Trio of Warriors Place at GPAC Championships

HASTINGS, Neb. – (RV) Midland University competed in the 2025 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men's Wrestling Championships on Friday and Saturday at Lynn Farrell Arena. The Warriors finished eighth as a team, scoring 40.5 points. Doane University won the team title with 218.

A trio of Warriors earned top-six finishes in the tournament. Zion Amerson placed sixth at 149 pounds, while Burton Brandt and Zeph Sivels secured third-place finishes at 197 and 285 pounds, respectively.

At 125 pounds, Kaydon Mueller went 0-2. After receiving an opening-round bye, he lost by forfeit to Dante Rigal of Briar Cliff University. Following another bye in the second consolation round, he forfeited to Creel Weber of Hastings College. At 141 pounds, Jackson Duncan finished 0-2. He fell in the opening round to No. 25 Noah Parmelee of Northwestern College by technical fall, 19-4, at 2:37. After a first-round bye in the consolation bracket, he was pinned by Hunter Steffans of Morningside University at 1:57.

Zion Amerson opened the 149-pound bracket with a bye before falling to No. 18 Steven Barnes of Concordia University by major decision, 9-0, in the quarterfinals. He bounced back in the consolation bracket, defeating Noah Avila of Waldorf University by decision, 12-5. Amerson then lost to No. 21 Tyler Okada of Waldorf by major decision, 8-0, in the consolation semifinals. In the fifth-place match, he fell to Chris Aragon of Morningside by major decision, 13-5.

Logan Millikan went 0-2 at 165 pounds. He was pinned in the first round by Israel Manriquez of Hastings at 3:54. After a consolation bye, he lost to Braedyn Rakes of Morningside by technical fall, 17-2, at 1:51.

Colton Horne and Treyton Tweton both wrestled at 184 pounds. Horne finished 0-2, losing by fall to Jose Sanchez of Northwestern at 3:48 in the first round. Following a consolation bye, he was pinned by No. 17 Kolton Kammeyer of Doane at 3:37. Tweton went 1-2, advancing to the quarterfinals after a bye before falling to No. 4 Tyson Beauperthuy of Doane by fall at 1:39. In the second consolation round, he rebounded with a pin over Kaden Street of Morningside in 46 seconds. His tournament ended in the third consolation round, where he lost by technical fall, 16-0, to Doane's Kammeyer at 4:23.

At 197 pounds, No. 9 Burton Brandt opened with a bye before pinning Aiden Griffin of Hastings at 3:39 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he fell to No. 6 Kasten Grape of Doane by decision, 11-4. He responded in the consolation semifinals with a pin over No. 13 Torrance Keehn of Concordia at 4:51. Brandt then secured third place, improving to 13-3 on the season with a pin over Kaleb Grove of Northwestern at 2:36. Also competing at 197 pounds was Ryan Kocovsky, who went 0-2. He lost in the first round to No. 24 Kaleb Lind of Northwestern by technical fall, 15-0, at 6:06. After a consolation bye, he was defeated by Northwestern's Grove by technical fall, 18-1, at 2:49.

In the heavyweight division, Remington Gay went 0-2. After a first-round bye, he lost to No. 20 Eli Criblez of Doane by decision, 9-4, in the quarterfinals. Following another bye in the consolation bracket, he was defeated by Cole Hennings of Dakota Wesleyan, 5-0. No. 17 Zeph Sivels also competed at 285 pounds, opening with a bye before earning a 7-2 decision over Mason Garcia of Concordia in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he fell to No. 7 Jakob Jerabek of Morningside by fall at 6:54. He rebounded in the consolation semifinals, defeating Dakota Wesleyan's Hennings in sudden victory, 4-1. In the third-place match, he faced Garcia again and won by major decision, 13-4, improving his season record to 24-8.

Burton Brandt and Zeph Sivels both qualified for nationals based on their placings. The official qualifiers for all weight classes will be announced by the national office next week. The 2025 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships will take place March 6-9 at Park City Arena in Park City, Kansas.