TOPEKA, Kan. – It was a rough opening morning for Campbellsville University at the 54th annual NAIA Wrestling Championships. Nine of 10 Tigers dropped their first match of the day to fall into the second round of consolation. However, the Tigers recovered from their bottom 10 post after the first round to finish 10th after the morning session.

The evening session will begin at 6:30 p.m. CST with the national quarterfinals, following the Parade of Champions at 6 p.m.

Brandon Westerman was the Tigers' bright spot, pinning Wayland Baptist's Chris Hart in the second period (4:31) of his first championship round. He then worked his way to a major decision, 14-2, over Northwestern's Jerry Mayo III. Westerman will meet Wismit Moinius of Lindsey Wilson College in the national quarterfinals, a rematch of last year's third-place match, when action resumes Friday night. Westerman is 1-1 against Moinius.

CU sat in 17^th of 38 teams after Westerman's second bonus-point win.

Cody Steiner collected his first career nationals win 125 with a close 10-9 decision over Kyle Robinson of Briar Cliff College. Steiner scored a takedown to end the second period, which proved to be the difference in the match.

Sam Conners and Kyle Terry also recorded their first national tournament wins in their first consolation matches. Conners was down 8-4 late in the third period but reversed Tyler Boyer of Midland and collected three quick near fall points to win the match, 9-8. Terry, who went 0-2 in last year's national tournament and dropped his first match Friday, 7-5, rebounded for a 7-5 decision over Enrique Barajas of Concordia (Neb.).

Shawn McGhee was the only other Tiger to record a consolation win in the morning session, winning by pin at 1:53 due to an injury to Missouri Valley's Nico Martinez. Tyler Alsip and Drew Ferguson both received byes until the third round of consolations at 133 pounds, and Trey Rhodes had a bye at 165.

Colby Rinehart (141) and Travis McIntosh (174) both got pinned in their consolation match to go 0-2 on the day. 

Two-time defending Grand View University leads the team scores with 32 points, Montana State Northern follows with 25.5 points and the University of Great Falls has 22.5 points to sit in third. NAIA East Region champion Indiana Tech is fourth with 20.5 points, followed by Missouri Valley (19), Morningside (17.5), Southern Oregon (17), Lindsey Wilson (15.5), Cumberland University (13) and Campbellsville (10.5).

Consolation round three and the All-America Round will conclude the night Friday.

For complete coverage of Campbellsville University's trip to the NAIA National Championships, visit CU's National Championships Central page, here. Round-by-round results, daily recaps, daily diaries and photos will be added through the tournament. 
 
Also, fans can keep up with the action on Twitter @CvilleTigers for the officail Campbellsville University account, or follow Tiger Wrestling at @Wrestling_CU and the NAIA Championships account at @NAIAWrestling. Fans are also encouraged to use hashtag #10inTopeka during the week to celebrate Tiger Wrestling's 10th year as a varsity sports program at CU