MARSHALL, Mo. – Campbellsville has six individuals still alive at the Missouri Valley College Invitational, where the Tigers are 13th in the team standings following the first day of competition.
 
Jaedin Sklapsky led Campbellsville on the first day of action as he went 3-0 and is the lone Tiger grappler still alive in the championship bracket. Campbellsville is 13th in the team standings with 40.5 total points.
 
Sklapsky (ranked No. 4 at 149 pounds) returned to action on Friday and competed in the 141-pound weight class. He started competition with a 9-3 decision over Hasting College's Zac Charity and Sklapsky then defeated Calab Ashe of Graceland University in a 10-4 contest.
 
In the quarterfinals of the 141-pound weight class, Sklapsky notched a 5-2 decision win over Jaime Mullins of Dickinson State University to punch his ticket into the semifinals of the bracket. The junior now faces David Berg (No. 1 at 141 pounds) of Midland University in the semifinals.
 
Michael Beets is still alive the 125-pound weight class after going 2-1 on Friday. Beets first edged Isiah Lysius of Briar Cliff University in a 6-3 bout. He was then sent into the consolation rounds after a 17-3 major decision loss to Grand View University's Matthew Nguyen (ranked No. 3 at 125 pounds). In his first consolation match, Beets took down Jerry Stepps III of Concordia University-Nebraska, 8-5, to move on two day of competition.
 
After dropping his first match of the day in the 133-pound weight class, Aaron Rugnao earned back-to-back wins in the consolation bracket. Rugnao first lost to Trevor Murano of Grand View (ranked fourth at 133 pounds) in a 6-1 decision.
 
In the wrestlebacks, Rugnao defeated Lyon College's Robb Rodriguez, 10-4, and he then pinned Cole Mills of Northwestern College to round out his day.
 
Michael Diemer took the same path as Rugnao as he went 2-1 in the 149-pound weight division. Diemer suffered a tight 4-3 setback to Lindsey Wilson College's Cam Tessari (ranked No. 1 at 157 pounds). In the consolation bracket, Diemer edged Graceland's Shea Swafford, 7-6, and Jack Wilson of Midland, 6-5.
 
David Sparks joined Diemer at 149 pounds, but Sparks advanced to the quarterfinals before dropping his last match of the day. Sparks first beat Michael Aldrich from Ottawa University in a 17-6 major decision. Sparks moved to the quarterfinals after a 6-5 decision win over Reinhardt University's Dawson Hunt. The redshirt-junior slipped into the consolation bracket after a loss to Tessari, 7-1.
 
L.J. Henderson is the last Tiger still alive in the tournament as he went 2-1 in the 165-pound bracket. He notched an opening round win over Josh Romero (ranked No. 13 at 165 pounds), 8-4. To move into the quarterfinals, Henderson captured a narrow 2-0 decision over Dickinson State's Logan Wagoner, 2-0. Henderson was unable to move into the semifinals after losing his first bout of the day to Andrew Null of Northwestern in a 16-4 major decision.
 
Jordan Martinez went 2-2 on Friday, but was eliminated from the 125-pound tournament. He lost his opening bout to Justin Portillo of Grand View, but rebounded with a pin and an upset of Oklahoma City University's Montana Moon in a 14-2 major decision. Martinez suffered his second loss of the day to Nick Kunz from Montana State University-Northern, 10-9.
 
Jacob Franklin and Nate Jackson both went 1-2 on Friday to finish their events. At 197 pounds Franklin first pinned Jovannie Virgen (ranked No. 20 at 197 pounds) of Bacone College, but lost his next match to Marian University's Zachary Worm, 8-1. Franklin dropped his second-straight contest to Jaden Davis of Lindenwood University-Belleville via pin.
 
Jackson lost his opening contest to Jon Floyd (No. 15 at 285 pounds) of Cumberland University in a narrow 3-1 decision. Facing his second-straight Mid-South Conference opponent, Jackson rebounded and beat Devin Marrow of University of the Cumberlands via pin. The tables turned on Jackson and he was pinned in his next match by Missouri Baptist University's Cory Flemming.
 
Calieb Ray was the final Tiger wrestler to compete on Friday as he dropped his only two matches at 157 pounds. Ray was pinned by Jon Watkins of Indiana Institute of Technology to start the day and he then lost a 9-1 decision to Northwestern's Dan Zeleny.
 
Host and No. 2-ranked Missouri Valley College leads the team standings with 113 points after the first day, followed by No. 1 Grand View with 91.5 points.
 
Campbellsville is back on the mat for day two of the Missouri Valley Invitational at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday.

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