Wichita, KS – The #7 University of the Cumberlands men's wrestling team completed day one of the 69th annual NAIA National Championships on Thursday and sits in sixth place with 25 team points. Twelve Patriots qualified for nationals, with #10 Austin Silva and #7 Weston Melvin advancing to the championship quarterfinals. three additional wrestlers remain alive in the consolation bracket heading into day two.

At 285, #10 Austin Silva advanced to the quarterfinals after going 2-0. Silva opened his day by pinning Wilbert Martin (Texas Wesleyan) at 6:04, using heavy top pressure to turn and finish the match. He followed that with a 14-11 decision over #7 Garine Gibson (Central Methodist), scoring key takedowns down the stretch to secure his spot in the quarters, where he will draw #2 Kenneth Copley (Embry-Riddle).

At 174, #7 Weston Melvin also moved into the quarterfinals, winning his opening match by 2-1 decision over Teagan Foreman (Dakota Wesleyan) after battling through a tactical, low-scoring affair. He then edged #10 Braylin Ruchti (Southern Oregon) in sudden victory, 4-1, to punch his ticket to the quarterfinal round, where he will face #2 Roman Garcia (Central Methodist).

At 125, #8 Matteo Vargo went 2-1 and advances in the consolation bracket. Vargo by dropping his round of 16 match to Braden Ledford (Friends) before a 6:21 fall over Wyatt Engwicht (Dickinson State), then followed with a 2-1 decision over #7 Landon Smith (Embry-Riddle). He will return to the consolations to face Kyle Sieminski (Southern Oregon) on day two.

At 133, #9 Riley Bettich went 2-1 and remains alive in consolations. Bettich began the day by falling in the round of 16 to Justin Rodriguez (Hastings) in a 5-2 decision before bouncing back with a 17-2 technical fall over John Davis (Missouri Baptist). He then earned a 4-3 sudden-victory decision over #7 Jason Ramirez (Arizona Christian) and will continue in the consolation bracket against Josiah Fernandez (Keiser).

At 157, #14 Brice Coleman went 2-1 and stays alive in consolations. Coleman opened with an 8-4 decision over Ryan Graves (Montana State-Northern), fell by technical fall to #3 Douglas Terry (Life), and rebounded with a 17-0 technical fall over Emmanuel Celestine (Lindsey Wilson) to advance in the consolation bracket.

Also at 157, Marc Le Gaspe went 1-2. Le Gaspe's day began with a loss to #5 Bryce Boumans (Grand View) via 11-2 major decision. He then notched a 12-4 major decision over Bode Wilson (Cornerstone), after which he suffered a fall to #6 Ben Miller (Doane) and to end his time in Wichita.

At 141, Eli Peyton finished 1-2. Peyton opened with a 9-3 decision over #9 Noah Parmelee (Northwestern), then dropped matches to Steven Barnes (Concordia) and was pinned by #8 Logan Wagner (Marian), ending his tournament run.

At 149, #13 Ty Lehman went 1-2. Lehman opened with a fall over Arthur Reed (Brewton-Parker) at 6:54, then lost a sudden-victory decision to #4 Elvis Solis (Life) and fell earlier to Brody Brisker (William Penn) in a 14-8 affair.

At 165, #9 Malachia Harris went 1-2. Harris began the day with a 12-9 decision over Joel Campbell (Missouri Baptist), then was handed a 14-3 major decision by #8 Jovon Mitchell (Southeastern) and recorded a medical forfeit loss to Alexander Sederburg (William Woods) in the bracket to end his time at nationals.

Also at 165, Derrick Bannister went 1-2. Bannister opened with a fall over #10 Jayden Luttrell (Embry-Riddle) at 1:57, then dropped a 16-1 technical fall to #7 Rocky Raby (Life) and later lost 4-2 to Blaze Sumiye (Providence), finishing his tournament.

At 184, Lane Kiser finished 1-2. Kiser opened with a loss by technical fall to #1 Tyson Beauperthuy (Doane) before securing a 1-0 decision over #16 Brice Parks (Campbellsville). Kiser then dropped a 10-3 decision to #15 Nate McDonald (Midland) to close out his bracket.

At heavyweight, Treyshawn White went 1-2. White was edged out 1-0 by #16 Randy Gonzalez (Missouri Valley) in his opening match but responded with a 2-1 decision over Kazz Hyson (Graceland), and lost his final match to Seth Suvak (Dickinson State), concluding his day of competition.

The NAIA National Championships resume Friday at 12 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT with the championship quarterfinals and the next round of the consolation bracket.

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