WICHITA, Kan. - The Marian wrestling team had a strong day at the NAIA Championship, as the 11 wrestlers competed in the first two sessions of the NAIA National Championship. Marian had three wrestlers go undefeated through the two sessions: Anthony Hughes, Logan Wagner, and Anthony Rinehart each went 2-0, while a total of four other Knights remained alive in the field after competing through the consolation bracket. 

Anthony Hughes kick-started the Knights' day with the team's first victory of the tournament, as the No. 5 seed in the 125 weight class landed a 14-5 major decision win over Embry-Riddle's (Arz.) Jaren Kimura. Hughes' counterpart at 125 did not face the same success in his first match at the NAIA Tournament, as freshman Aiden Woods fell to Embry-Riddle's other wrestler, seven-seed Landon Smith, by fall in 4:07, falling to the consolation bracket. 

Landon Bertsch was also unsuccessful in his first match of the NAIA Championship, as the Marian 133-pounder fell to Arizona Christian's Jason Ramirez by 13-2 major decision. Marian would rebound and get a victory at 141 from No. 8 Logan Wagner, as the senior pinned Lucas Hall of Midway in 52 seconds, advancing to the second round of the tournament.

The back and forth on the mats continued as the weight classes shifted to 149, as Tiernan Boots was tech-falled in full-time against Arizona Christian's Carlos Stanton, as the No. 8 seed in the class won 18-3. Fellow freshman Christian Arberry then hit the mat as the 157 matches began, and the No. 15 seed won with ease, taking down Francis Morrissey of Missouri Valley by major decision, 15-3.

At 165, both of the Knights' wrestlers were bounced to the consolation bracket, as Braden Getz fell by a 25-9 tech-fall against Indiana Tech's No. 2 seed Jonathan Kervin, while Jeff Dunasky Jr. was tech-falled against Life's Alexander Couto. Marian then suffered a loss as the 174 weight class began, as Jeivan Ross was bounced to the consolation side following his 11-2 major decision loss against Dakota Wesleyan's Jagger Tyler. Anthony Rinehart got Marian back in the win column at 174, as the freshman ranked No. 11 won by a 9-2 decision against Hunter Weimer of Concordia. 

Noah Hollendonner completed Marian's run of matches in round one, and in his bout against Isaiah Twalt of Corban, the Knights' 184-pound senior lost by a narrow 4-1 decision, falling to the consolation round.

In the first wrestleback, Aiden Woods scored a 9-4 win by decision against Tyler Ramos of Truett McConnell to keep alive, and at 133, Landon Bertsch won a rematch against conference rival Randy Frailey of Siena Heights 5-3 to stay alive. Tiernan Boots also stayed alive at 149 as he defeated Southern Oregon's Kolton Malone by fall in 4:08, and at 184, Noah Hollendonner staved off elimination with an upset win of No. 12 Rocco Horvath of Cumerbalnd, ending one of the top seeds tournament with a win by fall in 4:05. Jeivan Ross joined the quartet with an elimination round win against Michael Ager of Saint Mary, pinning his opponent in 60 seconds to advance in the tournament.

Marian's 165-weight class wrestlers did not advance past consolation round one, as Jeff Dunasky Jr. lost by fall and Braden Getz lost on a major decision, ending both wrestlers' tournament runs with 0-2 records. 

Beginning with session two on Thursday night, the Knights earned a championship round two win from Anthony Hughes against No. 12 Jesse Lewis, as the Knight outlasted the Wayland Baptist grappler 3-2 in the third overtime period, advancing to the quarterfinal round. Aiden Woods would not share the same luck in the consolation round, as he lost to Providence's Kobi Johnson by a 5-4 decision, ending his NAIA Championship run with a 1-2 record in his first appearance at nationals.

Landon Bertsch earned his second win of the day in the consolation round, as the second bout in the consolation period saw the Knight score a 5-1 victory against Hastings' Justin Rodriguez. Bertsch finished the day 2-1, and will compete in the third consolation round on Friday morning. At 141, Logan Wanger defeated Cumberlands' Eli Peyton by fall in 4:07, remaining undefeated at 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. 

Tiernan Boots earned a second consolation victory at 149 on Thursday, as he was able to record a session two win against Baker's Nikolas Slatoff 4-1, recording a takedown in the first overtime period for the sudden victory. Boots is 2-1 entering Friday's first session, competing in consolation round three. 

Christian Arberry would fall against Life's Fabian Padilla in the second championship round of 157 matches, as the Knight freshman fell 4-0 against the No. 2 seed. Arberry would bounce back before the end of the night, defeating Bismarck State's Willard Sprenger 7-3 in the second consolation round, moving his record to 2-1 as he advanced further in the tournament. 

The Marian pair at 174 combined for two wins in the second session on Thursday night, first getting a win from No. 11 Anthony Rinehart. The freshman won by major decision 11-3, upsetting Southeastern's Ty Rodriguez to advance to the quarterfinal round. Rinehart's win over Rodriguez fueled teammate Jeivan Ross, who was able to take out the Fire's sixth-ranked wrestler in the consolation round two. Ross upset Rodriguez 10-9, scoring a late escape and stalling point to take the win and remain alive. Rinehart will wrestle in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 record on Friday, while Ross continues to stay alive in the consolation round three with his 2-1 record. 

In Marian's final consolation match of the night, the Knights' Noah Hollendonner was unable to keep his season alive, as Keiser's Sam Libby was able to pin the senior in 2:06. The win by fall ended Hollendonner's season with a 1-2 run in the 184 bracket at the NAIA Championship. 

Hughes, Bertsch, Wagner, Boots, Arberry, Rinehart, and Ross all remain alive entering the second day and third session of the NAIA Championship. Marian ended the first day of the championship in seventh place, scoring 24.5 points on the day. Marian is one of eight teams in the 63-team field to have six or more wrestlers remaining in the NAIA Championship, and will look to keep all seven going as the third session begins at 12:00 p.m. ET.

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