By Josh Lashley, W.I.N.’s NAIA Editor

All of the hard work, sacrifice and discipline that goes into being a high-level collegiate wrestler points mainly toward an optimal performance at the national tournament. But, the program that can be victorious in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals garners the type of momentum and well-earned confidence that can ultimately lead them to a national championship.

            This year at the Duals, hosted by the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, that program was unsurprisingly top-ranked Lindenwood University. The Lions held off a hard-charging University of Great Falls squad, 19-18, in a hotly-contested championship match.

               Lindenwood won the bouts wrestled from 125 through 149 and picked up a pin (Ray Stephens at 141) along the way. A huge match came at 125 where Lindenwood’s Rich Zuniga edged Forrest Bouge, 6-5. Wayne French pinned his opponent at 157 for UGF.

            “It feels good,’’ Lindenwood head coach Joe Parisi said. “But, one of the things that I told the team is that we’re not where we need to be physically yet. This is something to build upon. We were coming back from a three-week layoff and had seven workouts to prepare for this event.

            “We had half of our group step up and the other half of our group put together performances that won’t get them anywhere. The guys who didn’t wrestle well need to use that as fuel that feeds the fire building to the national championships.’’

            One of the wrestlers who did impress Parisi was Stephens, who got the big pin in the championship dual with Great Falls.

               “Stephens is a phenomenal athlete and his work ethic far surpasses anyone in our room. He’s a coach’s dream. I just keep throwing fresh workout partners at him. He just does not stop. That match he won was very big for us.’’

            Bouge captured an important major decision and French flattened his opponent in less than a minute as Great Falls reached the Finals by fighting off McKendree College, 19-18, in the semifinal round. Lindenwood toppled Dickinson State, 26-15, in the semis. Dickinson State rebounded from its loss to Lindenwood by downing McKendree, 23-12, to earn third place.

            “Our whole thing when we come here is that we aren’t worried about wins or losses, we’re worried about our effort,’’ Dickinson State head coach Thadd O’Donnell said. “Our guys just need to go hard for seven minutes. We’ve talked about having the guts to step up on the line every time and put that performance out there.’’

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