PARK CITY, Kan. – Mountaineer Men's Wrestling wrapped up its 2021-22 season Saturday afternoon with two wrestlers placing in the top-eight at the NAIA National Championships in Kyle Knudtson and Noel Orozco. Knudtson was fourth at 184 pounds, while Orozco placed sixth at 285 pounds.

Knudtson and Orozco become the seventh and eighth All-America award winners under Head Coach Dustyn Azure. For Knudtson, this is his first career All-American honor, while Orozco picked up his second.

As a team, EOU scored 36.0 points, primarily on the efforts of Knudtson and Orozco, and finished 13th as a team on the national stage. Their team finish is the highest in program history since the program's reinstatement ahead of the 2016-17 season.

Knudtson went 1-2 on the second day to finish with a 4-2 mark on the national stage. In the semifinals, he battled second seed Eric Vermillion of Indiana Tech in a close 5-3 decision. The grapplers were tied at 3-all late in the third, before a takedown by Vermillion helped him escape with the win. In the consolation semifinals, Knudtson cruised to a 17-0 tech fall No. 9-seeded Niko Perovic of William Baptist. In the third place match, he battled in another close match, but came up short in a 15-14 decision against No. 4 Sam Osho of Marian. Knudtson finished with 17.0 team points

Orozco was 0-3 on day two after going 3-0 on day one and finished at .500 with a 3-3 record at Nationals. He was pinned in 2:12 by top-seeded Greg Hagan of Grand View in the semifinals. His closest match was in the consolation semifinals as he dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 2 Odgerel Batkhishig of Doane. In the fifth place bout, Orozco was shutout in a 9-0 major decision by No. 3-seeded Mommer of Grand View. He finished with 11.0 team points over the two-day span.

With the 2021-22 campaign wrapped up, the Mountaineers walked away with two All-Americans for the second consecutive year and picked up their first ever Cascade Collegiate Conference Title as well. They had six All-CCC selections and Dustyn Azure was named the CCC Coach of the Year for a second straight season.

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