Waldorf Men's Wrestling Finishes Season at GPAC Tournament, Okada Qualifies for Nationals
HASTINGS, Neb. - The Waldorf Men's Wrestling team traveled to Hastings College to compete in the GPAC Conference Tournament this past weekend.
Shiwoko Shiwoko wrestled in the 141-weight class. Shiwoko went 4-3 on the weekend, winning his first match against Briar Cliff's Ayden Kelley by a Technical Fall at 3:00 with a score of 20-3 with 4 takedowns and 2 near falls in the first period. Advancing to the quarterfinals, he fell to Concordia's Creighton Baughman at 3:42. Shiwoko won his next two matches over Waldorf's Marco Gandy by Fall at 4:08 and Northwestern's Kane Butrick by Major Decision 14-5. Shiwoko fell to Dakota Wesleyan's Zach Zitek by Decision and Morningside's Hunter Steffans by Fall.
At 149, Waldorf's #21 ranked Tyler Okada secured a 3rd place finish, going 3-1 on the weekend. He would get a bye his first round and win by fall at 4:58 against Morningside's Chris Aragon in the quarterfinals. Okada would lose by Technical Fall against Doane's Nathan Lendt in the semifinals but bounce back and pick up a win the Consolation Bracket over Midland's Zion Amerson by Major Decision 8-0. Okada advanced to the 3rd place match, winning over Concordia's Steven Barn's by forfiet.
At 184, Skyler Schmidt received a bye his first round and lost to Dakota Wesleyan's Temuujijn Mendbileg by Fall 4:13. Schmidt picked up a win against Hastings' Conall Liburdi by Fall at 1:29 and fell short to Northwestern's Braeden Campbell in a nail-biting match, losing by Decision 7-6.
Waldorf finished in 9th place with 30.5 points. #21 Tyler Okada (22-9) qualified for the NAIA National Championships on March 6-8, 2025 in Park City, Kansas.