DAY 1 RESULTS OF DWU MEN’S WRESTLING AT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: WILLIAMS ADVANCES WITH A PAIR OF UPSETS AND SAMPLE KEEPS ADVANCING

Park City, Kansas –

Aric Williams highlights the first day of the 2024 NAIA Men's Wrestling Championships for DWU as he upset the No. 14 and No. 3 wrestlers. Williams advances to the third round of the championship bracket at 141. Trevion Sample picks up a win after a first round bye and advances to the third round as well in the heavyweight.

Recap

141 – Zach Zitek would be pinned in his first match by the No. 4 wrestler, Nicholas Yancey from Campbellsville. Zitek would move to the consolation bracket be defeated 11-0 by No. 13 Donavan Parn of Missouri Valley. Zitek's season would come to a close with this loss.

141 – Aric Williams started his champion bracket in a big way after a huge upset over the No. 14 wrestler Taylor Vasquez of Morningside. Williams never trailed in the bout and took down his opponent three times and won by decision 13-7. In his second matchup, Williams was paired against Tyree Johnson of Life University

157 – Tyson Johnson was unable to make up ground after trailing 6-1 in the first period against the No. 3 wrestler. Johnson would lose via tech fall to David Rubio of Corban, 19-3. Johnson would receive a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket. Johnson would meet No. 13 Ben Miller of Doane in the consolation bracket. Miller would take the lead and hold onto it through all three periods, defeating Tyson 11-7. Johnson would be finished in the tournament after this second loss.

165 – Kaleb Bigelow would be within reach after the first period trailing 6-12. Kaleb was unable to close the gap however as the match continued and would lose by major decision to Turner Black of the Cumberlands University 17-7. Bigelow's season would end after a one-point loss to No. 6 Shadrick Slone. Kaleb had a 3-1 score after the first period but would allow Slone to get a few quick points and take the lead. Bigelow would fall out of the tournament with his second loss.

285 – Trevion Sample would receive a bye in the first round of the champion's bracket. In his first bout of the day, Sample faced No. 9 Gabe Craig of Campbellsville. Going into the third period, the score was 1-0 in favor of Craig. Sample would escape to tie it up and then took down Craig twice to take the win 7-1.

Up Next for the Tigers –

William and Sample will advance to the third round of the Championship bracket tomorrow with matches starting at 11:00 a.m.