Providence, the No. 4-ranked NAIA men's wrestling team in the country, qualified 11 wrestlers for the NAIA national championships, which begin Thursday in Park City, Kansas.
The Argos finished second at the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament on Feb. 17 with three individual champions — Abel Nava Jr. at 174 pounds, Sawyer Hobbs at 197 and KC Buday at 285.
Nava is seeded third in the national 174-pound bracket, Hobbs is fifth and Buday is second.
Also qualifying for the NAIA tournament for Providence are Jalen Vladic (149 pounds), Bridger Hall (157), Aden Graves (157), Jordan Komac (165), Hunter Hobbs (165), Alan Badley (184), Caleb Werner (197) and Ethan DeRoche (285).
The 11 wrestlers Providence qualified are the second-most for any school. Powerhouse Grand View (Iowa), Southeastern (Fla.) and Life (Ga.) each qualified 12 wrestlers.
Montana State-Northern, which was ranked 20th in the final NAIA rankings in early February, qualified six wrestlers for the national tournament: Devin Crawford (165 pounds), NaKoda Siegel (174), Cade Gubler (174), Rylin Burns (184), Austin Vanek (184) and Carl Hansen (197).
The NAIA national tournament begins at 9 a.m. (MT) Thursday with the first round. The tournament features six sessions of wrestling over three days. The championship finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (MT) Saturday.
