CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Central Oklahoma was crowned NCAA National Champions and the MIAA tabbed 14 All-Americans at the 2023 Division II Wrestling National Championships.
 
The MIAA had 21 student-athletes from all five wrestling-competing institutions qualify for the 2023 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, hosted March 10-11 at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
The league earned its second consecutive wrestling national title as Central Oklahoma dominated the championship with 121 points, a 43-point lead ahead of the championship’s runners-up, No. 2-ranked Lander.
 
The top-ranked Bronchos placed nine of their tournament-high 10 qualifiers in the top seven. That superior depth was more than enough to propel UCO to its first national title since 2007. 
 
The Bronchos pulled off eight upsets of higher-seeded individuals in the tournament and finished 22-6 in the consolations – winning 12 of 13 during one stretch – in ending a 16-year championship drought. It was UCO's 16th championship, including the eighth in Division II to tie the all-time record held by Nebraska-Omaha and Cal State-Bakersfield.

Nebraska Kearney, the defending Division II National Champions, also placed in the championship’s top-10 team standings with an eighth place finished totaling 43 points. It was the 21st straight (not counting the 2020 season) that the Lopers have finished in top-eight at the national tournament.
 
The MIAA claimed three individual national champions.
 
Nebraska Kearney’s Austin Eldredge won the 174-pound title with a 12-4 victory over previously unbeaten Abner Romero of St. Cloud State. Eldredge, a redshirt senior from McPherson, Kan., entered the championships as the No. 3 seed. He went 4-0 with two 16-0 tech fall victories and two major decision wins. Eldredge ends his career at Nebraska Kearney as a NCAA National Champion and a three time All-American.
 
Central Oklahoma captured back-to-back individual gold medals as Dalton Abney earned a tight 1-0 decision to claim his second straight 197-pound crown and Shawn Streck breezed to an 8-3 victory in becoming the Bronchos’ first-ever winner at heavyweight.
 
Abney became a back-to-back national champion at the 2023 wrestling national championships. He entered the national tournament as the top seed in the 197-pound bracket. The junior form Tulsa, Okla., had a first round victory by fall in 2:29, earned a 9-1 major decision win in the quarterfinals, then won with a 4-2 sudden victory in the semifinals. Abney claimed the 1-0 victory over No. 2-seeded Derek Blaubaugh of Indianapolis in the championship match to claim the 197-pound title. Abney is UCO’s 12th four-time All-American in program history and the 18th multiple national champion.
 
Streck also entered the national tournament as the top seed in the 285-pound bracket. A junior from Merrillville, Ind., Streck collected three decision victories prior to his 8-3 decision win for the heavyweight title against No. 3 seed Jared Campbell of Glenville State. Streck finished the season with a flawless record of 26-0 in becoming a two-time All-American and the program’s first-ever 285-pound national champion.
 
The Bronchos led the MIAA with nine All-Americans while Nebraska Kearney had three and Fort Hays State had two. Below is the list of the MIAA’s 14 All-Americans from the 2023 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championship.
 
To see the final results and brackets of each weight class, click here.
 
133 Ibs. All-Americans
3rd Place – Dylan Lucas – Central Oklahoma, So.
 
141 Ibs. All-Americans
3rd Place – Nate Keim – Central Oklahoma, Sr.
 
149 Ibs. All-Americans
6th Place – Brik Filippo – Central Oklahoma, Sr.
 
157 Ibs. All-Americans
7th Place – Gabe Johnson – Central Oklahoma, R-Fr.
 
165 Ibs. All-Americans
3rd Place – Ty Lucas – Central Oklahoma, Sr.
 
174 Ibs. All-Americans
1st Place – Austin Eldredge – Nebraska Kearney, R-Sr.
3rd Place – Cade Lindsey – Fort Hays State, So.
7th Place – Anthony DesVigne – Central Oklahoma, Jr.
 
184 Ibs. All-Americans
5th Place – Alex Kauffman – Central Oklahoma, Sr.
6th Place – Billy Higgins – Nebraska Kearney, R-Jr.
 
197 Ibs. All-Americans
1st Place – Dalton Abney – Central Oklahoma, Jr.
3rd Place – Tereus Henry – Fort Hays State, R-So.
 
285 Ibs. All-Americans
1st Place – Shawn Streck – Central Oklahoma, Jr.
7th Place – Lee Herrington – Nebraska Kearney, R-Sr.