PARK CITY, Kan. – Indiana Tech's men's wrestling team had a strong performance at the NAIA National Tournament this past weekend earning a fourth-place team finish while Conner Gimson and Eric Vermillion became national champions in their weight classes.

Tech garnered 75.5 points to earn fourth while Life took first with 158 points, Grand View placed second (153) and Lindsey Wilson places fourth (89). This is the fifth year in a row that the Warriors have placed within the top-ten at nationals.
Both Conner Gimson and Matt Gimson wrestled at the 133-weight class where Matt was seeded first, and Conner was seeded third. Matt opened the tournament against Xavier Sampsei. Matt won via fall in 2:21 to move on to the next round and face Michael Land of Reinhardt. Matt won via fall once again in 2:45 this time to move on to face No. 8 Dominick Arellano of Baker College. Matt was able to get another pin in just 1:56 to advance to the next round. In the next round Matt faced No. 5 Esco Walker. Matt fell to Walked in an 8-6 decision to move him over to the consolation bracket. Once in the consolation bracket, Matt challenged Alex Pena of Williams Baptist. Matt secured another win via pin in 2:10 to move on to the third-place match. Matt won the third-place match over Carson Taylor of Grand View via pin in 5:27 to earn third-place and win all of his matches via pin. Matt also earned the Gorriaran Award for five pins in just 14:39.

Conner was seeded third in the tournament and started off with a bye in the first round. His fist match was against Justin Coon of Southern Oregon where he won with a 4-2 decision. Conner then advanced to challenge No. 6 Mario Ybarra of Concordia where Conner won via a tiebreaker for the 2-1 win. Conner's next opponent was No. 2 Carson Taylor of Grand View. Conner was able to maintain control and win with a 6-2 decision to advance to the final round against No. 5 Esco Walker. Conner battled in the finals match to win an individual national championship at 133 with a 4-2 decision.

Eric Vermillion wrestled at 184 and was seeded second in the tournament. Vermillion was granted a bye in the first round and then faced Hayden Wempen of Missouri Valley. Vermillion defeated Wempen in a 10-4 decision to move to the next round and challenge No. 10 Sam Osho of Marian who Vermillion had wrestled twice already this season. Vermillion won 4-2 in a sudden victory in the final round of overtime to advance to the next round. Vermillion then faced No. 6 Drew Sams of Graceland. Vermillion won with a 6-1 decision to put himself in the finals against No. 9 Tyson Beauperthuy of Midland. Vermillion won in the finals to earn an individual national championship at 184 with a pin in 3:16.