CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Sophomore Evan Cheek and senior Nick Montgomery each won a pair of matches Sunday inside McKenzie Arena on the opening day of the Southern Scuffle hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Montgomery made it look easy in reaching the quarterfinals at 149 before succumbing to Oklahoma State's Anthony Collica, one of the top wrestlers at his weight class on the top-ranked team in the nation.

Montgomery won his opening match by pinning Troy Heilmann of North Carolina in only 33 seconds. In his second match, he faced No. 7 seed Matthew Zovistoski, but Montgomery needed only slightly more time to prevail. The veteran pinned his foe in under 100 seconds, an impressive feat against an opponent ranked among The Open Mat's top 15 in his weight class.

Cheek began his day by putting a scare into No. 3 seed Joey Ward of North Carolina. Facing a top-10 wrestler at 141, Cheek lost a 1-0 decision. He rebounded with consecutive convincing wins in the consolation rounds. Cheek took down Jamel Morris of North Carolina State with a 20-3 technical fall. He then shut out Dallas Roemer of Gardner-Webb with a 15-0 technical fall. Cheek's day ended with a loss to an opponent from Missouri.

Sophomore John Vaughn picked up a victory at 165 for the Vikings when he held off Justin Lampe of the host school in a 7-5 decision in a consolation match.

A few other Vikings did not pick up a victory on the day but nonetheless put up noteworthy performances in defeat.

Redshirt senior RJ LaBeef had a third-period lead over No. 4 seed Laike Gardner of Lehigh, a top 10 athlete nationally at 149, but LaBeef would drop a 4-3 decision. LaBeef also had a third-period lead in his consolation match but faltered late and fell via decision for a second time.

Redshirt junior Nick Corba also had third-period leads in both of his matches at 184, but he fell in a sudden-victory session to an opponent from Virginia before dropping a one-point decision to a foe from Drexel.

True freshman Spencer Dusi was tied after two periods with No. 3 seed Barlow Mcghee of Missouri, a top 10 athlete nationally. However, Dusi would drop a 6-2 decision in that match.

Cleveland State currently sits in 21st place in the event with 12 points.

CSU will conclude action at the Southern Scuffle Monday.

CSU Results at the Southern Scuffle (Day One)

125
First Round: Spencer Dusi (CSU) - bye
First Round: John Martin (CSU) - bye
Second Round: No. 3 Barlow Mcghee (Missouri) over Dusi (CSU) - 6-2 dec.
Second Round: No. 1 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa) over Martin (CSU) - 17-0 TF 7:00
Consolation Second Round: Dusi (CSU) - bye
Consolation Second Round: Martin (CSU) - bye
Consolation Third Round: James Szymanski (North Carolina) over Dusi (CSU) - 8-4 dec.
Consolation Third Round: Patrick Kearney (Citadel) over Martin (CSU) - 10-3 dec.

141
First Round: Evan Cheek (CSU) - bye
Second Round: No. 3 Joey Ward (North Carolina) over Cheek (CSU) - 1-0 dec.
Consolation Second Round: Cheek (CSU) over Jamel Morris (North Carolina State) - 20-3 TF 6:21
Consolation Third Round: Cheek (CSU) over Dallas Roemer (Gardner-Webb) - 15-0 TF 3:16
Consolation Fourth Round: Zach Synon (Missouri) over Cheek (CSU) - 8-0 MD

149
First Round: No. 4 Laike Gardner (Lehigh) over RJ LaBeef (CSU) - 4-3 dec.
First Round: Nick Montgomery (CSU) - bye
Second Round: Montgomery (CSU) over Troy Heilmann (North Carolina) - Fall 0:33
Third Round: Montgomery (CSU) over No. 7 Matthew Zovistoski (Appalachian State) - Fall 1:37
Quarterfinals: No. 2 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) over Montgomery (CSU) - 14-6 MD
Consolation First Round: LaBeef (CSU) - bye
Consolation Second Round: Luke Stewart (Campbell) over LaBeef (CSU) - 10-5 dec.

165
First Round: Tyler Marinelli (Gardner-Webb) over John Vaughn (CSU) - 16-0 TF 4:16
Consolation First Round: Vaughn (CSU) - bye
Consolation Second Round: Vaughn (CSU) over Justin Lampe (Chattanooga) - 7-5 dec.
Consolation Third Round: Milik Dawkins (Cornell) over Vaughn (CSU) - 9-0 MD

174
First Round: No. 6 Jim Wilson (Stanford) over Devon Pingel (CSU) - 19-4 TF 6:39
Consolation First Round: Michael Billingsley (Air Force) over Pingel (CSU) - 6-2 dec.

184
First Round: Will Schany (Virginia) over Nick Corba (CSU) - 6-4 dec. SV
Consolation First Round: Alex DeCiantis (Drexel) over Corba (CSU) - 5-4 dec.

197
First Round: Collin Kelly (CSU) - bye
Second Round: Ben Darmstadt (Finger Lakes Prep) over Kelly (CSU) - Fall 0:37
Consolation Second Round: Kelly (CSU) - bye
Consolation Third Round: DJ Smith (Chattanooga) over Kelly (CSU) - 9-3 dec.

285
First Round: Michael Furbee (CSU) - bye
Second Round: Ethan Stanley (Navy) over Furbee (CSU) - 5-0 dec.
Consolation Second Round: Furbee (CSU) - bye
Consolation Third Round: Trevor Rasmussen (Stanford) over Furbee (CSU) - 9-1 MD