Berta Wins AMC Conference Championships at 141; Heads to NAIA Nationals

Lincoln, IL – Freshman Nathan Berta (Channahon, IL/Minooka) earned a place at the 65th Annual NAIA Wrestling National Championship in March after winning the 141-pound weight class at the American Midwest Conference Championships today, earning him First Team All-Conference Honors, complimenting his Academic All-Conference honors with his 3.8-grade point average. Berta is the first true freshman wrestling national qualifier for the Crimson Wave since 2012 when two-time NAIA All-American Eric Johnson first qualified for Nationals.

Berta torched the field by earning a first-period fall in the first round, a forfeit in the quarterfinals, and another first-period fall in the semifinals, before defeating Cody Souder of Williams Baptist 10-1 in the finals, earning more than three minutes of riding time in that match.

To date, Berta is 13-3 in his freshman campaign, including two forfeits, two major decisions, one technical fall, and eight pins.

"Nathan Berta is becoming exactly the kid I recruited to Calumet College," said Tom Molony, Head Coach. "I am so proud of his vision, his work ethic in the classroom and on the mat, his dedication to improvement and success, and his leadership on this team. He is setting the standard for the direction of Calumet College wrestling in the coming years."

Berta's national qualification makes this the 12th consecutive competitive season that Calumet College of St. Joseph (CCSJ) has had a wrestler representing the school at the NAIA Championships since the team was founded in 2009. The Crimson Wave did not have a team take to the mats during the 2020-21 season due to COVID.

With that, Berta's three teammates were not to be outdone, as David Madriz-Chavez (East Chicago, IN/East Chicago Central), Noah Boles (Minooka, IL/Minooka/Joliet JC), and Ricardo Adame (Madera, CA/Madera South/Fresno City College) also earned victories on the day to earn more team points at the national qualifier than any CCSJ team has in program history, all while placing three in the top three individual weight class finishers for only the second time since the school started wrestling in the 2009-10 season.

"This was a total team effort," Molony stated. "This team has gone through a lot of challenges this season just to make it here, and I cannot be more proud of these young men than I am right now. Each of them earned bonus point wins on the day, helping us to break our team record for team points earned at a national qualifier, and finished the season strong."

 Madriz-Chavez came into the tournament unseeded at 157 pounds. He fed into the number one seed, Gavin Morawitz from Hannibal-LaGrange, right away, and lost by a first-period fall. Dropping to the consolation bracket, Madriz-Chavez earned a fall in against his second Hannibal-LaGrange opponent of the day, giving him his first win on the season. Madriz-Chavez would, unfortunately, fall in his next match, ending his season.

 Boles, a 2020 national qualifier for Joliet Junior College, came in as the third seed in 174 pounds bracket. He came out on a mission when he pinned in an opponent from Lyon in the second period. Making it to the semifinals, Boles, lost a tight 6-4 decision to the eventual bracket champion on a takedown with two seconds left on the clock. Boles would receive a medical forfeit in the consolation semifinals, where he would then earn a first-period fall

 "Boles is a technical wizard," Molony said. "However, he needs to dedicate himself for next year by getting to the right weight class and cleaning up his game in certain key positions. He was more than capable of winning that bracket, but it wasn't going to happen by thinking about it. I am looking forward to how he responds to this finish today, and where he ends up these next two seasons."

 Adame came from a fabled community college program in California and found himself as the third seed at 184 pounds. With the number 11 and 15 ranked wrestlers seeded ahead of him, Adame was going to need his best to make the finals. Unfortunately, Adame found himself on the receiving end of a first-period fall by the second seed. Yet, he was able to bounce back in the consolation finals with a 7-0 decision, including four minutes of riding time

 "This is a great start to rebuilding this team, and we are right on track with our plan," said Molony. "We rid the program of some 'dead weight' near the end of the season, which was really slowing our progress, but we countered that by picking up a few great guys who are going to help us continue to break team records, earn a conference title, qualify more guys than this program ever has before, and consistently make ourselves into a top 10 team."

 The 65th Annual NAIA Wrestling National Championship takes place March 4 and 5, 2022, at the Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas.