WICHITA, Kan. – Over the past three seasons, redshirt senior David Rubio has racked up three conference titles, three separate All-American honors, and a pair of national runner-up finishes at the NAIA National Championships yet had never completed his journey on the national stage of becoming the first individual national champion in Corban University Men's Wrestling program history. Earlier this evening, Rubio laced up his mat shoes for one final bout in his collegiate career, and with the entire nation tuning in from all corners of the United States, put together an all-around clinic against the 157-weight class's top seeded wrestler to return to the Willamette Valley as the University's first men's wrestling national champion.
To view the final results on TrackWrestling of the 2025 NAIA National Championships, click HERE.
In addition to an individual national champion and three separate All-American titles achieved by Corban wrestlers, the nine Warriors to qualify for the 2025 NAIA National Championship accumulated 61.0 team points on the weekend, which secured them their first top ten team finish in program history just a year removed from setting their previous record of 19th in 2024. Their eighth-place finish today is six slots higher than the final national coaches' poll that had them ranked at No. 14-overall in the NAIA prior to the start of postseason competition.
"Being able to leave this year's national tournament with three All-Americans is an incredibe step forward in making Corban one of the wrestling staples in the state of Oregon," Corban head coach Nolan Harris was seen explaining in a post-match interview this evening. "From our top finishers to our guys who continuously work every day to join our national qualifying group, they all know they have competitive greatness, but they also know it doesn't define them. It frees them up to go out and improve as wrestlers, improve as people, and ultimately improve as believers and followers in Jesus Christ."
Prior to the national championship bouts that were televised nationally across the NAIA, a pair of Corban grapplers in sophomore Isaiah Twait and redshirt junior Antonio Garcia joined Rubio in Saturday competition in their respective 5th and 7th place bouts, looking to add some extra team points on the team scoreboard before Rubio took to the finalist stage later this evening.
In his second-straight national tournament appearance, Twait earned the No. 5-overall seed after cruising to a Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) weight class championship near the end of February and managed to work his way into the podium matchups after falling in the championship bracket quarterfinals yesterday morning. Facing the No. 2-seeded grappler from Lourdes University, William Speight, for the fifth-place match, Twait's underclassmen run had finally come to an end, as Speight racked up a 17-2 technical fall to give Twait a sixth-place All-American finish.
Just two weight classes later, Garcia had his opportunity to avenge his own championships quarterfinal loss that sent him to the consolation bracket, as he matched up with No. 13-seeded Seth Suvak of Dickinson State University for the seventh-place bout. Entering as the No. 3-overall seed for the heavyweights, Garcia made quick work of his nationally seeded opponent with a near tech fall of 16-3 for another 4.0 team points toward the Warriors' team score and clinch the second All-American honor for Corban this postseason.
"I'm super excited for David, he's been here as a national finalist three times now and to see him come through today in such dominant fashion was a long time coming and just simply amazing," Coach Harris shared earlier this evening in a post-match interview regarding both his and the program's first national champion. "It took a little bit for him to get going as he decided how to approach his opponent, but in taking his time it allowed him to earn bonus points in the team race that saw us hop another team within the top ten, and that just goes to represents who David is as a competitor, always looking at the bigger picture and taking other points into consideration. He's a team guy who loves Corban, and I couldn't be happier for him as his coach to see him finish his journey on top. We shared in our pregame and postgame prayers that we were going to glorify God no matter what happened today, and seeing the team rally around David and everyone come together makes it so much more enjoyable."
Across the mats from Rubio awaited one of the few 157-pound grapplers that he had yet to face in the 2024-25 school year in Donald Griffin, the No. 1-overall seed from Central Methodist University (Mo.) who up until the start of this national tournament, had suffered just one head-to-head loss all season long. Rubio had once held the top spot at 157lbs during the regular season but handed the bullseye mark up with some losses to NCAA DI wrestlers at some premiere tournaments over the winter break. The title of top wrestler for the weight class had been passed around the NAIA, mainly within the CCC, before Griffin earned the honor heading to Wichita.
As to be expected with a pair of seasoned veteran wrestlers, both Rubio and Griffin went scoreless through the first period of action tonight from the Hartman Arena, testing the waters against each other with neither of them able to corral and earn a takedown of their opponent. Griffin had one narrow opportunity midway through the opening period, but Rubio was able to skirt away at the last second.
Winning the coin toss on first choice was Rubio after the first period, deciding to choose to start the second period down rather than defer and force Griffin into making the first move. It took Rubio all of four seconds to escape Griffin's grasp and twenty-five seconds later, scored the first takedown of the match to secure a 4-0 lead, which was immediately challenged by the Central Methodist coaching staff as the two grapplers were sliding out of bounds immediately following the three-point takedown being credited to Rubio. Upon further review, Rubio's takedown was confirmed and after a reset at mid-mat, Griffin earned his escape point for what would be his only point earned of the bout.
Needing some extra points to force a major decision and further cement their top ten team finish, Rubio scored yet another takedown of Griffin with 28 seconds remaining in the second period and even flipped him for a three-point near fall on the far outskirts of the mats, keeping just a foot inbounds to triple his lead in a matter of seconds.
Needing a possible reversal and desperation pin to pull off the come-from-behind victory on the national stage, Griffin chose to start period three from the down position, meaning Rubio would need to wrangle his opponent for the next two minutes if he wanted to avoid any sort of loss that he could still give up if he wasn't careful. Much to the dismay of the Central Methodist fans in attendance, the willpower of Rubio shined brighter than ever as he hoisted Griffin from the mats and slammed him to the ground with authority on multiple occasions to prove to the entire nation that he was deserving of that long-awaited national championship crown. The extra point for riding time gave Rubio a dominant 11-1 final score in his final collegiate wrestling appearance.
Rubio's trophy case had always been missing one award in particular heading into tonight's national title bout, yet there was even one more honor yet to be bestowed upon him following the 285-weight class championship when the individual awards were announced nationally. In accordance with the NAIA and National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), Rubio was named the 2025 NAIA Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament, presented to one individual student-athlete across all ten weight classes who had the best tournament results across their entire bracket. In five matchups, Rubio registered three major decisions and two five-point decisions, taking down three nationally seeded opponents including his ten-point thrashing of the weight class's top ranked wrestler.
"At the end of the day, having confidence and putting my trust in God was all that mattered today," Rubio shared in a post-match interview session with Coach Harris. "You know, I've been here before and win or lose, I was just going to give it my all because that's the abilities and capabilities that He gave me for these moments… I've made two trips here to Kansas that have ended in tears of sadness, tonight will be made for tears of joy as I celebrate with my teammates."
When asked to discuss what it meant to become the Warriors' first three-time conference champion, four-time All-American, and now first national champion as the program's first ever recruit, Rubio shared, "It means everything to me, Corban just changed my life for the better. This program changed my identity in wrestling, for my identity isn't in wrestling but is in Christ, as he died for my sins and it's also in loving my teammates, my coaches, and just loving the sport of wrestling. We're trying to grow Oregon wrestling and I believe Corban is the place to be if you want to accomplish your goals."
The Corban men's wrestling team closes out their 2024-25 season within the top ten of the NAIA for the first time in their six-year existence as a varsity program, as they outperformed numerous squads ranked ahead of them in the final national coaches' poll that was released prior to the CCC Championships last February. From a conference perspective, the Warriors finished right behind the University of Providence and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University while outscoring the reigning CCC team champion Raiders from Southern Oregon University by a single half point in team scoring, as the extra point from Rubio's major decision victory ultimately put Corban men's wrestling above the Raiders for their eight-place national finish. The Navy and Gold will graduate six Warrior student-athletes from the 2024-25 roster, locked up the most All-Americans in a single season in program history, and will look to reload for another exciting winter season next school year with what will surely be a busy offseason for Coach Harris and his staff.
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