NAIA National Invitational Preview

The 2021 NAIA National Invitational will be wrestled on the University of Jamestown campus this weekend with a record number of participants. The field is full of unknowns and the team race is absolutely intriguing. 

While teams worked out the day before last year’s event started, the news of college and major league sports programs canceling championships and postponing entire seasons flooded the media. The World was shutting down, and, in the midst of it all, nearly 200 wrestlers maintained their focus until the official announcement was made that the postseason would be cut short—individuals and teams left empty handed.

The attitudes for this season and being able to compete at all exudes a refreshed perspective, gratitude and palpable hunger to compete.

But this means we’re reaching back to 2019 for the first All-American list and trying to make comprehensive sense of the smaller tournaments and duals that have populated 2020-21 schedules. We don’t know who will show up and with what improvements. Some programs just started training in the second semester and several haven’t competed yet this year.

On top of that, the number of NAIA programs has drastically increased. Ten first or second-year programs will wrestle in the championship for the first time. From 2019: Central Methodist, Grand View, Life Pacific, Simpson and Texas Wesleyan. From 2020: Corban, Hastings, Indiana Tech, Lourdes and William Penn.

The Qualifier List of eligible athletes for this weekend includes 265 wrestlers from thirty-one programs.

Campbellsville (KY) won the MSC Conference Championships and is ranked #1 in the final coaches’ poll. The Tigers have a handful of returning All-Americans, including 2019 finalist and #1 McKayla Campbell (109), #1 Alex Castillo (191) and #3 Katlyn Pizzo (123). Angela Vitrilli (130) and Randi Robison (136) are ranked #2.

Life University (Marietta, GA) is in ranked #2 as a team. Their top-ranked and top-seeded wrestlers are #1 Peyton Prussin (116), #1 Julia Vidallon (123) and #2 Jordan Nelson (170). Prussin and Vidallon won individual titles at the MSC Championships, and Vidallon is a 2020 WCWA Champion.

Wayland’s Desiree Zavala (#1 at 136) and Nina Pham (#1 at 101) were ranked No. 1 going into the 2020 NAIA Invitational, and Pham was a finalist in 2019. The Pioneers won the SAC Conference Championships and are ranked #3 coming into the weekend.  

2019 finalist Nkechinyere Nwankwo (191) and Cierra Foster (155) are ranked #1 for Oklahoma City.

Rounding out the #1’s is senior Bridgette Duty (130, Cumberlands) and freshman Waipullani Estrella Beauchamp (143, Midland). Duty is a multiple-time college All-American including a fourth-place finish at the NAIA Invitational in 2019 and sixth place finish at the WCWA championships earlier that year.

Menlo College (Atherton, CA)—the WCWA and NAIA national champions from 2019—weren’t cleared to compete in time for this season’s championships, but they are finally back on campus training.

The top six place winners will earn All-American status, while seven and eight will earn All-American Honorable Mention.

2021 Individual Pre-Seeds (#1; #2)
101: Nina Pham (Wayland); Elizabeth Dosado (Wayland)
109: McKayla Campbell (Campbellsville); Rayana Sahagun (Jamestown)
116: Peyton Prussin (Life); Camille Fournier (Texas Wesleyan)
123: Julia Vidallon (Life); Jasmine Hernandez (Lyon)
130: Bridgette Duty (Cumberlands); Angela Vitrilli (Campbellsville)
136: Desiree Zavala (Wayland); Randi Robison (Campbellsville)
143: Waipullani Estrella Beauchamp (Midland); Sydney Fruend (Oklahoma City)
155: Cierra Foster (Oklahoma City); Morgan Mayginnes (Missouri Baptist)
170: Alexandra Castillo (Campbellsville); Jordan Nelson (Life)
191: Nkechinyere Nwankwo (Oklahoma City); Elisa Robinson (Baker)

2021 Final Coaches’ Poll
1. Campbellsville (176)
2. Life (175)
3.  Wayland (159)
4. Grand View (138)
5. Cumberlands (135)
6. Southern Oregon (125)
7. Jamestown (125)
8.  Baker (114)

2020 Rankings
1. Campbellsville University (203)
2. Menlo College (186)
3. Southern Oregon University (158)
4. Life University (155)
5. University of Jamestown (154)

2019 Team Results
1. Menlo (230.5)
2. Oklahoma City (154.5)
3. Jamestown (137.5)
4. Campbellsville (126)
5. Cumberlands (106.5)

The complete schedule and tournament headlines can be found on our tournament home page.