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Sioux City, home of Briar Cliff and first-year team Morningside, will welcome the best NAIA wrestlers in the nation this weekend for what promises to be a great two days of wrestling. The action kicks off at 10 a.m. Friday morning at the Tyson Events Center and concludes with the title bouts Saturday at 7 p.m.

Five Iowa schools will be represented in the champions. The two Sioux City teams, seventh-ranked William Penn, Waldorf and Northwester College.

William Penn boats the most individual qualifiers from an Iowa school with 12. The Statesmen also have two alternates selected in case they are needed to replace a teammate. Waldorf sends eight grapplers to Sioux City, while Morningside caps off a great first season with six qualifiers. Northwestern has five individuals competing for All-American honors, while Briar Cliff qualified one.

William Penn is going after its third consecutive Top 10 team finish at the NAIA Championships and should be able to get it done with the group it brings. Six Statesmen were included in the final national rankings, including both Kendall Horrocks (fourth) and Billy Exline (sixth) at 125. Other ranked William Penn wrestlers are Fidel Gonzalez, seventh at 133, No. 4 Darren Cotton at 149, eighth-ranked Abel Trujillo at 174 and No. 8 Larry Smith at 184.

Other ranked individuals from Iowa schools are top-ranked Brad Stockton of Waldorf at 141, No. 7 Kelly Rydberg of Waldorf at 149, sixth-ranked Kevin Guinn of Waldorf at 165 and No. 3 Jake Stevenson of Morningside at 174.

The following is a brief weight-by-weight breakdown of the NAIA Championships and where the Iowa college wrestlers sit in the unofficial brackets.

NAIA Wrestling Championships March 4-5 at Sioux City, Iowa
125
Iowa College Qualifiers - #4 Kendall Horrocks, William Penn; #6 Billy Exline, William Penn.

Bracket Breakdown
Exline and Horrocks are on opposite sides of the bracket and should be favored to reach the quarterfinals. That's when the going could get tough. Exline could face top-ranked Andrew Bradbury of Lindenwood in that round, while No. 4 Horrocks appears headed for a quarterfinal showdown with No. 5 Nathan Engel of Missouri Valley or No. 8 Shane Hase of Jamestown. Those two should meet in the second round. If Horrocks can reach the semifinals, he would probably face No. 2 Delrico Choates of Cumberland or no. 3 Richard Byrd of Embry-Riddle. Those two could square off in a great quarterfinal bout.

133
Iowa College Qualifiers - #7 Fidel Gonzalez, William Penn; Shea Minor, Morningside.

Bracket Breakdown
Seventh-ranked Gonzalez receives a first-round bye and then will be put to the test right away. His second-round foe will be No. 4 Brad Cooper of Cumberland, who is sitting in the No. 2 seed spot of the bracket. The winner of that match won't have time to rest, as top-ranked Brian Luna of Montana State-Northern is likely waiting in the quarterfinals. The bottom half of the bracket is loaded, which could be good news for Minor, who is on the top half. Minor will battle Nick Leon of Embry-Riddle in the opening round. If the Morningside Mustang gets through that match, he would meet unranked Spencer Griffiths of Great Falls. The No. 2 and No. 3 ranked wrestlers are in the top half, but Minor wouldn't have to worry about them unless he reached the quarterfinals or semis.

141
Iowa College Qualifiers - #1 Brad Stockton, Waldorf; Mike Billings, Waldorf; Earl Robinson, William Penn; Jared Pickett, Morningside.

Bracket Breakdown
Stockton appears to be Iowa's best shot at crowning an NAIA National Champion this weekend. The former Iowa City West star has reached the top ranking in his sophomore season after finishing fourth at this weight last season. The top-rated Warrior faces Matt Palladino of Bethel in the opening round and then would meet either William Penn's Robinson or Josh Bauer of Mary in the second round. The biggest obstacle in the way of Stockton's quest to reach the finals could come in the quarterfinals, where No. 4 Leonardo Martinez of Lindenwood could be waiting. Pickett faces Martinez in the first round and could be facing consolation round action very early in the tournament. Also on that half of the draw are fifth-ranked Dan Shaw of Montana St.-Northern and Jason Lozier of Dana and Nick Vogt of McKendree, who are tied for eighth in the final rankings. Mike Billings is the lone Iowa wrestler on the top half of the draw. He faces Josh Pulsifer of Missouri Valley in the fist round and if he wins there, Billings would meet No. 6 Joey Jannsen of Southern Oregon in the second round.

149
Iowa College Qualifiers - #4 Darren Cotton, William Penn; #7 Kelly Rydberg, Waldorf; Josh Curry, Morningside; John Suter, Northwestern. Alternate - Paul Carter, William Penn.

Bracket Breakdown
Cotton, a fourth-place NAIA National finisher last season, should breeze into the semifinals if all goes well for the Statesmen grappler. He faces unranked Todd Guevara in the first round and isn't scheduled to meet a ranked wrestler until the semis. But that could be top-ranked Tyler Moran of Embry-Riddle. But Moran would likely have to get past fifth-ranked Tyson Biddle of Missouri Valley in the quarters. Suter would meet Biddle in the second round if both are successful in their opening round bouts. Curry faces Ernie Spreitzer of Cumberland in the opening round, a wrestler who came close to placing at last year's NAIA Championships. Rydberg is located on the top half of the bracket and could get tested early and often. If he gets past Shane Cristelli of Missouri Valley in the first round, as expected, Rydberg would probably meet No. 8 Alexis Roumanis of Simon Fraser in the second round. The winner there probably has a date with No. 2 Mike Rio of Lindenwood in the quarterfinals.

157
Iowa College Qualifiers - Angelo Love, William Penn; Wesley Pierce, William Penn.

Bracket Breakdown
These pair of William Penn qualifiers have two things in common with their draws. They both received first-round byes and then each one will likely face a stiff test to stay on the championship side of the draw in the second round. Pierce appears destined to face second-ranked Jake Diefenbach of Lindenwood in the second round, while Love should meet No. 5 Billy James of Campbellsville. If Love does get past that challenge, top-ranked and defending NAIA Champion Stryder Davis of Montana St.-Northern will likely be waiting for him in the quarterfinals.

165
Iowa College Qualifiers - #6 Kevin Guinn, Waldorf; Ryan Guffey, William Penn; Heath Beesley, Northwestern.

Bracket Breakdown
Guinn receives a first-round bye and then faces unranked Mike Kummer of Great Falls in the second round. Guinn should make it to the quarterfinals, where second-ranked Jimmy Grochowsky, an eighth-place finisher at 157 last season, should be waiting. Guffey also received a first-round bye, but his second round match isn't as easy. He will meet fourth-ranked Corey Johnson of Lindenwood. Beesley faces a ranked foe in the very first round, when the Red Raider meets No. 7 Matt Howard of Embry-Riddle.

174
Iowa College Qualifiers - #3 Jake Stevenson, Morningside; #8 Abel Trujillo, William Penn; Derek Pike, Waldorf; Matt Wenninger, Northwestern; Casey Sullivan, Waldorf. Alternate - Spencer Bain, William Penn.

Bracket Breakdown
This weight is clearly hometown Morningside's best shot at earning All-American honors in third-ranked Stevenson. He had a great Central Region Tournament, where he finished ahead of No. 5 Marshall Marquardt of Dana and Trujillo. Stevenson opens his tournament against Matt Rudd of Missouri Baptist and is successful, would meet Junior Liberal of Menlo in the second round. If he keeps winning, Stevenson would not face another ranked grappler until the semifinals, where he'll probably see No. 1 David Rivera of Embry-Riddle, last year's 174-pound runner-up. Rivera could meet a tough foe in the quarters in No. 6 James Bunch of Lindenwood. Sullivan of Waldorf will meet Bunch in the second round if he can get past David Waters of Montana St.-Northern in the opening bout. Wenninger meets Todd Allen of Cumberland in the first round. No. 8 Trujillo received a first-round bye and will meet No. 7 Rick Story of Southern Oregon in a tough second-round draw. I Pike can get past Kiel Giese of Missouri Valley in the first round, he would face fourth-ranked Matt Michaelson of Dickinson State in the second round.

184
Iowa College Qualifiers - #8 Larry Smith, William Penn; Kent Scheff, Waldorf.

Bracket Breakdown
Smith gets a first-round bye and appears to have a solid shot at reaching the quarterfinals. In the second round, Smith would have to beat unranked Adam Hicks of McKendree to reach the final eight. But after that, the going gets very tough. Top-ranked David O'Brien of Southern Oregon, the 184-pound runner-up last season, will probably be waiting for Smith in the quarters. Scheff has a very tough draw up top. He gets a first-round bye, but that take him right into No. 4 Marion Thomas of Missouri Valley, last season's fourth-place finisher.

197
Iowa College Qualifiers - Andrew Lundgren, Northwestern; Jake Head, Waldorf.

Bracket Breakdown
It appears it will be tough for an Iowa to earn All-American honors at this weight, let alone make it past the second round. Both Lundgren and Head are on the top half of the draw and received first-round byes. Lundgren faces top-ranked Eric Flinchum of Cumberland, last year's fifth-place finisher, in the second round. Head is probably waiting for No. 4 Justin Schlecht of Dickinson State for a second round bout.

285
Iowa College Qualifiers - Jeremiah Pottebaum, Briar Cliff; Isaac Schmidt, Northwestern; Dan Williams, William Penn; Chauncey Coleman, William Penn; Kiel Ploen, Morningside; Nathan Ploen, Morningside.

Bracket Breakdown
With six individual qualifiers, this is the best-represented weight for the Iowa schools. And although none of the six are ranked heading into the championships, don't be surprised is a couple leave Sioux City with All-American honors. Pottebaum, Briar Cliff's lone NAIA Championships qualifier, could easily vie for a high National finish. He wouldn't face a ranked wrestler until the quarterfinals and the top two ranked heavyweights are on the other side of the draw. Also on the bottom half with Pottebaum are the two Ploen's and Coleman. Pottebaum and Coleman receive first-round byes, while Kiel Ploen opens his tournament against No. 3 Brandon Lemer of Jamestown, a fourth-place finisher last season. Nathan Ploen also has a tough first-round draw, as he battles No. 6 Alex Becerra of Lindenwood. Schmidt and Williams are on the top portion of the draw. Schmidt meets Luke Roberts of Great Falls in the first round and the winner gets top-ranked Roger Miller of Lindenwood, the third-place finisher last season, in the second round. Williams battles Trevor Maloch of McKendree in the opening round and if he wins, would probably face No. 5 Jacob Hallmark of Menlo in the second round.