CURRENT BRACKETS

ADA, Ohio – It was a tough first day of the NCAA Central Regionals for Otterbein at the ONU Sports Center across Friday action, as two Cardinals still remain while another seven were eliminated at the postseason event.

Noah Houchins (125 lbs) and Cale Callahan (165) are still alive in their respective brackets in attempt to qualify for nationals, as the top-three placers in each weight class receive automatic spots to the upcoming NCAA Division III Championships.

STAYING AFLOAT:

Callahan, representing Otterbein earlier in the day as one of 20 standouts to earn All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors, showed why early with a decision over Lakin Webb of Trine. He then endured a setback by way of a competitive 7-2 loss to Teagan Hendricks (ONU).

But Callahan responded to beat Mitchell Arch of Case Western Reserve in the first wrestleback and will reopen his consolation ladder tomorrow morning. Two more victories would get him into the third-place bout.

Houchins faced a tough draw and was dealt a loss by top seed Jacob DeCatur of Baldwin Wallace. He bounced back nicely to eventually pin Hiram's Ian Fuentes midway through the second period, and a medical forfeit pushed him one line further. Tomorrow's opening match (11 a.m.) will be against Edward Alizio of Case.

REACHING THE END:

133 lbs: Tamas Eder dropped his opening match and then also finished on the low side of a 10-4 decision in his first consolation affair.

141 lbs: Freshman Trace Williams, competing in his first regional, fell to a CWRU opponent before seeing elimination in the same fashion during his attempt to work back.

149 lbs: Senior Nathan Leko, lacing them up once more, rested just short in a tight 4-1 decision with Samir Ross of Adrian. He then went the distance again before coming up short by a 7-3 score, this time to Andrew Magness of Mount St. Joseph.

157 lbs: Fellow senior Austin Amens encountered a pair of conference foes, dropping a 6-0 decision to begin his bracket and then a 10-5 result to exit.

174 lbs: Logan Cormell didn't quite have enough juice in a 10-6 loss against No. 2 seed Blake Williams (Adrian) in his opener, and then saw his tournament come to an end shortly thereafter.

184 lbs: Veteran Kyle De Moss was handed a loss in the closing seconds of the first period to begin, but countered to secure a pin himself early in the third period (5:34) over MSJ's Jermaine Poyner. That extended his stay until running into Ethan Risner of Manchester.

197 lbs: Another journeyman, Brandon Thomas, saw his wrestling career come to its conclusion after being pitted against top seed Demond Harrison (Albion) for starters. He then took his ankle straps off for the final time after a matchup with Aidan Belgiorno of Heidelberg.
 
SATURDAY SLATE:

Action from the ONU Sports Center will kick back up at 11 a.m., with everyone striving to gain a spot at NCAA's in Wisconsin.