Four Viks head to Wrestling Nationals

Four wrestlers from Western Washington University will be competing at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships this weekend, which is the most athletes WWU has ever sent to the annual event.

Josue Martinez, Kegan Mulholland, Lisa Nguyen and Nathan Swanson-Dinsmore will all be representing Western at the NCWA Nationals being held today through Saturday in Allen, Texas. The competition showcases the top collegiate club wrestlers from around the country, with wrestlers qualifying based on their performances throughout the 2016-17 season.

The National Championships will bring to a close an impressive season for the Viking wrestling team, which is in its fifth year as a club team at WWU. The season was highlighted by a number of outstanding individual performances at meets around the Northwest and the club held its first home dual meet at the Wade King Student Recreation Center last November – the first time in 35 years such an event has been held on Western’s campus.

Three Viking wrestlers – Mulholland, Nguyen and Swanson-Dinsmore – are making their second straight appearance at Nationals.

Mulholland, a senior competing in the 141-lb. weight class, heads into Nationals with a 5-1 record this season and leads the club in winning percentage. In his most recent meets, he placed first and third, respectively, at the NCWA State and Conference tournaments. Mulholland also serves as the club’s president and has been instrumental in elevating the club’s status on campus the last several years.

Nguyen, the lone female wrestler on the Vikings’ roster this season, currently sports a 4-3 record and has helped rank WWU in eighth place among the NCWA schools who offer women’s wrestling. She placed third at the Spokane Open last November, which marked the first time a WWU wrestler has placed at that event.

Swanson-Dinsmore takes a 7-7 record in the competitive 133-lb. weight class to Nationals. He placed first at the EWU Scramble earlier this season, and as a sophomore he is sure to post even more impressive results in the coming years.

Martinez, wrestling in the 149-lb. class, will be making his first appearance at Nationals as a senior. He has posted a 6-9 record on the mat thus far and was awarded a wild card berth to Nationals based on his performance this season.

The NCWA Nationals Championships run through Saturday, with the male wrestlers first taking to the mats for preliminary bouts on Thursday while the female wrestlers compete on Friday. Updates from the event may be found online at www.ncwa.net.

For more information about the WWU wrestling team, visit www.wwu.edu/wrestling.