PARK CITY, Kan. — The Southern Oregon men’s wrestling team left the NAIA Championships with its best finish in eight years, placing ninth in the team standings when the 68th annual tournament concluded Saturday.

It wasn’t a perfect week for the Raiders at Hartman Arena, but another step forward under fifth-year head coach Joel Gibson.

Evan Potter ended his four-time All-America career at second place in the 141-pound bracket for the second year in a row. Sophomore 125-pounder Vonn Fenn took fifth place, and junior 197-pounder Asher Ruchti did the same.

That trio of All-Americans accounted for 40 ½ of the Raiders’ 60 ½ team points. They landed a half-point behind Corban, one point behind seventh-place Providence (Mont.), and 10 points out of a top-five spot.

Potter, the No. 3-seeded senior from Junction City, will depart with a career record of 104-23 and as the eighth individual in the program’s rich history with four top-eight finishes. He’s also just the fourth Raider with a trio of top-three places but was stopped short of his first title by the No. 1 seed at 141, Grand View’s Carson Taylor, in a 10-0 major decision. It happened a day after he won a rematch of last year’s championship against Hartwell Taylor of Saint Mary (Kan.) in the semifinals.

Fenn, the No. 13 seed at 125, lost his consolation semifinal by 3-0 decision to No. 11 Brody Gee of Saint Mary and accepted a medical forfeit in the fifth-place match. He finished his sophomore season, and second appearance at the tournament, with a 22-10 record. He was the lowest-seeded All-American in his weight class.

Ruchti — who joined Potter as a Cascade Conference champion two weeks ago — eked out a 1-0 decision over No. 11 seed Gentry Smith of Southeastern (Fla.) in his fifth-place match. Seeded No. 8 at 197, he defeated three top-nine seeds before losing his consolation semifinal 4-2 to No. 2-seeded Brad Antesberger of Doane (Neb.). Ruchti completed his debut season at SOU as the team’s wins leader with a 32-7 record.

The last time the Raiders finished among the top 10 was 2017, when they finished fifth. They’re just five years removed from a 44th-place finish. Their final resume also includes the team’s first CCC title since 2018 and a new SOU single-season record for dual wins at 19-3.