Wildcats Finish Fifth at Heart Championships, Earn Three National Qualifiers

OSKALOOSA, Iowa – For the third straight year, Malachi Karibo finished with runner-up honors to lead a Baker men's wrestling squad that came in fifth in the team standings at the 2024 Heart Men's Wrestling Championships, held this past weekend in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Overall, the Wildcats boasted seven top-six finishes and totaled 89 points to round out a top-five that saw Grand View earn its ninth straight conference championship with 148.5 points and eight individual titles.

Karibo, a senior from Wichita, Kan., won his first three matches of the 197-pound bracket with a close 4-2 decision against the Vikings' Garavous Kouekabakilaho, who ranks a spot ahead of Karibo in the national rankings at No. 7, sending him to the championship round. Karibo placed second at both the 2022 and 2023 Heart Championships as well.

Baker had four wrestlers earn fourth-place finishes with Dallas Koelzer (149), Jonah Muhammad (157), Joey Hancock (165) and Brett Bober (184) all winning at least three matches at the conference tournament.

It marks the fourth straight top-four finish for Bober, who won a Heart championship in 2020-21, and is the third straight for Koelzer, who joined Bober as a conference runner-up last year. Hancock placed third at the Heart tournament last season.

Christian Nishi-Rivera came in fifth in the 133-pound bracket, finishing off his tournament by earning a pin in his placement match. Nikolas Slatoff won back-to-back matches at 149 pounds to ensure a placement finish for the sophomore grappler as he ended up placing sixth and tallying eight points for BU.

The Wildcats had three wrestlers qualify for the 2024 NAIA Men's Wrestling Championships with Koelzer (149), Bober (184) and Karibo (197) all making a return trip to the national tournament.

The NAIA Championships are set to take place on Feb. 29 - March 2 at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan.

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