ST. LOUIS, MO - Vikings Ben Willeford and Riley Shaw each split in their first day at the Division I Championships. Both will advance to wrestle Friday morning (Mar. 20).
#13 seeded Ben Willeford started his day off with an 8-4 decision over Minnesota's Ethan Lizak in Thursday morning's session. After the victory, Ben moved on to wrestle Ohio State's #4 Nathan Tomasello. Willeford wrestled hard but fell and will wrestle #14 Joshua Rodriguez of North Dakota State Friday morning.
Riley Shaw also had a notable day as he went 1-1 while advancing to day two of the NCAA Championship. After dropping one to #5 Connor Medbery of Wisconsin, Shaw bounced back by defeating Mimmo Lytle of Kent State University in an 8-4 decision.
Willeford and Shaw will continue their journey to becoming the first All-Americans at Cleveland State since 1995. Action will continue tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT, with the semifinals starting at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. Wrestling will be aired on ESPNU and ESPN3.