NDSU had a strong first day at the Southern Scuffle Wednesday in Chattanooga, TN.  Led by Cam Sykora at 133 and unattached Luke Weber at 157, NDSU finished the day with 63 team points; seven behind Oklahoma State.  Seeded second, Sykora scored a technical fall, a major decision, and a medical forfeit on his way to the semifinals.  Sykora will wrestle Devan Turner of Oregon State tomorrow morning with a spot in the finals on the line. Unseeded, Luke Weber took a draw in the 3/6 quarter of the bracket and won four consecutive matches en route to the semis.  Weber defeated three seed Matt Zovistoski of Appalachian State 5-4 before pinning six seed Hunter Willits of Oregon State in 1:45.  Weber scored on a beautiful counter attack against Willits before flattening the Beaver with a cow catcher.  Also at 157, Jared Franek advanced his eighth seed to the quarterfinals before falling to two-time All American Hayden Hidlay of NC State 12-2

Lorenzo De La Riva had the upset of the day at 174 when he defeated #1 seed Joseph Smith of Oklahoma State 7-2 in the round of 16.  De La Riva then dropped his quarterfinal bout 8-0 to Gregg Harvey of Pitt. NDSU’s last two quarterfinalists came at 285. Brandon Metz went into the second period of his quarterfinal bout tied 3-3, but was ridden for the remainder of the bout and fell 14-3 to Dalton Robertson of Northern Colorado.  Dan Stibral was dropped 8-0 by Cary Miller of Appalachian State.

Also alive on the backside are Jaden Van Maanen (149), Noah Cressel (184), and Cordell Eaton (197).  Van Mannen was defeated in the round of 32 by top seed Requier Van der Merwe before reeling off four wins in a row.  Cressel and Eaton both dropped their first bout of the day and then scored three wins in a row to advance.