Wichita, KS – Eight Patriots took to the national mats for the NAIA Championships, three remain after day one of the tournament. Each of the trio will make a run for an All-American honor in day two while Aaron Johnson remains in the championship Bracket with the finals in sight.
 
In his second match-up of the season against Ethan Powell of Truett McConnell, Johnson won by fall in almost half the time as their first meeting at the Patriot Open, 1:43. The heavyweight shutout the sixth-seeded man of the bracket in a 6-0 decision to advance to Saturday's semifinal.
 
Gage Hudson knocked off two seeded opponents, including the number-five wrestler in the first round of the 125-pound bracket. The redshirt-freshman started the impressive run with an 8-3 decision over Nathan Orum of Indiana Tech and followed with a match-deciding takedown in sudden victory over #12 Ivan Arguello of Reinhardt.
 
The lightweight's lone loss of the tournament thus far was to conference-rival, fourth-seeded Brandon Orum of Life University. He was shut down in a 15-5 major, but won 10-6 in the blood-round to complete a run for All-American honors.
 
At 141 pounds, Bryce Nickel got to work fast; in his first bout, he won by decision over All-American, and brother of former Patriots' wrestler, Reinhardt's Trent Leon in a 10-6 battle on the mat. Nickel subsequently lost in the quarterfinals to Blake Mulkey, the second time the two have met this season dating back to the Patriot Open.
 
Nickel won in extra periods over Austin Kolvek of Baker in an exciting blood-round match-up. Score even after the second, an escape by the opposing grappler with seven seconds on the clock forced overtime, where a lone escape by Nickel moved him on in the bracket.
 
After session one, seven of the eight Patriots remained in contention, boosting the Patriots fifth of 52 teams. Cumberlands moved to seventh after session two with three Patriots headed to the All-American bracket. The final day begins at 11 AM eastern time; match results and video can be found at the Tournament Hub via TrackWrestling.
 
At worst, Nickel and Hudson will place eighth overall and third at best. Johnson, meanwhile, has a shot at the top of the podium while finishing sixth overall if losing out.
 
At 174 pounds, Jarod Swank also only saw one match in the first session to charge strong into the quarterfinals. The number-four seed picked up a simple 6-4 win in the first round. Swank was knocked off in consecutive matches to drop into consolation and ultimately out of the tournament, the senior unable to overcome the 2-1 decision in his final match as a Patriot.
 
Chasen Brown went 2-1 in the first session to bounce into the consolation bracket. The 141-pounder got off to a hot start with a 2:05 fall before being knocked down in a 14-4 major to the third seed. Needing two wins in session two, Brown stood tall with another pin in the second period. In the final bout of the day, he fell short of getting his first All-American honors in a 7-6 decision.
 
Gabe Jacobs fell to the consolation bracket with his first match of the tournament, but the 184-pounder made a great three-win run on the back side. He picked up the initial loss to the seventh seed but won over number-eight Chase Vincent of Oklahoma City in a 9-6 decision in his third match of the day. It followed a third-period fall for his first win on the national stage. After the third decisive win by a 8-2 margin, the rookie was put out of the bracket by MSC-foe Trajan Hurd of Lindsey Wilson.
 
Weighing in at 157 pounds, Weston Milnes also was knocked to the consolation bracket in the second round but did not stay down long. In his third match of the day, he needed only 23 seconds for the pin. He started the day with a win over #10 Blake Montrie of Lourdes to stay alive early. The rookie lost a 6-4 decision in the following match to end his first championship run.
 
Jacob McNutt got an unfortunate draw to bow out of the tournament first. The 157-pounder went 1-2 overall in his second career trip to Wichita, getting his sole win in the second match of the day. He battled against a grappler from Benedictine to win with a 9-6 verdict.
 
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