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Smith and Stradling Bow Out at NAIA Wrestling National Tournament

Smith and Stradling Bow Out at NAIA Wrestling National Tournament
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March 7, 2025

(Park, KS)-- The Cleary Cougar wrestling season has unfortunately ended one day early, as both Ja'Marcus Smith and Louden Stradling lost at the NAIA National Tournament on Friday.

Ja'Marcus Smith in 125:

  • After going 2-1 on Thursday, Ja'Marcus Smith returned to the mats on Friday in the consolation bracket, and was paired with Jack Eylar of Eastern Oregon.  Smith would earn a takedown and two nearfall points in the first period to take a 5-0 lead into the second period.  In the second period, Smith had two more takedowns, and was in the lead 11-2 entering the final period.  Smith earned another six points in the third period to win the match 17-5, advancing to the next round by a major decision
  • The next match would be against 2-seeded and WHAC champion Trevor Marsman of Cornerstone, with the winner advancing to, and guaranteeing themselves All-America status.  Marsman earned a takedown in the first period, an escape and a takedown in the second period, and saw Smith trailing 7-0 heading into the final period.  Marsman would earn six more points to win the match by a 13-0 score

Ja'Marcus Smith went 3-2 at the NAIA National Tournament

Louden Stradling in 149:

  • Like his teammate Ja'Marcus Smith, Louden Stradling went 2-1 on Thursday, and was matched up with a wrestler from Eastern Oregon for his first match of the day on Friday.  15-seeded Jaxon Morian would take a 1-0 lead into the final period, where Stradling earned an escape point, and a takedown with 1 second on the clock to win the match 4-1
  • Stradling's next match was against 13-seeded Mario de la Torre of Southeastern University.  Neither wrestler earned a point in the first period, and with Stradling on top to start the second period, de la Torre earned an escape point, followed by a takedown to put Stradling in a 4-0 hole.  Stradling would earn an escape point before the period ended, and was trailing 4-1 through two periods.  Stradling earned a second point via a penalty, and his third point from an escape to make the score 4-3.  Unfortunately for Stradling, he was unable to get the takedown he needed to win the match to advance, and lost 4-3.  Like his teammate, Stradling fell one match short of earning All-America status

Louden Stradling went 3-2 at the NAIA National Tournament