NAIA 125
10 Joseph Lupton’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – 10 Joseph Lupton (Graceland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – 7 Daniel Vargas (Doane) won in tie breaker – 1 over 10 Joseph Lupton (Graceland) (TB-1 5-4)
Cons. Round 2 – Evan Shell (Morningside) won by decision over 10 Joseph Lupton (Graceland) (Dec 15-11)

NAIA 133
Xavier Sampsel’s place is unknown and has scored 3.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – 1 Matt Gimson (Indiana Tech) won by fall over Xavier Sampsel (Graceland) (Fall 2:21)
Cons. Round 1 – Xavier Sampsel (Graceland) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – Xavier Sampsel (Graceland) won by fall over Darien Malone (Dakota Wesleyan) (Fall 2:40)
Cons. Round 3 – 7 Sam Bacon (Lindsey Wilson) won by fall over Xavier Sampsel (Graceland) (Fall 6:13)

NAIA 141
Ivan Gomez’s place is unknown and has scored 1.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – Ivan Gomez (Graceland) won by decision over Gabriel Cortez (Vanguard) (Dec 9-6)
Champ. Round 2 – 4 Blake Mulkey (Marian) won by major decision over Ivan Gomez (Graceland) (Maj 13-4)
Cons. Round 2 – Ivan Gomez (Graceland) won by decision over La`Stot Pleasant (Texas Wesleyan) (Dec 14-7)
Cons. Round 3 – 5 Trent Leon (Reinhardt) won by fall over Ivan Gomez (Graceland) (Fall 2:24)

NAIA 157
7 Israel Casarez’s place is 8th and has scored 5.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – 7 Israel Casarez (Graceland) won by decision over Nick Gates (Indiana Tech) (Dec 5-2)
Champ. Round 2 – 7 Israel Casarez (Graceland) won by decision over Weston Milnes (Cumberlands) (Dec 6-3)
Quarterfinal – 2 Derrick Smallwood (Lindsey Wilson) won by decision over 7 Israel Casarez (Graceland) (Dec 8-2)
Cons. Round 4 – 7 Israel Casarez (Graceland) won by decision over Kevin Almond (Midway) (Dec 6-1)
Cons. Round 5 – 6 Jack Bass (Life) won in tie breaker – 1 over 7 Israel Casarez (Graceland) (TB-1 2-1)
7th Place Match – Taygen Smith (Hastings) won by decision over 7 Israel Casarez (Graceland) (Dec 4-2)

NAIA 165
Robert Denny’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – 8 Frederick Padilla (Vanguard) won by tech fall over Robert Denny (Graceland) (TF 15-0)
Cons. Round 1 – Robert Denny (Graceland) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – 7 Joe Koontz (Lindsey Wilson) won by major decision over Robert Denny (Graceland) (Maj 12-2)

NAIA 174
1 Brennan Swafford’s place is 1st and has scored 24.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) won by fall over Chase Short (Montana State – Northern) (Fall 2:38)
Quarterfinal – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) won by major decision over 9 Jonah Egli (Morningside) (Maj 13-0)
Semifinal – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) won by major decision over 5 Isaiah Luellen (Baker) (Maj 13-3)
1st Place Match – 1 Brennan Swafford (Graceland) won by decision over 10 Asher Eichert (Life) (Dec 10-7)

NAIA 184
6 Drew Sams’s place is 4th and has scored 14.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – 6 Drew Sams (Graceland) won by decision over Kohl Drake (Southeastern) (Dec 5-4)
Champ. Round 2 – 6 Drew Sams (Graceland) won by decision over 11 Luke Jenness (Northwestern) (Dec 6-0)
Quarterfinal – 6 Drew Sams (Graceland) won by decision over Trajan Hurd (Lindsey Wilson) (Dec 7-1)
Semifinal – 2 Eric Vermillion (Indiana Tech) won by decision over 6 Drew Sams (Graceland) (Dec 6-1)
Cons. Semi – 6 Drew Sams (Graceland) won by fall over Baker Hadwan (Life) (Fall 1:32)
3rd Place Match – 3 Ben Lee (Grand View) won by decision over 6 Drew Sams (Graceland) (Dec 6-1)

NAIA 285
David Toese’s place is unknown and has scored 0.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – 5 Maleek Caton (Williams Baptist) won by fall over David Toese (Graceland) (Fall 0:53)
Cons. Round 1 – David Toese (Graceland) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 – 11 Jesse Pryor (Southeastern) won by decision over David Toese (Graceland) (Dec 7-3)