Preliminary National Championship Brackets Released; Berta Receives Draw
The preliminary brackets for the 2022 NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championships have been released by the National Office.
WICHITA, KS – The preliminary brackets for the 2022 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships have been released by the National Office.
Nathan Berta (Channahon, IL/Minooka), who is 13-3 heading into the national tournament, will represent the Crimson Wave when he faces Cade Manion (10-4) of Oklahoma City University in the first round of action. The bout will pair two champions of the 141 pounds weight class at their respective conference tournaments. The winner of that match will then advance into the championship second round, where he will face the winner of the bout between Joseph Rice (12-7) from Missouri Valley College and second-seeded Nick Henneman (17-0) of Lourdes University University.
Berta is the first true Freshman to qualify for NAIA Wrestling Nationals since Eric Johnson, a two-time NAIA All-American, in 2012. Berta won the American Midwest Conference Championship in the 141 pounds weight class on February 19th, defeating Williams Baptist's Cody Souder.
The two-day NAIA tournament will take place at the Hartman Arena, beginning March 4th at 10:00 a.m. CST, and conclude on March 5th with the Championship Round at 7:00 p.m. Live video and live updated brackets can be found at trackwrestling.com.