Schedule | Brackets | Live Scoring | Live Video

MIDWAY, Ky. -- Following a strong showing at the Mid-South Conference Championships a couple of weeks ago, Midway grapplers, Byron Pierce and Kevin Almond are set to compete at the NAIA Wrestling National Championships on Friday and Saturday.

The national championships are scheduled to begin on Friday (March 5) at 10 a.m. ET before wrapping up with the championship finals on Saturday night (March 6) at Hartman Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

Both Pierce and Almond are making their first appearances at the championship event as they become the third and fourth wrestlers to represent Midway in the event.

Byron Pierce, a sophomore from Paintsville, Ky., completed his 2020-21 campaign at 10-5 as he tied for the most wins on the team. In his first-round matchup, Pierce will meet Noel Orozco from Eastern Oregon. Orozco earned the No. 6 national seed at heavyweight.

The winner of that first-round matchup will meet the No. 11 seed, Jessee Pryor of Southeastern (Fla.) in the second round.

Kevin Almond, a senior from Elberton, Ga., enters the tournament sporting a 12-3 mark overall as he finished the season ranked No. 3 in the NAIA at 157 pounds. For his first-round matchup, Almond will meet the No. 6 national seed in Jack Bass of Life (Ga.).

The winner of the Almond-Bass matchup in the first round will meet the winner of Tristan Sellmer of Campbellsville (Ky.) and Justus Scott of Baker (Kans.) in the second round.

The Mid-South Conference – of which Midway is a member – had a total of 56 qualifiers which is the most from any conference in the NAIA. Due to COVID-19, each conference received allocations based on a three-year average of conference's All-American honors and national tournament qualifiers.

Wrestling is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET on Friday morning in Wichita. Live results and live video will be available through Trackcast and can be found here.

Follow Midway Eagles Athletics