Ernst earns second All-American honor Saturday

Photo courtesy of Tim Tushla 

WICHITA, Kan. — For the second time as a Morningside wrestler, Zander Ernst is an All-American.

The redshirt junior from Aurelia, Iowa, placed eighth Saturday in the 165-pound bracket at the NAIA Championships. After losing a tough 7-5 match in the quarterfinals, Ernst bounced back to win 17-2 over William Woods' Alexander Sederburg.

Ernst was then pinned in the fifth round of consolations, moving him to the seventh-place match. He held an early lead thanks to a first-period takedown, but fell in a close 12-10 decision.

Ernst ended his season with a 23-3 record, and he went undefeated during the regular season. He first earned All-American status in 2024.

"He puts a lot into his training," said Morningside head coach Rulin Pederson earlier this week. "He has a great diet and every time he goes out there, he wants to have full output of his technique and his gas tank."

Morningside sent four total to the national tournament, as Caden Eggleston, Carson Turnis, and Mekhi Bovee also competed this week.

Eggleston won his first match at 149 on Thursday in a 5-4 decision over Boedi Kirland of Montreat. Eggleston lost his following two matches, both to fifth-ranked Victor Guzman of Cumberland and No. 11 Cole Karasinski from Cornerstone.

Turnis, meanwhile, also wrestled at 165 like Ernst, and he won his match during the consolation round. That came after losing his opening match, and he pinned Marian's Jeff Dunasky in 6 minutes, 9 seconds.

At 197, Bovee fell to No. 6 Nathan Critchfield in the first round, then dropped a 13-3 match in the consolation bracket.