Karibo Secures Fourth-Place Finish, Wildcats Compete at NAIA Championships
Malachi Karibo placed fourth in the 197-pound bracket after coming up a couple points shy of advancing to the title match to lead the Baker men’s wrestling team who sent a total of five wrestlers to the 2022-23 NAIA Men’s Wrestling Championships this past weekend in Park City, Kan.
Baker finished 20th in the team standings after tallying 25 points at the championship meet, while Grand View (206) claimed the national title and other fellow Heart team Central Methodist (33.5) finished in 14th-place.
After rolling to three straight in victories in Friday’s Pre-Championship rounds, Karibo took top-ranked and defending national champion Zane Lanham (Life) to the final bell before running out of time in some last-second theatrics. He earned a spot in the third-place match on a smooth 9-2 decision in the consolation semifinals before capping his run through the 197-gauntlet with a sudden victory loss in the placement match giving Baker its second straight national top-four finisher.
Joining Karibo at the NAIA tournament, Brett Bober, Joey Ewalt, Joey Hancock and Dallas Koelzer all collected at least one win in Friday’s action in Park City. Bober, Hancock and Koelzer – along with Karibo – each opened up the tournament with first-round wins, while Ewalt racked up a 12-6 decision to advance to the third round of the consolation bracket.
Baker’s quartet of Bober, Ewalt, Hancock and Koelzer would each end up bowing out of the NAIA Championships in the consolation third round. Overall, they collected seven wins and – with Karibo’s four victories – saw the Wildcats’ weekend win total reach double digits.
The Wildcats wrap up a 2022-23 season that saw them take third at the Heart of America Conference Championships and boast five national qualifiers with all five of them being returners from last year’s NAIA Championships.
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