Karibo Earns Second Straight All-American, Places Third at NAIA National Championships

PARK CITY, Kan. - For the second straight year, Malachi Karibo of Baker men's wrestling earned All-American status after he came away with a third-place finish at the 2024 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships this past weekend in Park City, Kan.

Karibo went 5-1 in a tough 197-pound gauntlet that saw the senior from Wichita, Kan. follow up his fourth-place finish from last year's national meet with third-place honors in 2024. He won his first three matches by major decision before falling in the semifinals of the championship bracket. After picking up his fourth win, he closed out with a 10-3 decision in the placement match to earn his second straight top-four finish.

As the other two national qualifiers for BU, Dallas Koelzer (149) and Brett Bober (184) each battled it out in their respective brackets with Koelzer winning two of his four matches in Hartman Arena. Koelzer won back-to-back decisions to advance to the fourth round of the consolation bracket before seeing his tournament run come to an end there.

Baker finished 25th in the team standings after tallying 19 points for the tournament, while fellow Heart team Grand View claimed the national title.

The Wildcats wrap up a 2023-24 season under first-year head coach Tyrone Lewis that saw them finish in fifth at the Heart Men's Wrestling Conference Championships and boast three NAIA qualifiers, highlighted by Karibo's All-American finish.

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