WICHITA, Kan.- Eastern Oregon was back in action Saturday as they competed in day two of the NAIA National Championships in Wichita, Kan. The Mountaineers finished 12th overall with 42 total team points. Eastern also earned two top-eight finishers awarding them each a spot on the 2023 Men's Wrestling NAIA All-American Team.

The first top eight finisher and highest placer of the tournament for Eastern was Hunter Sparks. Sparks had a tremendous tournament, finishing second overall. Sparks started his day with an upset over No.1 seeded Esco Walker of Grandview University with a 5-3 decision. Sparks then took on No. 2-seeded Brandon Orum from Life University in the 125 Pound NAIA National Championship match. Sparks battled hard in a back and forth match but came up just short in a heartbreaking 5-4 decision loss. Despite the loss, Sparks finished second overall in the 125 pound weight class, and earned All-American status for his tremendous efforts. 

Sparks' second place finish marks the highest finish by a Mountie since the program's reinstatement in 2016. He is the only grappler to make it to the championship match in that time and narrowly missed out on becoming EOU's third national champion in complete program history

The second and final top eight finisher for the Mounties was Noel Orozco. Orozco took the long route to the podium after a tough loss on the first day of the tournament. The grad student went 2-2 on the day on his route to a 6th place finish in the heavyweight division. 

Orozco started off his day with a 3-2 decision win over Morningside's Hunter Dejong followed by a 3-1 victory over Earnest Johnson from Keiser University. The Washington native then matched up with KC Buday from the University of Providence. Buday ultimately took the close match by sudden victory, leading to a 5th place matchup against Daulton Mayer of Thomas More University. Mayer took the 5th place match by pin. Despite losing his final match, Orozco finished 6th place, earning All-American honors for the third time in his career. 

This concludes the 2022-2023 season for Eastern Oregon University Men's Wrestling.