Day one is complete down in Birmingham, Ala. for the Colorado Mesa Wrestling team. The four wrestlers sent competed in a very tough field on Friday with some success.
RMAC Champion Daniel Salazar punched his card into the second round with a 10-8 decision victory over Chris Eddins from Pitt-Johnstown. Salazar was able to advance to the semifinals after a win over King University’s Bryce Killian. Salazar won the bout and is guaranteed no worse than sixth place, giving him All-American status.
In the 133-pound bracket, Juaquin Olivas lost his first-round bout against Michael Labry from Ashland University in a 6-3 decision. Olivas wrestled David Bavery of Notre Dame (OH) in the consolation bracket where he lost 3-1 in overtime.
Jason Buhr suffered a loss against Isaiah White in the first round in the 165-pound bracket. White was the regional champion and also defeated the number one ranked wrestler in the regional tournament two weeks ago. Buhr wrestled in the consolation bracket against Kade Kitchens of Shorter University (Ga.) where he won 18-14. He met CSU-Pueblo’s Jacobi Jones in the next round where he suffered an 11-6 loss to end his tournament.
The last Maverick in the field on Friday, Bruno Nicoletti, was defeated in his first round matchup against Adam Cooling with a 3-2 decision. Nicoletti also lost his second bout with Justan Rivera by a decision of 3-1.
Salazar will wrestle Darren Wynn of McKendree for a spot in the finals with the tournament beginning at 9 a.m.
