MARSHALL, Mo. – As a team, the CU men's wrestling program placed 12
th out of the 41 teams that competed at the Missouri Valley Invitational on this past Friday and Saturday.
Kolten Radaz was the only wrestler for the Tigers to place in his weight class as he earned fifth place in the 133 lbs. division. Radaz's first match of the bracket was against Cam Fender of Indiana Tech as Radaz won by pin 1:52 into the first period.
He then won back-to-back major decisions, first 13-3 over Joshua Crager of Kansas Wesleyan then 12-3 over Trey Edwards of Bethany. Radaz dropped his next match in the semi-finals to the class champion of Dante Tacchia from Grand View in a 6-3 decision. In the consolation bracket, Radaz lost to Brandon James in a 12-0 major decision, as James won third place.
Radaz finished his weekend with a pin victory over Darquell Pierre of William Penn as the pin came 1:19 into the match.
Other Tigers to compete at the Missouri Valley Invitational were
Michael Beets (125 lbs.),
Aaron Rugnao (141 lbs.),
Michael Diemer (157 lbs.),
Calieb Ray (165 lbs.),
Gavin Smith (165 lbs.),
Mahlic Sallah (174 lbs.),
Aaron Mosley (184 lbs.),
Kevin Schantz (197 lbs.) and David Richardson (197 lbs.).
Rugnao, Diemer and Sallah were each able to make the quarterfinals of their weight class but then drop back-to-back matches. Rugnao won his opening round due to an injury then won the next two by decision, Diemer won three-straight matches by decision and Sallah won a medical forfeit and back-to-back major decisions.
Smith and Mosley were each able to collect four wins as each won two matches in the championship bracket and two more once being knocked into the consolation bracket. Smith won two decisions on the championship side then a decision and a pin on the consolation side. Mosley earned a pin and a major decision on the championship side then followed with a decision and another pin on the consolation side.
Schantz lost his first match in the championship bracket then earned a medical forfeit win and a pin victory in the consolation bracket. Beets lost his first match then earned a major decision in the consolation bracket before being knocked out in the next round. Richardson won his first match with a 9-7 decision then lost his next two to get knocked out.
CU will return to Campbellsville to host six duals between Jan. 25 and Feb.1 with half of those six being against Mid-South Conference opponents.
