Wichita, KS – A trio of All-Americans wrapped up their tournament showing at the NAIA Men's Wrestling Championships on Saturday, led by Aaron Johnson with a trip to the consolation semifinals. He battled for the best finish of his career, finishing third.
 
Johnson picked up his second All-American honors of his career, the heavyweight's first time on the podium since 2019. Bryce Nickel and Gage Hudson meanwhile place in the top-eight for the first time of their young careers for All-American honors as well.
 
The semifinal match was a heart-breaking tiebreaker for Johnson, ending 3-3 against second-seed Greg Hagan of Grand View. The opposing grappler advanced to the finals on criteria, tallying more ride time in the overtime periods over Johnson.
 
Johnson kept moving forward in the consolations to earn his spot higher in the bracket. He answered with a 5-1 rout of Southeastern's Jesse Pryor to earn a trip to the consolation semifinal. There, Johnson would rematch Patrick DePiazza of Cumberland, a win Johnson picked up 5-2 in Williamsburg earlier this season.
 
After a scoreless first period, both heavyweights recorded an escape from the bottom position within six seconds of the second and third periods. Johnson guaranteed himself the third-place spot with a takedown in the final 15 seconds of the bout, winning 3-1.
 
Johnson picked up one lone loss on the weekend to finish with a 4-1 record en route to the best finish of his career at the national tournament.
 
Patriots closed out the third session of the weekend placed tenth overall as a team. If the team standings hold, Cumberlands will pick up their fifth consecutive top-10 finish, 14th total in the program's 25-season history. Final team scores will be determined after the evening's finals.
 
Running the 141-pound bracket, Nickel was unable to avenge his teammate's blood-round loss to Austin Wallace-Lister of Warner Pacific. The Patriot bounced to the seventh-place match for a rematch with Trent Leon. Nickel won the second showing against the Reinhardt Eagle to move to 3-2 at his second tournament appearance.
 
Nickel was the first to score in the final bout of the season, noting a takedown halfway through the first period. He was taken down with short time, but rolled through for a reversal with a second remaining to advance on with a 4-3 advantage. The second period was even at two apiece, Nickel getting the lone takedown. Two escapes and a takedown in the final two minutes gave the Patriot a 10-8 victory for seventh place.
 
Hudson fell in both matches on day two but still picked up his first All-American honors of his career. In his first trip to the national championships, the redshirt freshman placed eighth overall after an exciting advancement in the championship bracket for a majority of the tourney, finishing the trip 3-3.
 
Hudson made a close attempt for a comeback in his second showing of the season against Carter Cox of Cumberland University. In the bout, he scored three on escapes but lost the match by two. The 125-pounder kept strong in the battle for seventh, but could not score offensive against his Southeastern opponent until the final period to bring it within two again, losing by 8-6 decision.
 
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