Eagles Wrestling Season Ends at Nationals

Wichita, Kansas - For the sixth straight season the Williams Baptist University wrestling team sent wrestlers to the NAIA National Championships. Maleek Caton, Nicholas Souder, Devon Amburgy, Kyle Lee, Jaitlan Pitts and AJ Bindner represented the Eagles in 2020. They are among 45 WBU national qualifiers since the program was established in 2014-15.

Maleek Caton represented Williams in the 285 lb. weight division. After receiving a bye to open the tournament, the senior lost to the third rank wrestler by a narrow 3-1 decision in the championship bracket. The loss sent him to the consolation bracket where he won two straight matches.

First, he won by a 4:22 fall followed by a 4-2 decision which sent him to the 'Blood Round'. The 'Blood Round' is the All-American round. The winner of the match is guaranteed to finish in the top eight of his weight division which earns him All-American status. Caton, unfortunately, met the ninth rank wrestler in the division who beat him by fall. For his efforts, he earned the Eagles three team points.

Nicholas Souder was wrestling in the 141 lb. weight class. Souder opened the tournament by upsetting the fifth-ranked wrestler in his division. He beat him by a 7-4 decision to advance to the second round of the championship bracket. After losing to the 12th ranked wrestler, Souder was sent to the consolation bracket where he beat another highly touted opponent. This time he beat the 11th ranked wrestler by a major decision (20-8). The sophomores tournament, however, would come to an end in the third round of the consolation bracket with an 11-5 decision loss. He earned the Eagles 2.5 team points.

Devon Amburgy competed in the same weight division as Caton. Amburgy lost his first match of the day 8-2 before rebounding in the consolation bracket. He received a first-round bye in the consolations before pinning his opponent in the second round at 1:49. His tournament came to an end in round three of the consolation bracket with a loss to the 10th ranked wrestler in the class. His efforts earned the team 3.0 points.

After receiving an opening-round bye in the 157 lb. weight division, Kyle Lee faced the fourth-ranked wrestler in the class. He lost narrowly, 4-2 to drop to the consolations. Lee rebounded by winning his first consolation by a 3:31 fall before losing in sudden victory 3-1 to end his tournament. He earned 2.5 points for the Eagles.

Jaitlan Pitts earned the team 1.5 points after winning his consolation bracket match by an 18-6 major decision. The win was bookended by an overtime 4-3 loss and a narrow 3-2 decision. AJ Bindner was put out in two matches, losing by fall and a 12-6 decision.

The Eagles conclude year six as a program with a total of 45 national qualifiers in its history. They have 10 All-Americans in that time with two national champions.

You can find a complete recap and behind the scenes look at the tournament here:

http://www.wbueagles.com/2020-wrestling-nationals