Cumberland the biggest mover in NAIA wrestling poll to No. 13
Jan. 21—Cumberland made the biggest move, shooting up five spots, in the fourth edition of the NAIA top 20 wrestling coaches' poll to No. 13 after a convincing win over No. 10 Campbellsville, announced by the national office Thursday.
The Phoenix moved to 8-3 overall with big wins over two ranked opponents including top 10 Campbellsville last week. Cumberland is a perfect 4-0 in the Mid-South Conference to sit on top of the standings.
Cumberland is up to nine athletes ranked inside of the top 25 in their weight class, up one from the last poll as Chris Busutil enters at 125. Defending national champion Cole Smith still highlights Cumberland as the top-ranked wrestler at 165. Ryan Long moved up one spot to No. 11 at the 174 weight class. Jared Dinh has climbed up one spot to No. 14 at 141 followed by Victor Guzman at No. 21 in the same class. Lebanon's Eli Clemmons is slotted at No. 15 at 157. Sammy Shires moved up to No. 18 at 133. Austin Antcliffe is up to No. 19 at 184 and River Henry is up to No. 18 at 285.
Smith moved to 8-0 on the season with two top 10 wins this year after defeating No. 8 Gavin Smith from Campbellsville.
Long moved up to No. 11 in the 174 weight class after an impressive showing at the Fire Duals. Long is 6-1 on the season with three ranked wins.
Clemmons dropped two spots to No. 15 in the 157 weight class. He is 16-8 this year with a second-place finish at the Pepsi Patriot Open and a fourth-place finish at the Life Open.
Dinh continues to climb up the rankings, up one position to No. 14. Dinh is now 17-5 on the season. He finished in second-place at the Maryville Kaufman Brand Open and took fifth place at the Life Open. He posted a major decision and won by forfeit at Cumberland's last duals against Rio Grande and Campbellsville.
Slotted just behind Dinh at 141 is Guzman at No. 21 in the 141 weight class. Guzman is 9-3 this season with his losses coming to Dinh at the Life Open and No. 11 Patrick Gould from Keiser. This past week, he wrestled up a weight class at 149 and took No. 9 Dayton Marvel to the wire, but lost by a 3-2 decision.
Shires moved up two spots to No. 18 in the 133 weight class. Shires has started his freshman campaign with a 15-6 record. He picked up a ranked win over No. 24 Jackson Bond. Shires has been hot as of late going 8-1 in his last nine matches.
Austin Antcliffe moves up to No. 19 in the 184-weight class. Antcliffe is 13-7 this season. This past week, he posted a win over Rio Grande's Anthony Parks and Campbellsville's Kiernan Sheerwood via decisions.
Henry is steadily climbing the rankings in the heavyweight division. Last poll was his first time in the rankings and this poll he is up to No. 18 after upending No. 17 Jake Sonner from Campbellsville.
Busutil is back in the rankings for the first time since the preseason rankings coming in at No. 21 at 125. He is 7-3 this season after posting a fall and a win by decision last week.
Campbellsville remains the highest-ranked Mid-South Conference team in the polls this week at No. 10. Cumberland has jumped Lindsey Wilson and the Cumberlands up five spots to No. 13. The Blue Raiders have dropped to No. 15 followed by the Patriots at No. 16. Thomas More is up two spots to No. 18.
Grand View (Iowa) made it five straight weeks holding onto the first-place position. From last ranking, the rest of the top five continues in order with Life (Ga.), Southeastern (Fla.), Doane (Neb.) and Indiana Tech.
Cumberland is competing in the Missouri Valley Invite with two-day action starting yesterday.
