Day 1 Results

In a field of 43 schools, Nick Rodriguez (Toledo, Ohio/Clay H.S.), Will Speight (Bedford, Ohio/Bedford H.S.), and Carter Kroll (Ontario, Ohio/Ontario H.S.) all advanced to the semifinals at the Missouri Valley Invitational on day one, helping lift Lourdes to 10^th place as a team inside the Burns Athletic Complex in Marshall, Mo.
 
The Gray Wolves tallied 53.5 points on day one, just 1.5 points behind ninth place Life and 2.0 points in back of eighth place Providence (Mont.) while holding a 6.5-point advantage over 11^th place Indiana Tech.  Grand View leads the way with 135.5 points while Eastern Oregon is a distant second with 83 points.
 
Eight of Lourdes' 10 wrestlers at the event picked up at least one victory, and Gray Wolf grapplers scored five wins against NAIA ranked opponents.
 
 "This was an incredible display of wrestling from our guys today," head coach Dock Kelly III said afterwards.  "This tournament is as tough as the national tournament and our guys responded very well.  While several of our results will surprise a lot of people, we are not surprised at all because we see this level of execution at our practices on a daily basis.  It was just a matter of time before we put it all together on the national platform."
 
Rodriguez had to battle all day at 125 pounds to win four matches all via decisions.  He began the day with a 6-5 upset win over 10^th-ranked Riley Siason of Menlo before downing a fellow conference foe from Cornerstone 7-6 in round two.  In the third round, Rodriguez, who is unranked nationally, was a 12-5 winner over an opponent from Dickinson State.  In the quarterfinals, he picked up his second victory of the day against a nationally-ranked foe, defeating 18^th-ranked Chris Busutil of Cumberland (Tenn.) 7-2.  In Saturday's semifinal, Rodriguez will battle 24^th-ranked Hunter Sparks of Eastern Oregon.
 
At 184 pounds, Speight, who is ranked 14^th in NAIA, won all three of his bouts by decision.  After an opening round bye, he earned an 11-4 win over an opponent from Montana State-Northern in the second round.  Speight then posted a 7-0 shutout over 19^th-ranked Austin Antcliffe of Cumberland (Tenn.) before downing ninth-ranked Michael Densmore of Embry Riddle (Ariz.) 6-3 in the quarterfinals.  He will have a rematch with conference foe, and third-ranked, Sam Osho of Marian in the semifinals.
 
Kroll made the quickest work of Lourdes three semifinalist, recording three falls, all in the first period.  Ranked 25^th in the latest NAIA poll, Kroll began with a bye before registering a second round pin at the buzzer of the first period against an opponent from Central Methodist before pinning sixth-ranked Jay Smith of Eastern Oregon at the 1:52 mark in the third round.  In the quarterfinals, he notched a pin against a foe from Grand View with 15 ticks remaining on the first period clock.  He will face fifth-ranked Marco Retano of Eastern Oregon in Saturday's semifinal.
 
Cole McKinley (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview H.S.) is the fourth Gray Wolf that is still alive in the competition and will compete again on Saturday.  The freshman dropped his first match but has battled back out of the consolation draw.  He pinned an opponent with 10 seconds left in the first period for his first win before advancing over fifth-ranked Blake Mulkey of Marian due to injury default.  McKinley is set to meet 23^rd-ranked Braden Carson of Eastern Oregon in another consolation match on Saturday. 
 
Tyler Hisey (St. Marys, Ohio/Memorial H.S.) picked up one win at 125 pounds, pinning his opponent from Briar Cliff midway through the second period in his second round match after registering a first round bye.  He then fell in his next two contests.  Cyle Wells (Springfield, Ohio/Tecumseh H.S.) also won his first match of the day at 149 pounds, posting a 12-3 major decision against an opponent from Waldorf for his lone victory.
 
Derick Coleman (Clyde, Ohio/Clyde H.S.) had one win as well on the day, scoring an 11-9 decision against Graceland in the consolation draw at 157 pounds.  Dominico Migliori (Curtis, Ohio/Clay H.S.) had two wins for the Gray Wolves at 174 pounds.  He pinned an opponent from Williams Baptist in round one at the 2:08 mark.  After dropping his second round contest, he bounced back with another pin against Hastings in the consolation draw, just 1:21 into the match.
 
"We have a very quick turnaround to get ready to battle on tomorrow," Kelly added.  "We must be ready to fully capitalize on the progress that we made today!"
 
The remaining four wrestlers will return to the mat on Saturday morning, with action beginning at 10 a.m. EST inside the Burns Athletic Complex.