The Luther College Wrestling team competed at the NCAA Lower Midwest Regional on February 29 and March 1 where they finished sixth and had six wrestlers place. Heavyweight Walter West (‘24) and 157 pounder Clayton McDonough (‘26) both finished third and qualified for the NCAA National Championships.
McDonough and West were joined by four other Luther competitors who earned themselves spots on the podium. Connor Kidd (‘26) and Ryan Cripe (‘24) finished seventh at 125 and 141, Chase Kmosena (‘25) finished sixth at 149, and Bryce McDonough (‘26) finished fourth at 165. Cristian Chavez (‘24) and Eli Mitchell (‘25) went 2-2 and Jake Steenhoek (‘24) and Drake Tiedemann (‘26) both finished 1-2.
McDonough has now qualified for the National Championships for a second straight year. His regional performance required lots of heart, as after losing in the quarterfinals, he won four straight matches and pinned returning national finalist Javen Estrada of North Central in the third place match. After falling in the All-American round last season, he is ready to achieve his goals.
“This year I have a bigger goal in mind,” McDonough said. “I want to do greater things than what I had in mind last year.”
In his first time competing at the regional, West qualified for his first National Tournament. After losing in the semifinals he had to fight back for third where he defeated Josh Woodrey of Augustana 5-0. West also earned his first Scholar All-American award by placing at regionals.
“I think I made a couple of little mistakes at the regional and that’s why I obviously ended up on the backside there,” West said. “I think a lot of it will be truly believing that I can [be] All-American and I could maybe win it all. I’m just excited for the opportunity.”
West along with Kmosena and Bryce McDonough all earned Scholar All-American honors by placing at regionals. The honor is given to wrestlers who have above a 3.2 GPA, place at regionals or win 66% of their matches. Miguel Garcia (‘24) also earned the honor joining West and Kmosena as first time recipients. Bryce McDonough has received the award twice in just two years.
“I just feel that the level of focus it takes to be a scholar All-American is a lot and you need to be focused everyday of the week,” McDonough said.
The team’s sixth place finish came with 100.5 team points, led by McDonough who had four pins and 23 team points. His four pins were the most at the tournament and he received the Manuel Gorriaran award, an honor given to the wrestler with the most pins in the fastest time.
West and McDonough will compete at the NCAA III National Tournament in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on March 15 and 16. Updates can be found at luthernorse.com or trackwrestling.com.
