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Taylor in line for national title

—Photo by Grand View Athletics Fort Dodge graduate Carson Taylor celebrates after a fall in a 133 pound quarterfinal match at the NAIA national tournament in Wichita, Kansas.

WICHITA, Kansas — After the referee’s hand hit the mat, Carson Taylor exploded with emotions as he clinched a spot in the national semifinals for Grand View.

Not only did the fall push him closer to a national title, it helped him earn another Grand View first.

“I was pumped after that win because I knew it was huge for our team with points and that I was an All-American,” Taylor said. “As a freshman it’s a great opportunity for me to be at this tournament getting all this experience and learning.”

Taylor is the first Grand View true-freshman to earn All-American honors. He is also the first true-freshman to win a conference/regional title.

In his rookie campaign, the second-seeded Taylor (24-3) picked up two quick falls to advance to Saturday’s medal round at 133 pounds.

Taylor pinned 10th-seed Taylor Vasquez of Morningside in 1:32 to advance to the semifinals. In his opening round match, Taylor earned a fall in 2:52 over Dakota Wesleyan’s Darien Malone.

Semifinal action begins today at 10 a.m. inside Hartman Arena.

Taylor will face third-seed Conner Gimson of Indiana Tech. Gimson (6-1) won a 4-2 decision and a TB-1, 2-1 victory to advance to the semifinals.

“I am feeling great, better than I have all year and I’m ready to go,” Taylor said. “Knowing I’m an All-American is an amazing feeling, but that doesn’t mean I’m letting up.

“I’m going as hard as possible for seven minutes for everyone of my matches I have left.”

Gimson is ranked seventh. Gimson’s identical twin brother Matt is ranked second and is the No. 1 seed.

“No one was sure what this season was going to be like,” Taylor said. “Especially for us freshmen. We didn’t think we would be able to compete as much, but as the year went on I kept getting more chances to wrestle.

“Now we are at the national tournament. I’m very grateful for the chance to even wrestle this year.”

Taylor looks to become the first Fort Dodge graduate in 52 years to win a national championship at a four-year college. Kent Osboe won national crowns for Northern Iowa (D-II) in 1968 and 1969.

Grand View, who has won nine straight NAIA national titles, is currently sitting in first place with 98 team points. Life (95.5) is second.

Three-time Clarion-Goldfield-Dows state champion Justin Portillo (125) also advanced to the semifinals. Portillo, who is a three-time national medalist, earned a 9-5 decision over Francisco Barrera of Southern Oregon in the opener.

The top-seeded Portillo majored Carter Cox of Cumberland.

Clarion-Goldfield-Dows four-time state medalist Tanner Abbas, made it through the blood rounds at 157 pounds.

Abbas won his opener 15-8 and lost in sudden-victory to Wilder Wichman of Thomas More in the quarterfinals at 157 pounds. Abbas stayed alive in the field with a 6-4 decision over Cole Luallen of Reinhardt.

Morningside

Fort Dodge two-time medalist Jonah Egli won two matches at 174 pounds, but was eliminated from the field.

The 2016 FDSH graduate who earned a fifth and sixth place showing for the Dodgers, earned a 6-0 decision over Trace Timmons of Missouri Baptist in his opener.

He advanced to the quarterfinals with a fall in 2:32 over eighth-seed Kolby Ferris of Indiana Tech.

Egli, who was sixth a year ago, lost to top-seed Brennan Swafford of Graceland, 13-0 in the quarterfinals. He was then eliminated from the field after losing by fall to Noah Clary of Lourdes.

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