FINDLAY, Ohio - No. 8-ranked Ashland University wrestling sits in third place after Day 1 of the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championships.
Five of 10 Eagles made it through Friday (Feb. 23) without a loss, and three still remain in contention to place having suffered only one defeat thus far.
Redshirt junior Sebastian Vidika (125 pounds), redshirt sophomores Bret Romanzak (ranked No. 3 at 165) and Christian Price (No. 10 at 174), and seniors Jordan Murphy (No. 2 at 184) and Luke Cramer (No. 3 at 197) will all compete in the championship bracket semifinals on Day 2, which begins on Saturday (Feb. 24) at 11 a.m.
Junior Lawrance Dudgeon (133), redshirt senior Bob Mason (141) and redshirt freshman Dustin Marteney (149) are all 2-1 and will have to work their way through the consolation bracket in order to place top four and advance to nationals.
Cramer leads the Eagles with eight points in the tournament, as he pinned his first opponent in 2:51. Vidika is second with 7.5 points after winning 19-3 in his quarterfinal match. Murphy, in his lone match after a bye, won 10-2 to rank himself third on the team with seven points.
AU, seeking its first regional title under five-year head coach Josh Hutchens, has 45.5 points. That puts the Eagles two behind second-place Lake Erie and seven behind first-place Newberry.
The NCAA Division II National Championships are in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on March 9-10.
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