OKC Standard

Oklahoma City University finished atop the team standings in the American Midwest Conference-Sooner Athletic Conference men's wrestling championships Saturday at the Sid Richardson Center. 

OCU boasted of its second consecutive SAC championship and third conference crown in four years. The Stars hauled in four individual league titles, while three OCU wrestlers took second place. Twelve Oklahoma City individuals placed in the top five at their weights. 

The Stars' Cade Manion captured his second league 141-pound crown in a row, while Keegan Luton took his second consecutive 149-pound SAC championship. Drake Vannoy at 157 and Kolbe Madron at 174 also reeled in conference titles for Oklahoma City. Luton, Manion and Vannoy secured their second career bids to the NAIA Championships, while Madron nabbed a national-tournament berth. 

OCU's Hayden Brown (165), Mannix Faworski (174) and Connor Columbus (184) came in second at their respective weight classes. Other Stars who placed were Cooper Mahaffey, third at 133; Kaleb Stone, third at 285; Trinit Zweifel, fourth at 133; Dezmen Loving, fifth at 165; and Grant Baber, fifth at 285. 

Oklahoma City piled up 173.5 points, outscoring tournament runner-up Texas Wesleyan by 28.5 points. Next up for OCU will be the NAIA Championships, which will be March 3-4 at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan. 

"It was an awesome team effort," OCU coach Justin Ensign said. "All 12 guys placed in the top five and chipped in valuable team points to get us the championship. It was an exciting day, and I'm proud of our group overall." 

Luton snared the 149-pound championship in a 12-8 decision over Texas Wesleyan's Austin Loza. Luton, a sophomore from Mustang, Okla., majoring in psychology, won three times Saturday, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 51-18. Luton (20-2) trampled Gavin Holland of Texas Wesleyan 23-7. 

Manion pinned Aiden Medina from Wayland Baptist (Texas) to snag the 141-pound title. Manion, a sophomore criminal justice major from Edmond, Okla., went 3-0 on the day with a fall against Wayland Baptist's Steven Flowers in 2:41. Manion (22-2) holds the eighth spot in the NAIA 141-pound ratings. 

Vannoy came up with two falls among his three wins on the day. Vannoy, a junior nursing major from Jenks, Okla., finished off Jerome Cannon of Central Christian (Kan.) in 2:39 in the 157-pound championship final. Vannoy (21-6) reached the final with a pin in 48 seconds against Alzarius Boykin of Williams Baptist (Ark.). Vannoy, ranked 18th at his weight, also rolled to a 15-0 win over Central Christian's Vincent Ibarra. 

Madron defeated his teammate Faworski 3-1 to secure the 174-pound title. Madron, a sophomore marketing major from Sulphur, Okla., notched a technical-fall win 15-0 against Kade Carter of Williams Baptist (Ark.).

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