Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243

MEQUON, Wis. (Nov. 20, 2021) - After entering the regular season placed atop the National Wrestling Coaches Association national rankings, the No. 1 Loras College wrestling team traveled to the campus of Concordia University - Wisconsin to compete in the CUW Open. Four Duhawks in Jared Hensley, Zeke Smith, Shane Liegel and Colin Murphy walking away with first place finishes in their weight classes. 

Hensley got his day going in the 125 lb. bracket against Wartburg's James Levy, earning a second period victory by way of fall to advance and face Andrew Finateri from Stevens Institute of Technology. Hensley downed Finateri in 56 seconds with a pin to move on to the quarterfinals where he met up with cross-town rival University of Dubuque's Cade Hornback. The two battled through three periods, seeing Hensley take a 2-0 decision and move into the semifinals where he took on Anthony Zamora from Wheaton College. Hensley took down Zamora with a 3-1 decision to move on into the 125 lb. championship matchup against Stevens' Akhil Vega where Hensley walked away the weight class champion, earning a 7-6 decision. 

Aiden Evans opened up action in the 133 lb. class against Concordia's Corey Bagby, winning with a first period fall in 2:08 before taking on Wheaton's Ethan Harsted in the next round. Evans battled with Harsted but narrowly dropped down to the consolation bracket after being edged 8-7. In consolation, Evans cruised past Connor Reyes with a 57 second pin before taking on Manchester University's Joshua Stephenson in the third round, also winning by a first period fall. In the fourth round of consolation, Evans earned another 57 second pin over Wabash's Rodney Hendricks III to reach the consolation championship match where he took down returning North Central College's returning All-American Bradley Rosen with a second period fall. 

Jalen Schropp began his day in the 141 lb. bracket against Dubuque's Anthony Urrea, seeing Schropp cruise into the second round with a 1:09 pin. In the second round, Schropp met up with Carthage College's Cole Nelson and moved on to the quarterfinals after pinning Nelson in the first period. In a thrilling quarterfinals matchup, Schropp won by sudden victory over Wabash's TJ Driessens to move onto the semifinals where he fell into consolation after a 5-0 decision. In the fourth round of consolation, Schropp won another match by sudden victory, this time over Whitewater's Dakarai Clay to advance to the third place match where he made easy work of Stevens' Kyle Slendorn, winning by a 12-2 major decision. 

Mason McMillen also saw success at 141 lbs., after dropping his first round matchup and entering consolation, the senior received a first round bye and advanced with a second round victory over North Central's Caleb Magruder. McMillen won the third round of consolation with a third period pin over Wartburg's Alex Crawford and made his way into the consolation championship match after defeating Carthage's Cole Nelson 10-5. McMillen earned the consolation championship title with a 3-1 decision over Wheaton's Ethan Renager. 

At 157 lbs., Smith received a first round bye before squaring off against Tanner Willett from North Central College and walked away with a victory by fall in 2:14. In the quarterfinals, Smith took an 8-2 decision from Evan Burge from Wabaash to advance into the semifinals where he met up with Cole Cervantes from North Central. Smith blew by Cervantes with a 15-0 technical fall to move into the championship match where he went toe-to-toe with Hunter Gutierrez from Stevens. Smith won by fall in the second period to win the class and go undefeated on the day. 

Gabe Fiser, a 165 lb. junior opened his day against Harper College's Brendan Parks and walked away with an 18-5 major decision. In the second round, Fiser saw Wabash's Johnathan Otte and moved on into the quarterfinals after winning 8-4. In the quarterfinals, Fiser saw Ronal Massari from Elmhurst and took a 6-3 victory to move into the semifinals where he earned another win by decision over Joliet's Jeremy Pullen. Fiser took second in the class after falling in the championship to Wabash's Kyle Hatch. 

Liegel, a powerhouse at 184 lbs., pinned Concordia's Alexandros Alexiades in 52 seconds to get his day started strong before winning by tech fall in the second round over Joliet's Andrew Hesse. In the quarterfinals, Liegel met up with Harper's Ethan Shedbalker and won by fall in 1:09. The semifinals saw Liegel square off against University of Chicago's Maguire Pecci, advancing into the championship matchup after downing Pecci with a 2-0 decision. Liegel brought home a first place finish after taking down Jarrit Shinhoster from Whitewater, winning by a 7-4 decision.

Murphy wrestled at 197 lbs. and earned a commanding 16-1 technical fall in the opening matchup against Whitewater's Jerrod Grell before pinning University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point's Alex Mischka in 2:12. In the quarterfinals, Murphy saw teammate Tad Griffith and advanced into the semifinals after winning by a narrow 3-2 decision. A medical forfeit in the semifinals saw Murphy advance into the championship where he took down Whitewater's Chad Richards by way of all in the first period to win the weight class. 

Griffith earned a fourth place finish at 197 lbs., getting his day going with a first round victory over Wabash's Grant Johnson to see him advance and face Manchester's Alex Gronkewiecz. Griffith made easy work of Gronkewiecz and earned a 16-0 technical fall before falling to Murphy in the quarterfinals to drop into consolation. In the third round of consolation, Griffith won by a 14-11 decision over Chicago's Danny Lingen before a medical forfeit advanced him into the third place match where he fell by a close 6-4 decision to take fourth. 

The top-ranked Duhawks are back in action on Thursday, Dec. 2 as they travel to Minneapolis, Minn. to face Augsburg University in their second dual of the season. The match is schedued for a 7:00 PM start.