No. 10 Men's Wrestling Places Second, One Individual Champion, Eight National Qualifiers at Heart Championship
Oskaloosa, Iowa, (Feb. 21, 2026)- The No. 10 Missouri Valley College men's wrestling team competed at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Eight individuals earned automatic qualifying into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship, and No. 4 Junior Haden Hernandez (Huntington Beach, Calif.) earned an individual conference title.
Results:
No. 4 Junior Haden Hernandez (Huntington Beach, Calif.)-125 pounds:
First Round: Received a bye.
Quarterfinal: Defeated Gentry Walston of William Penn (Iowa) in a 20-3 technical fall.
Semifinal: Defeated teammate No. 14 Robert Albert by forfeit.
First Place Match: Defeated No. 2 Elijah Cater of Grand View (Iowa) in a 2-0 decision.
Hernandez is the 125 pounds champion and an automatic qualifier into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship.
No. 3 Senior Elijah Hynes (Broken Arrow, Okla.)-197 pounds:
First Round: Defeated LaDainian Gordon of William Penn (Iowa) in a first period (2:14) pin.
Quarterfinal: Defeated Hunter Hall of Baker (Kan.) in a second period (4:32) pin.
Semifinal: Defeated No. 17 KJ Fry of Graceland (Iowa) in a 5-2 sudden victory.
First Place Match: Lost to No. 1 Garavous Kouekabakilaho of Grand View (Iowa) by medical forfeit.
Hynes placed second at 197 pounds and is an automatic qualifier into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship.
No. 14 Junior Robert Albert (Cape Coral, Fla.)-125 pounds:
First Round: Received a bye.
Quarterfinal: Defeated Owen Lindstrom of Bismarck State (N.D.) in a 20-5 technical fall.
Semifinal: Lost to teammate No. 4 Haden Hernandez by forfeit.
Consolation Semifinal: Defeated Wyatt Engwicht of Dickinson State (N.D.) in a third period (6:15) pin.
Third Place Match: Defeated Gentry Walston of William Penn (Iowa) in a first period (1:58) pin.
Albert placed third at 125 pounds and is an automatic qualifier into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship.
No. 23 Freshman Aiden Serrano (Indianola, Iowa)-133 pounds:
First Round: Lost to John Davis of Missouri Baptist in a first period (2:31) pin.
Consolation First Round: Received a bye.
Consolation Second Round: Lost to Davion Wilson of Graceland (Iowa) in a third period (5:43) pin.
No. 9 Freshman Tuvshinjargal Zuunbayan (Arlington Heights, Ill.)-133 pounds:
First Round: Defeated Jeffery Myers of William Penn (Iowa) in a 13-3 major decision.
Quarterfinal: Defeated Nat`aani Prado of Baker (Kan.) in a 10-4 decision.
Semifinal: Lost to Lane Scorpil of William Penn (Iowa) in a first period (2:05) pin.
Consolation Semifinal: Lost to Davion Wilson of Graceland (Iowa) in a 5-3 decision.
Fifth Place Match: Defeated John Davis of Missouri Baptist in a 16-0 technical fall.
Zuunbayan placed fifth at 133 pounds and is an automatic qualifier into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship.
No. 20 Junior Kristofer Arrey (Riverside, Calif.)-149 pounds:
First Round: Received a bye.
Second Round: Defeated Jake Hall of Baker (Kan.) in a second period (4:11) pin.
Quarterfinal: Lost to No. 6 Nikolas Slatoff of Baker (Kan.) in a 7-4 decision.
Consolation Fourth Round: Defeated Joe Frazier of Graceland (Iowa) in a 16-1 technical fall.
Consolation Fifth Round: Defeated Joshua Zeman of St. Ambrose in a 4-0 decision.
Consolation Semifinal:Defeated No. 16 Brayden Eikermann of Missouri Baptist in a 16-5 major decision.
Third Place Match: Defeated Georgino Moraga of St. Ambrose in a 13-0 major decision.
Arrey placed third at 149 pounds and is an automatic qualifier into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship.
Junior Lloyd Epperson (Comanche, Okla.)-157 pounds:
First Round: Defeated Jace Duemmel of William Woods (Mo.) in a second period (3:18) pin.
Second Round: Defeated Joshua Broyles of Baker (Kan.) in an 11-5 decision.
Quarterfinal: Lost to No. 11 Easton Larson of Grand View (Iowa) in a second period (4:08) pin.
Consolation Fourth Round: Lost to Noah Richardson of Missouri Baptist in a third period (6:47) pin.
No. 14 Senior Francis Morrissey (Warner Robins, Ga.)-157 pounds:
First Round: Received a bye.
Second Round: Defeated Noah Richardson of Missouri Baptist in a first period (0:59) pin.
Quarterfinal: Defeated Khalil Hampton of Graceland (Iowa) in a second period (4:47) pin.
Semifinal: Lost to No. 11 Easton Larson of Grand View (Iowa) in a first period (1:14) pin.
Consolation Semifinal: Lost to Drake Jenkins of Central Methodist (Mo.) in a second period (3:36) pin.
Fifth Place Match: Lost to Noah Richardson of Missouri Baptist by medical forfeit.
Morrissey placed sixth at 157 pounds.
Sophomore Brayden Shelton (Centralia, Mo.)-165 pounds:
First Round: Defeated Jean-Luc Guerra of St. Ambrose (Iowa) in a first period (0:59) pin.
Quarterfinal: Defeated No. 18 Alexander Sederburg of William Woods (Mo.) by forfeit.
Semifinal: Lost to No. 1 Cam Robinson of Grand View (Iowa) in a first period (2:44) pin.
Consolation Semifinal: Defeated teammate No. 15 Dayton Hill by no contest.
Third Place Match: Defeated No. 13 Kevin Olavarria of Central Methodist (Mo.) by injury default.
Shelton placed third at 165 pounds and is an automatic qualifier into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship.
No. 15 Senior Dayton Hill (Broken Arrow, Okla.)-165 pounds:
First Round: Defeated Noah Sample of Baker (Kan.) in a 15-0 technical fall.
Quarterfinal: Lost to No. 19 Dylan Whitt of Grand View (Iowa) in a 16-8 major decision.
Consolation Second Round: Defeated Trent Evans of William Penn (Iowa) in a first period (1:09) pin.
Consolation Third Round: Defeated No. 24 Eric Hodge of Central Methodist (Mo.) in a first period (2:03) pin.
Consolation Semifinal: Lost to teammate Brayden Shelton by no contest.
Fifth Place Match: Defeated Noah Sample of Baker (Kan.) in a second period (3:39) pin.
Hill placed fifth at 165 pounds and is an automatic qualifier into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship.
Freshman Luke Sarich (Weiser, Idaho)-184 pounds:
First Round: Defeated Greg Fuher of Bismarck State (N.D.) in a 20-3 technical fall.
Quarterfinal: Lost to Griffin Ray of Central Methodist (Mo.) in a 3-0 decision.
Consolation Second Round: Defeated Zachariah Lusk of Benedictine (Kan.) in a 13-3 major decision.
Consolation Third Round: Defeated Francisco Espinoza of William Penn (Iowa) in a second period (4:13) pin.
Consolation Semifinal: Defeated No. 18 Jackson King of Dickinson State (N.D.) in a 10-5 decision.
Third Place Match: Lost to Griffin Ray of Central Methodist (Mo.) in a 10-1 major decision.
Sarich placed fourth at 184 pounds.
No. 8 Senior Randy Gonzalez (Lakewood, Calif.)-285 pounds:
First Round: Defeated Tyler Casey of St. Ambrose (Iowa) in a second period (4:03) pin.
Quarterfinal: Defeated No. 21 Seth Suvak of Dickinson State (N.D.) in a third period (5:53) pin.
Semifinal: Lost to No. 5 Shane Cook of Grand View (Iowa) in an 11-1 major decision.
Consolation Semifinal: Defeated Kazz Hyson of Graceland (Iowa) in a 4-1 decision.
Third Place Match: Lost to No. 21 Seth Suvak of Dickinson (N.D.) in a third period (5:53) pin.
Gonzalez placed fourth at 285 pounds and is an automatic qualifier into the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship.
As a team, No. 10 Missouri Valley finished second in the team standings with 172.5 points. No. 1 Grand View (Iowa) won the team title with a total of 264.5 points. No. 14 Central Methodist was third with 150.5 points.
The eight automatic qualifiers will compete at the 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship, set for March 5-7 in Wichita, Kan. An Additional 30 at-large spots will be announced by the NAIA Tuesday.
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