College wrestling’s greatest dynasty operates out of an old bowling alley that’s been transformed into an assembly line of All-Americans on Des Moines’ north side. 

For the past decade, Nick Mitchell has turned Grand View wrestling from an upstart program into a record-setting behemoth at the NAIA level. 

The division itself has doubled in the nine years since the Vikings first put their fingerprints on a national championship trophy. The field is palpably deeper and more talented, and in many ways, the NAIA competition level is at an all-time high. Wrestlers from eight different schools won individual national titles last March. Six programs have staked claim to the runner-up trophy in the last nine years. 

None of them, though, have been able to keep pace with Grand View. Oftentimes, they haven’t been close. 

Mitchell and the Vikings take aim this weekend at college wrestling history. No program has ever won 10 consecutive national titles. Not even Dan Gable’s Hawkeyes. 

The NAIA Championships begin Friday in Wichita. The tournament will be streamed live on Trackwrestling. 

Grand View is zeroing in on a decade of dominance under Mitchell, who in 2008 took over the new program with a goal of delivering a national title in his first four years and hasn’t stepped off the throttle since checking off that initial objective. 

The Vikings are chasing their 10th straight national title this weekend, though Mitchell’s eyes are fixated on the windshield rather than the rear-view. 

“I’m not going to look back until this year’s over,” said Mitchell, whose squad has 12 wrestlers seeded fourth or better at this year’s national tournament. “That’s so important for our guys. These guys weren’t around when it started. They can be appreciative that people helped show the way and that they’re part of something where that’s an expectation around here. But that doesn’t impact what they’re going to do this weekend.”

Mitchell’s eyes-ahead, process-driven approach has helped Grand View produce historic results. 

The NAIA staged its first national tournament in 1958. A year ago, the Vikings moved to the top of the division’s team title chart with their ninth national championship. 

In 2014, the Vikings broke the national tournament scoring record with 193 points, finishing 108.5 ahead of second-place Great Falls. They’ve topped the 200-point mark three times since, establishing a new record with 234.5 in 2017 when they finished 160 ahead of second-place Lindsey Wilson. 

During its nine-year title run, Grand View’s average margin of victory at the national tournament has been 80 points. 

Earlier this season, the Vikings set a new college dual winning streak record with their 93rd consecutive victory. They’ve since stretched that string to 103. 

“Guys know what they’re getting into when they come here,” Mitchell said. “We talk about it in recruiting. The recruiting visit isn’t a dog and pony show to get them to come here. It’s real up front. Here’s the expectation if you come here. Here’s what it’s going to be like. And by doing that, guys come here with the right intentions. 

“They don’t come here just because they think it’s going to be easy to win. They don’t come here just because they feel they’re getting some kind of better financial package. They come here knowing what it’s going to be about when they get here. You set the stage early by doing that and then the other part is we’ve got a ton of really good coaches on the staff and so you’ve got people who are all on the same page, all working for the same thing. On top of that, because I’ve got really good guys, we can keep pushing the limits on what we’re doing as far as the time we put into guys, the technique, the film (study), everything that goes into it, the nutrition. It’s a situation where we try to be better each year (rather than) sticking with what’s working. We’ve got to improve on what’s been working.” 

Here’s a look at some of the other storylines to follow this weekend at the NAIA Championships:

NAIA NUANCE 

There was a time a couple decades ago when NAIA coaches worried about the future of the division with plummeting program numbers. 

“Scared to death,” Missouri Valley coach Mike Maccholz said two years ago at the national tournament. “We got down there in the low-20s and it was like, ‘Man, we’re in trouble. We’ve got to do something right now.’” 

The search for stability drove NAIA coaches to add a wrinkle to their national tournament. They provided teams with the opportunity to enter 12 wrestlers for the national tournament, a nuance that still exists for the division’s postseason. 

Grand View, Life, Missouri Valley and Reinhardt each qualified all 12 postseason participants for the national tournament. 

DOUBLE TROUBLE 

There’s a possibility that Saturday night’s finals could feature a clash of twins. Indiana Tech’s Matt and Conner Gimson are two of the top contenders at 133 pounds. Matt placed eighth last year and comes in this season as the No. 1 seed. Conner is on the opposite side of the bracket as the 3 seed. They battled earlier this season in the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference finals. Matt posted a 2-0 win. 

RETURNING CHAMPS 

Four of last year’s champions are looking to repeat in Wichita: Doane’s Baterdene Boldmaa (141), Graceland’s Brennan Swafford (174), Lindsey Wilson’s Brandon Reed (285) and Montana State-Northern’s Nick Kunz (133), who moved up a weight this year after winning the title a year ago at 125. Reed is trying to become the fourth heavyweight in NAIA history to win three titles or more.
SURPRISE OR NO SURPRISE?

There’s a layer of unpredictability with the NAIA Championships that’s almost become predictable. A double-digit seed has reached the finals each of the past four years, including three last March. Kunz won the 125-pound title as the No. 10 seed, while Life’s Denver Stonecheck and Providence’s Casey Dobson reached the finals as 10 and 11 seeds at 149 and 157, respectively.