DeJong All-American honor highlights Mustangs national tournament efforts

WICHITA, KS. – Morningside University battled its way into an upper-half team leaderboard finish Friday and Saturday. March 4-5, at the 2022 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championships.

Taking to the mats inside the Hartmann Center, a six-man crew representing the Mustangs pieced together 16 points, good to wind up among the top 30 against the best in the country. When the smoke cleared on their two-day outing, head coach Jake Stevenson's program added another All-American honor to its coiffures. 

Sophomore 197-pounder Hunter DeJong (Sibley, Iowa) worked his way back from a tough third-round championship side loss and wound up eighth in a loaded field. He became the school's 34^th All-American and marked a second successive year in which a Morningside wrestler stood on the podium among the first eight of a weight class as junior John Diener (Kaukauna, Wis.) did so in 2021. It's the first time since 2016-17 that the program has achieved that feat.

"I'm so happy for Hunter," Stevenson said. "To get him on the awards podium is something special." 

"Overall, though, I'm proud of all of our guys," he added. "You're facing the best down here. They all battled, and we had some near misses that could have led to more. I know we'll get back after it even harder next season to try and add to what we accomplished this season."

DeJong (four victories) and Diener and sophomore 157-pounder Caleb Connor (Papillion, Neb.) (two wins each) ended their national tournament experience with multiple triumphs to add to their season's charts. Junior 133-pounder Taylor Vasquez (Fountain, Colo.) also earned a victory, while junior 125-pounder Evan Shell (Fort Collins, Colo.) and 141-pounder Noah Styskal (David City, Neb.) narrowly missed getting into the victory column.