CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Junior Charlie Grygas and senior Isaac Mathews were both knocked out of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on the opening day of action.  Grygas won his first match but lost a pair of close decisions to finish in a tie for ninth in the nation.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mathews
Match 1 – McGraw (John Carroll)

• Isaac Mathews drew the No. 8 seed Patrick McGraw of John Carroll University.
• Mathews got the first takedown to take the two-point lead with McGraw earning an escape after a reset.
• The first period would end with Mathews in the lead at 2-1.
• McGraw would start down and escape shortly into the second period, tying the bout at two. 
• McGraw scored a takedown and four points for a nearfall late in the second period, giving him the six-point lead going into the final period. 
• Mathews earned one point for an escape with 45 seconds remaining in the bout. 
• McGraw earned two more points for a nearfall, taking the match 11-3. 

Match 2 – Morgan (UW-Oshkosh)

• Just like his opening match, Mathews got the quick lead with an early takedown and built up 18 seconds of riding time before Morgan escaped.
• In the second, Morgan chose bottom and got his second escape for the 2-2 tie.
• Mathews took bottom in the third and went up 3-2 with an escape of his own.
• Morgan got his first takedown and two more for a nearfall with just over a minute left in the match.
• An escape made it 6-4, but Mathews could not score the equalizing takedown.

Grygas
Match 1 – Devera (John Carroll)

• Grygas drew John Carroll University's Daniel Devera in round one with the Laker coming in as the eight-nationally ranked wrestler at the 174-pound division. 
• With 50 seconds remaining in the first period, Grygas earned a takedown for the 2-0 lead.
• The Laker let Devera up, giving him the point for a 2-1 Grygas edge after the opening three minutes. 
• Grygas won the flip, choosing bottom in the second period and making a very quick escape, bringing the lead to 3-1. 
• Devera used a similar tactic in the third and earned an escape, bringing the Grygas lead to one point.
• Seconds later, Grygas earned another takedown for breathing room and won the 7-3 decision.

Match 2 – Beachem (Mt. St. Joseph)

• In his second bout, Grygas drew top-seed Cornell Beachem from Mt. St. Joseph.
• Beachem scored a pair of takedown in the opening stanza with Grygas escaping both time for the 4-2 deficit.
• Like his first match, Grygas elected to start down and made the quick escape to cut the score back to one.
• Just before the end of the second period, Beachem got his third takedown of the match.
• The third period was scoreless as Beachem chose neutral to start and defending multiple takedown attempts from Grygas to end it 6-3.

Match 3 – Stedeford (RIT)

• The opening period was scoreless between the two wrestlers.
• Stedeford started down and nearly got an immediate reversal.
• Grygas defended but ended up yielding the escape point.
• Shortly after, Stedeford got ahold of an ankle and ended up getting two for a takedown.
• By the end of the second period, he had built up the minute of riding time.
• Grygas chose neutral for the final frame and looked primed for a takedown when he had one of Stedeford's legs, but the Tiger defended the attack.
• Stedeford lost a point for a stall in the final seconds, but held on for the 3-1 win to deny Grygas a repeat of his All-American honors from his freshman season.

WHAT'S NEXT
This concludes the season for the Wrestling team.