Wildcats Trio Set for NAIA Men’s Wrestling Championships

PARK CITY, Kan. - Baker men's wrestling will send three wrestlers – Christian Nishi-Rivera, Saoul Prado and Nikolas Slatoff – to the 2024-25 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships this upcoming weekend, hosted by Visit Wichita at Park City Arena in Park City, Kan. on March 6-8.

It marks the first national appearance for all three wrestlers with the BU trio securing their spots at the Heart of America Conference Championships a couple of weeks ago.

Nishi-Rivera was the Wildcats' highest finisher at the conference tournament after earning runner-up honors. He will wrestle in the 133-pound bracket as the No. 15 seed and face Dillon Witt of Missouri Baptist in the first round. The senior from Las Vegas, Nev. has defeated the No. 5 seed wrestler Jackson Cockrell of Grand View twice this season, including a 4-1 decision in the semifinals of the Heart Championships.

Wrestling at 125 pounds, Prado will face No. 10 Kolten Powers of Montana State-Northern in the first round on Thursday. The junior grappler, who also hails from Las Vegas, took fifth at the Heart meet after coming out on top in the final match against fellow conference national qualifier Clemente Delgado of Graceland.

Slatoff joined Nishi-Rivera as the two Wildcats to come away with All-Conference honors after he placed fourth at the Heart Championships. The junior from Henderson, Nev. will take on No. 10 Alex Pena of Wayland Baptist in his first match of the 149-pound bracket.

The three-day national tournament will begin at 11 a.m. on all three days with the event kicking off on Thursday, March 6 and running through Saturday night (March 8), culminating with the championship finals at 7 p.m.

You can watch a live stream of the Pre-Championship matches HERE (FloWrestling) and the Championship matches HERE (NAIA Network/Urban Edge Network), while live results can be found HERE. A link to the preliminary bracket can be found HERE.

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