CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Campbellsville University junior Johnny Papesh fell short of the 125-pound national title Saturday in his first NAIA National Championship match. Papesh, from Aurora, Ohio, dropped a 5-3 decision to Notre Dame College's Dante Rini, evening his career collegiate wrestlng against the fellow Ohio native at 2-2.

Papesh scored an early takedown in the final, but picked bottom to start the second period and got stuck by three back points before he could escaped. Rini scored two escapes in the match.

"I knew I would have a hard time riding him out. I rode everyone out in this tournament but him. He got out, I picked bottom. I thought I could sit up, but he sat me back and that was the match. He just stalled from there," Papesh said.

Papesh had previously never made a national or state final, as he finished third three times and fourth once in the Ohio state finals. Since coming to Campbellsville in the fall of 2008, Papesh was fourth at the 2009 NAIA Tournament.

"The finals was my goal. I wanted to win it," Papesh said. "My freshman year, I got to the semis and froze up a bit. Last year, I was ineligible to start the year, and you could see by my freshman year, it takes a few matches to get going. I had a full season to get ready this time. Coach (James) Hicks and Tim Thurston are my drill partners and pushed me real hard all season. I couldn't have made it to the finals without them. I'm going to be back next year though, and I'm going to get it."

Papesh advancing to the finals helped secure a seventh-place finish for Campbellsville for the third time in program history.

Earlier in the day, Thurston and Tommy Pretty finished in third place at 133 and 141 pounds, respectively.

Thurston held off a late rally by McKendree's Rashad Riley to win his third-place match, 8-7, after leading 5-0 in the first period. Thurston led 7-2 entering the third period, but Riley took down Thurston and collected two back points to pull within a point. With riding time to his advantage, Thurston scored an escape in the final minute to secure the win.

Pretty battled through two close matches Saturday to finish third. After holding off a rally by Great Falls' Myles Mazurkiewicz, Pretty won the rematch of his 2010 national title, 8-6. He then went on to beat Southern Oregon's Kyle Wirkuty, 5-4, in the third-place match. The three-time All-American fell behind to Wirkuty, 4-2, but scored an escape late in the second period to pull within a point, 4-3. Pretty scored his first offensive points late in the match, taking down Wirkuty with around 30 seconds to go for the win.

At 197, Campbellsville's Spencer Adams used three takedowns to blow past Lindsey Wilson's Jacob Bradford, 7-2. It was Adams' fourth meeting against the Blue Raider grappler this season, but his first win. David Clemens finished eighth at 165 pounds after forfeiting to Cumberland University's James Casadaban due to injury.

Two-time Mid-South Conference champion Campbellsville led MSC schools with five All-Americans. Cumberland University and Lindsey Wilson College each had two, while University of the Cumberlands had one.

"All of the guys, from day one, showed a lot of character, from coming into the tournament with guys banged up and to what they did fighting back and finishing the best they could do. I was real proud of this team," CU head coach Franky James said.

As a team, Campbellsville finished seventh for the third time in program history.

"I think overall this tournament is a lot tougher than years past. We had a good tournament, but it's still disappointing to not be higher than seventh. Another Top 10 finish, we're happy with that, but our expectations were a lot higher. We hoped to do a lot better this year. We'll just go back to work," James said.

Notre Dame College won the team title for the second year with 170 points and two individual titles. Lindenwood University was second with 141 points, followed by McKendree (138.5), Great Falls (108.5), Grand View (106) and Missouri Valley (97.5). Midland (75), Southern Oregon (73.5) and Montanta State Northern (57) rounded out the Top 10.

For complete results of Campbellsville University's matches at the NAIA National Tournament, click here.