By Michael Pagano
Special to NKyTribune
On November 24, 2015, the Thomas More Saints wrestling program was officially born. At the time the program was started, Vice President and Director of Athletics Terry Connor had this to say about his new sport, “with many successful wrestling programs in the Greater Cincinnati area, wrestling is a natural addition to our NCAA athletic program (“Thomas More College Adds Dance Team and Wrestling Program,” thomasmoresaints.com, November 24, 2015).
The competitions began in the fall of 2016, with graduate assistants Aaron Banko and Richard Dowdley running the team. Their first-ever dual was staged in Westerville, Ohio against the Otterbein University Cardinals, where the Saints fell 36-10. Cody Shultz wrestled the first match in program history, while John Shirkey earned the first points in program history with a 15-0 technical fall victory over Otterbein’s Tyler Norris.
Shirkey would go on to become a major player for the wrestling program. He was the Saints’ first ever conference champion in the President’s Athletic Conference (PAC), winning the 133-pound weight class during the inaugural 2016–17 season. He also won a team-high 26 matches during that first season.
The Saints finished 2016–17 with a 3-3 dual record, picking up the program’s first dual victory over Bellarmine University, 27-19 on November 30, 2016. They finished with a 2-1 record in PAC duals.
Their best tournament finish of the season came in the PAC Championships, where they finished fourth before placing 14th in the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament.
In the spring of 2017, the Saints hired Jason Russell to be the new head coach of the program. Russell remains the head coach today. Before his time at Thomas More, Russell wrestled collegiately for four years with Heidelberg University Student Princes, graduating in 2014. He then became a volunteer assistant coach with the program during the 2014–15 season. Next, Russell spent the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as an assistant coach before making his way to Thomas More in Crestview Hills.
In his first season at the helm, Russell led the Saints to an impressive 9-5 dual record with a 2-1 record in PAC action. The Saints won their first five duals of the season, with the first career victory being a 34-10 triumph over the now-defunct MacMurray College on November 18, 2017. Thomas More had a pair of sixth-place finishes in tournaments during the 2017–18 season, before finishing third in the PAC Championships and 12th at the NCAA Central Regional. Both Tanner Yenter and Avery Jones won the PAC Championship in their weight classes, with Yenter winning at 133 pounds and Jones at 184. Jones would go on to finish fourth in the regional tournament at 184 pounds, just missing out on a berth to the NCAA Division III National Championships. To go to nationals, the wrestler must finish in the top three of the weight class at the respective regional tournaments.
Thomas More finished 7-8 in dual action during 2018–19, their final season as an NCAA Division III institution. Their best tournament finish was a fourth place at the Washington & Jefferson Invitational, where they had five wrestlers place in their respective weight classes. The team finished 15th at the NCAA Central Regional with Avery Jones earning another fourth-place finish at 184 pounds.
The team transitioned to the NAIA’s Mid-South Conference (MSC) in 2019–20 and began to make a name for themselves as a national power. Early on during their first year in the NAIA, they knocked off #19 Williams Baptist College, 33-19 during a multi-dual day that was hosted by Lindsey Wilson College in Central Kentucky. This was the first win in program history against a ranked opponent.
The team would end up going 9-9 in dual matches, with a 1-3 record in the MSC.
A major domino fell during that season (2019–20), when they had their first national qualifier, and not just one but four made it to the NAIA National Championships in Park City, Kansas. These four historical wrestlers were James Caniglia, Avery Jones, Andrew Taylor, and Wilder Wichman. The team finished 36th as a team in their first taste of nationals. Jones, a trailblazer for the team from the start, would end his career as the all-time winningest wrestler in program history, with 106 victories. He also holds the record for most wins in a season at 33 during the previous 2017–18 campaign.
The team went 9-8 in duals (4-3 in MSC) during the following regular season in 2020–21. That year brought along some more firsts for the program. Ryan Moore, a transfer from NCAA Division I wrestling powerhouse Cornell University, became the first Saint in the NAIA era to win a conference championship. Moore won the MSC’s 141-pound weight class and was named the MSC North Division Wrestler of the Tournament. Along with Moore, Shay Horton, Daulton Mayer, and Wilder Wichman also qualified for the NAIA National Championships.
The team made a major leap at the nationals, finishing eighth as a team and netting the program’s first three All-Americans in Moore (2nd, 141 lbs.), Wichman (3rd, 157 lbs.), and Mayer (7th, 197 lbs.). Moore also became the first wrestler in program history to wrestle in a National Championship match.
The 2021–22 Saints squad broke the program record for most dual wins, going 10-3, while sending a program record five wrestlers to the NAIA National Championships. Both Wichman (157 lbs.) and Moore (149 lbs.) were conference champions in their respective weight classes to head to the national championships. Horton and Mayer earned their second consecutive trip while Andrew Taylor also made the second trip of his career. The team had another strong showing, finishing ninth, as Ryan Moore, Daulton Mayer, and Wilder Wichman were All-Americans once again. Moore was the runner-up at 149 pounds, Wichman was third at 157 pounds, and Mayer was seventh at 197 pounds.
This past year, 2022–23, marked the team’s final year as an NAIA and Mid-South Conference member, with the athletics department becoming a provisional member of NCAA Division II and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC). The team went into the year looking to make a major mark on the NAIA, and once again were able to one-up themselves from the year before. While their dual record (7-7, 3-4 in MSC) may not have been as strong as in past years, they made up for it with dominant performances from their All-Americans. Daulton Mayer especially had a big year after bumping up to heavyweight in the offseason. This included earning three wins and being the lone Saints wrestler to wrestle on day two at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, a tournament loaded with major talent from Division I schools.
Thomas Mukai.(Photo provided)
The team finished fifth at the MSC Championships, with Mayer winning the 285-pound crown to make his third straight trip to nationals. The other four that joined him were four-time qualifier Wilder Wichman, three-time qualifiers Ryan Moore and Shay Horton along with first-time qualifier Kailan Keith.
The Saints finished a program-best tied for seventh at nationals with 52.5 points. Moore finished second at 149 pounds, becoming a three-time All-American. He finished 20-2 on the season with 10 falls. Wichman finished off a great career with a fifth-place finish at 157 pounds to also become a three-time All-American. He ended his career with 85 wins and went 17-5 during 2022–23 with four falls. Mayer bumped up to fifth after the move to 285 pounds, also becoming a three-time All-American. He became the Saints first Mid-South Conference Wrestler of the Year, going 29-5 with 21 wins by fall.
Not only has the team done well on the mats in their short, seven-year history, but they have also done well in the classroom. Eight wrestlers have been named NWCA Scholar All-Americans, while Mayer has earned the honor three times and Shay Horton has been named two times. The others to be honored are Andrew Taylor, Dru Baker, Zavier Campsey, Ian Daugherty, Joey Hunt, and Zachary Watson.
Eight wrestlers have also been named Academic All-Conference with Horton, Mayer, Daugherty, Dylan Mosher, and Matt Lewis all being named twice. Chase Emmert, Dru Baker, and Jordan Hoselton have all earned the honor once.
The 2023–24 season will be an interesting one for the Saints wrestling program as they cannot compete for the NCAA National Championship. As a provisional member of NCAA Division II (GMAC Conference), they have two years where they cannot compete for National Championships but can compete for Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Conference Championships. They will be competing in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) National Championships, however, which gives teams in transition like Thomas More an opportunity to compete for a championship.
Reflecting on the seven-year history of the wrestling team’s success, Coach Russell has concluded that: “Heading into year eight, the wrestling program at Thomas More has become a nationally competitive program after three straight top-ten finishes in the NAIA National Championships and numerous All-American honors. A combination of hard work from many student-athletes, and great support from our administration has helped us reach this point. As we enter our first season at the NCAA Division II level, we hope to continue to be a place where student-athletes can come to compete at a high level and receive a great education.” (Reflections from Coach Jason Russell, September 2023).
Wesleyan. (Photo provided)
As for the future, Coach Russell prophetically reflects on his current senior Ryan Moore whom he describes as likely to “go down as the best ever in the history of the program.” What makes him doubly special, he adds, is that “he is a local kid from nearby Walton Verona High School. At Thomas More, he has reached the national championship match 3 years in a row (funny enough, the same 3 years women’s basketball was in the national championship game); 3 time All-American, with 2 conference championships, and has a 3-year career record of 55-5” (Observations from Coach Jadon Russell about senior wrestler and team leader in 2023–2024, Ryan Moore). Clearly, with Ryan Moore’s legacy in the forefront, Thomas More’s Wrestling Program is primed for a successful move into the world of Division II Wrestling and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
Michael Pagano is Director of Athletic Communications at Wilmington College in Ohio. He was the former Co-Sports Information Director at Thomas More University.
Paul A. Tenkotte, PhD is Editor of the “Our Rich History” weekly series and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). He also serves as Director of the ORVILLE Project (Ohio River Valley Innovation Library and Learning Enrichment), as well as Editor of the forthcoming ORVIE (Ohio River Valley Innovation Explorer), previewing in Summer 2024. ORVIE is now recruiting authors for entries on all aspects of innovation in the Ohio River Watershed including: Cincinnati (OH) and Northern Kentucky; Ashland, Lexington, Louisville, Maysville, Owensboro and Paducah (KY); Columbus, Dayton, Marietta, Portsmouth, and Steubenville (OH); Evansville, Madison and Indianapolis (IN), Pittsburgh (PA), Charleston, Huntington, Parkersburg, and Wheeling (WV), Cairo (IL), and Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville (TN). If you would like to be involved in ORVILLE or ORVIE, please contact Paul Tenkotte at tenkottep@nku.edu.
