by Van Williams | Mar 11, 2025 | Cover Story, Wrestling
Wasilla’s Elijah Larsen goes by ‘Alaska’ with his Grand View University wrestling teammates, but you can call him national champion.
The 149-pound freshman out of Colony High won his weight class at the NAIA Championships as an eighth seed after his 12-0 major decision over No. 11 seed Hagen Heistand of Concordia over the weekend in Wichita, Kan.
Larsen led 3-0 after the first period and opened the second with an escape to extend his lead before a takedown late in the period put him in total control.
Larsen upset top seed Nicholas Yancey of Campbellsville by an 11-5 decision to advance to the semifinals, where he scored a 10-2 major decision over fifth seed Victor Guzman of Cumberland.
Other NAIA men’s national champions from Alaska include Kodiak’s Dan Carstens (Pacific, 1995), Ninilchik’s Austin Vanderford (Southern Oregon, 2012) and Kodiak’s Jimmy Eggemeyer (Southern Oregon, 2013).
Grand View broke its own national meet record with six individual champions en route to winning the team title by a whopping 60 points. This was the 13th national title for Grand View in the last 17 years.
Comments