Contact: Jeff Sattora

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Des Moines, Iowa- The Cleveland State Vikings' wrestling program concluded its 2012-13 season Thursday night, as junior Ben Willeford (125 lb.) and freshman Riley Shaw(HWT) bowed out on day one of the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

The double-elimination tournament, which consists of the top wrestlers from around the country (33 in each weight class) unfortunately saw the two Vikings go 0-2 on day one to end their 2013 seasons.

Both Vikings took on top competition all day long.

Willeford, the 2013 EWL Champion at 125 pounds, faced arguably the top wrestler in the field at 125 pounds in his first match-up of the day, falling by a 10-2 count to Iowa's Matt McDonough (the bracket's third seed). McDonough, a redshirt senior for the Hawkeyes, is a two-time NCAA champion at 125 pounds, winning his redshirt freshman and redshirt junior seasons while placing second the year in between. Despite the long odds for Willeford he kept it close through the first two periods, down just 2-0 and 4-1 after the first and second periods respectively, before falling by the 10-2 final.

Moving onto the wrestleback portion of the bracket Willeford's competition stayed tough, as he dropped a hard fought 11-2 battle to Eddie Klimara from Oklahoma State. Klimara, a true freshman for the Cowboys, came into the championships at 26-15 on the year.

Freshman Riley Shawalso faced the expected top flight competition in his first match for the Vikings, falling in a 6-1 decision to Mike McClure of Michigan State. McClure, the bracket's eighth seed, led the Spartans with 32 wins on the year heading into the championships. Similar to Willeford, Shaw also kept it close throughout. Following a 0-0 tie in period one, Shaw was down just 3-0 after the second before the 6-1 defeat.

Also like Willeford, Shaw's 2013 season ended in the evening portion Thursday night, falling in his second match of the day 8-0 to Levi Cooper from Arizona State. Cooper came into the week with a 23-11 record on the year for the Sun Devils. The redshirt senior also went 2-2 at last year's NCAA Championships for Arizona State, just missing All-American status.

Despite the tough finishes to their seasons, both Willeford and Shaw can hold their heads high as they head into the offseason months. The junior and freshman were both leading contributors for the Vikings this season. The two NCAA qualifiers were not only the top individual winners on the year for CSU, tying each other for the team lead with 23 victories, they were also the first Vikings to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2009.