WICHITA, Kan. - The Marian wrestling team competed at the opening day of the 2025 NAIA National Championships on Thursday, seeing two of their six Knights advance to the next day in the brackets. Anthony Hughes stayed alive in the championship bracket and keeps his championship hopes alive, while Elliott Rodgers remains alive in the consolation brackets.

Marian entered the NAIA Championships with six wrestlers, but after a grueling day one, the Knights remain with two wrestlers. Below are results and recaps of each match from today's events.

Anthony Hughes - 125

• Hughes was seeded eighth overall in the 125 weight class, and wrestled Garrett Johnson of Oklahoma City in his first match
  • Hughes earned a second period takedown to score the first points of the match, and in the third round he continued his dominance with two more takedowns
  • Hughes was awarded a riding time point during the match, recording a 10-2 major decision win over Johnson
• In his second matchup, Hughes wrestled Kobi Johnson of Providence
  • Hughes earned two escapes, one in the second period and one in the third period, defeating Johnson to advance to the Round of 16
  • Hughes is 2-0, and will wrestle Aden Reeves from Grand View in the Round of 16

Landon Bertsch - 133

• Landon Bertsch was unranked in the bracket, and wrestled No. 5 Jackson Cockrell of Grand View in his first match
  • Bertsch earned four different escape points, but was unable to matchup with Cockrell, as he was defeated in the second round by a 19-4 tech fall
• In the consolation round, Bertsch wrestled Nick Foster of Graceland, and was bested in the match falling 10-0, losing the major decision
  • Bertsch finished his first NAIA Championship experience with an 0-2 record

Elliott Rodgers - 157

• Rodgers was seeded fifth overall in the 157 weight class, and wrestled Tyler Muldrew of Campbellsville in his first match
  • Against Muldrew, Rodgers fell behind early in the match, giving up five points in the first period.
  • Rodgers would score a late takedown, but was unable to complete the comeback falling 8-4 by decision
• In the first round of the consolation bracket, Rodgers earned a bye
• In the second consolation round on day one, Rodgers wrestled Dylan Straley of Southern Oregon
  • Rodgers struck early and often, landing a takedown and nearfall in period one, and mirrored the output in period three
  • The fifth-year senior ended the match with a 13-2 major decision victory
• Tomorrow Rodgers will look to continue his run in session three, competing against St. Ambrose's Diego Machado

Jeff Dunasky Jr. - 157

• Dunasky was unranked in the bracket, and wrestled No. 7 Steven Villalobos of Life University in round one
  • Dunasky led 12-9 entering the final period, but fell short of the win as Villalobos ended with a 9-2 third period, closing an 18-14 decision
• Dunasky fell to the consolation bracket, wrestling Noah Smith of Oklahoma Wesleyan
  • Dunasky lost the matchup to Smith 14-4, suffering a major decision defeat
  • The Knight finished 0-2 overall in the NAIA National Championship

Jordan Fulks - 184

• Fulks was unranked in the bracket, and wrestled Rylin Burns of Montana State-Northern in round one
  • Burns, ranked 14th overall, out-matched Fulks and won by tech fall, with a final score of 18-1 in the seconSeesd period
• In the consolation round, Fulks was defeated by fall against Justin Bartee of Rio Grande in 2:54
  • Fulks finished 0-2 in the 2025 NAIA National Championship

Clay Guenin - 197

• For Guenin's NAIA Championship debut, he wrestled No. 1 seed Garavous Kouekabakilaho of Grand View
  • Kouekabakilaho earned a commanding win over Guenin, winning by an 18-2 tech fall
• In the conoslation round, Eric Karas of Eastern Oregon defeated the Marian freshman by tech fall 18-1
  • Guenin finished 0-2 in his NAIA Tournament debut

Hughes will continue his run in the championship bracket of the 125 weight class on Friday, while Rodgers looks to remain alive and reach the All-American rounds later this week.

Session three will begin at 12:00 p.m. EST on Friday afternoon.

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