Results

MEQUON, Wis. - The Elmhurst College wrestling team returned to the mat at the Concordia University (Wis.) Open and turned in a strong showing. While no team scores were kept, the Bluejays had seven wrestlers bring home top-eight finishes.

Elmhurst sent eight wrestlers to the quarterfinals with three Bluejays earning spots in the semifinals and a pair of grapplers competing in the championship match.

Top-seeded Joe Rau breezed to the championship at 184 pounds. Rau opened with wins by technical fall and a major decision to reach the semifinals. In the semis, he scored a 12-1 major decision over Augustana's Jordan Richards. In the championship match, Rau toppled Wartburg's Dylan Azinger 10-3.

At 174 pounds, Danny Balderas placed second, finishing the day with a 4-1 record. Balderas opened the day with three straight victories to move into the semifinals. The key win for Balderas came in the semifinals when he ousted Wartburg's Bradley Banks 4-3. Banks entered the tournament ranked number one in the nation at 184 pounds. In the semifinals, Balderas upended UW-Stevens Point's Ryan Conat 7-3. Balderas fell to UW-Parkside's Luke Rynish 19-7 in the championship match. Rynish is ranked second in the nation in the NCAA Division II poll.
 
Ryan Earley scored a third-place finish at 149 pounds, completing the day with a 5-1 record. Earley posted three straight victories to advance to the semifinals before falling to top-seeded Kodie Silvestri of Wartburg. In the consolation round, he toppled Augustana's Alberto Quiros 7-5 before earning a medical forfeit victory in the third-place match.

Danny Vargas placed fourth at 197 pounds. Vargas scored consecutive wins to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to UW-Platteville's Matt Scott 5-2. In the consolation round, Vargas pinned teammate Mike McNeil in 1:48 and then toppled Wabash's Austin O'Neal to advance to the third-place match. Vargas fell to UW-Parkside's Davion Willis 6-4 in overtime of the third-place match.

At 285 pounds, Brian Brooks finished the tournament with a 5-2 record and a fifth-place finish. Brooks advanced into the quarterfinals before falling 2-0 to Wartburg's Jake Morris. In the consolation round, Brooks defeated Muskegon's Cody Van Donkelaar 3-2 before falling to Augustana's Abe Duran in the consolation semifinals. He won the fifth-place match by medical forfeit.

Dalton Bullard made his Elmhurst debut and placed sixth at 133 pounds. The junior transfer finished the day with a (4-3) record. Bullard opened with back-to-back victories to advance to the quarterfinals, before falling to Concordia-Nebraska's Adam Joseph 13-7. Bullard bounced back from the loss to pin teammate Ethan Moes in 5:43 and then blanked Wright's Jameel Carter 11-0 to advance to the consolation semifinals. He fell 8-5 to Loras' Matt Homes in the consolation semifinal and then placed sixth after an injury forced him out of the fifth-place match.

Yousef Al-Ghoul finished seventh at 165 pounds. After falling in the quarterfinals, Al-Ghoul won three straight matches in the consolation round before falling to UW-Whitewater's Cedric Gibson. In the seventh-place match, Al-Ghoul toppled Augustana's Matt Burns 15-4 in the seventh-place match.

Two other Bluejays finished just one win shy of competing in the place matches. Jake Denhof finished the tournament with a 3-2 record at 141 pounds. Denhof advanced to the quarterfinals with three straight wins, before back-to-back losses left him one win shy of competing in the place matches. Mike Grice posted a 3-2 record at 157 pounds. Grice scored three straight victories to move into the quarterfinals before falling 8-3 to Dan Arguetta of Wisconsin-Parkside. Grice was eliminated by UW-Stevens Point's Ben Strobel in the consolation bracket.

Elmhurst wrestles a CCIW dual at Wheaton College on Tuesday (November