Northern's Rylin Burns finishes fifth at NAIA wrestling championships

It wasn't the kind of national tournament the Montana State University-Northern Lights were gunning for. But it sure did end on a high note.

The Lights saw junior Rylin Burns make a run to a fifth-place finish and NAIA All-American honors at the NAIA National Wrestling Championships Thursday through Saturday in Wichita, Kansas.

Burns, unseeded at 184 pounds, made a trek through the wrestle backs at nationals. He won his first round match, but then lost to fourth-seeded William Speight of Lourdes in the second round.

From there, Burns ripped through four straight victories to reach the consolation semifinals. He again ran into Speight and lost by major decision, but he would bounce right back in the placing round.

Facing 14th-seeded Daryus Webb of Avila, Burns won by a 9-1 major in the fifth-sixth place match to finish off his national tournament in style.

In all, Burns knocked off four different seeded opponents in the 184-pound draw. He wound up scoring 16 points for the Lights, of head coach Tyson Thivierge. As a team, Northern scored 23.5 points and finished in 21st place overall.

The rest of those team points came from NaKoda Siegel (174), Cade Gubler (174), Austin Vanek (184) and Carl Hansen (197), who all at least won one match apiece for the Lights.

Meanwhile, Grand View rolled to yet another NAIA national championship, scoring 209.5 points. Life was second with 154 and Menlo was third with 95.5. 

Lights Individual Results

NAIA 165 - 15 Devin Crawford

Champ. Round 1 - 15 Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 - 2 Rysan Leong (Menlo) won by decision over 15 Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 5-0)

Cons. Round 2 - 16 Elliott Rodgers (Marian) won by fall over 15 Devin Crawford (Montana State-Northern) (Fall 1:16)

NAIA 174 - 4 NaKoda Siegel

Champ. Round 1 - 4 NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) won by tech fall over Cael Jordan (Doane) (TF 19-4)

Champ. Round 2 - 13 Maximus Zamora (Menlo) won by decision over 4 NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 4-2)

Cons. Round 2 - 4 NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over Joseph Teguia (Graceland) (Maj 13-2)

Cons. Round 3 - 12 Gabe Martinez (Campbellsville) won by decision over 4 NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 10-3)

NAIA 174 - 16 Cade Gubler

Champ. Round 1 - 16 Cade Gubler (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 - 1 Riley Smucker (Life) won by tech fall over 16 Cade Gubler (Montana State-Northern) (TF 15-0)

Cons. Round 2 - 16 Cade Gubler (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over Tony Connor (Missouri Baptist) (Maj 10-2)

Cons. Round 3 - 9 Alex Hernandez (Southern Oregon) won by decision over 16 Cade Gubler (Montana State-Northern) (Dec 11-4)

NAIA 184 - 15 Austin Vanek

Champ. Round 1 - 15 Austin Vanek (Montana State-Northern) received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 - 2 Kyle Homet (Life) won by tech fall over 15 Austin Vanek (Montana State-Northern) (TF 19-3)

Cons. Round 2 - 15 Austin Vanek (Montana State-Northern) won in sudden victory - 1 over John Roberts (Southeastern) (SV-1 5-2)

Cons. Round 3 - 10 Jameel Coles (Grand View ) won by major decision over 15 Austin Vanek (Montana State-Northern) (Maj 11-3)

NAIA 184 - Rylin Burns (5th Place)

Champ. Round 1 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by fall over 13 Brett Bober (Baker) (Fall 6:15)

Champ. Round 2 - 4 William Speight (Lourdes) won by major decision over Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) (Maj 16-3)

Cons. Round 2 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over Jakob Francksen-Small (Northwestern) (Maj 11-3)

Cons. Round 3 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over 12 Jackson King (Dickinson State) (Maj 12-4)

Cons. Round 4 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over 7 Isaiah Morales (Menlo) (Dec 5-4)

Cons. Round 5 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over 8 Kyle Knudtson (Eastern Oregon) (Maj 15-4)

Cons. Round 5 - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over 8 Kyle Knudtson (Eastern Oregon) (Maj 15-4)

Cons. Semi - 4 William Speight (Lourdes) won by major decision over Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) (Maj 17-5)

5th Place Match - Rylin Burns (Montana State-Northern) won by major decision over 14 Daryus Webb (Avila) (Maj 9-1)

NAIA 197 - 16 Carl Hansen's place is unknown and has scored 1.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - 16 Carl Hansen (Montana State-Northern) won by decision over Jake Rau (Jamestown) (Dec 5-2)

Champ. Round 2 - 1 Bradley Antesberger (Doane) won by fall over 16 Carl Hansen (Montana State-Northern) (Fall 7:00)

Cons. Round 2 - 16 Carl Hansen (Montana State-Northern) won in sudden victory - 1 over Michael Moreno (Arizona Christian) (SV-1 8-5)

Cons. Round 3 - 9 Tucker Tomlinson (Ottawa) won by tech fall over 16 Carl Hansen (Montana State-Northern) (TF 21-6).