MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (Jan. 15, 2023) – Seven Duhawks finished inside the top eight of their respective weight class brackets on Saturday, helping lead the No. 10/12 Loras College wrestling team to a fourth-place team finish at Cornell College's Cliff Keen-Mike Dunroe Invitational.

Loras' best highlight came in the form of a bracket victory and an undefeated run from junior Zeb Gnida, who won all five of hits bouts to stand atop the podium on Saturday. The junior reached the 174-lb championship by way of a major decision in the opening round and a tech fall in round two before squeaking out a pair of wins by decision in the quarter- and semi-final rounds.

In the title match, Gnida breezed past Cornell's Jacob Sherzer with an 11-1 major decision to take the top spot.

Junior Daniel Meeker came close to making it two bracket titles for the Duhawks as he started his day 4-0 at 157-lbs to reach that bracket's championship match. Meeker defeated each of his first three opponents with pins to advance to the semifinal round, where he edged Cornell's Gabriel Smith in a 6-4 decision to advance.

In the title fight, Meeker was taken down and pinned in the second round by Augsburg University's Blake Jagodzinske, leaving him just short of a title.

Junior Reis Ginter enjoyed a nice string of success to start his run in the 141-lb bracket, ultimately resulting in a fourth-place finish. After an opening round bye, Ginter stormed past Augsburg's Aedon Oberdorfer with an 18-0 tech fall, then narrowly edged out Luther College's Tristan Day in a 2-1 decision.

Ginter would drop his next two matches, one by tech fall and the next by decision, to finish with a top four.

Junior Justin Murray (6^th – 125-lbs), sophomore Logan Adamson (6^th – 165-lbs), freshman Chase Fiser (7^th – 151-lbs), and senior Isaac Romero (7^th – 184-lbs) all earned podium places on Saturday as well, highlighting a strong outing for the group.

Loras will be in action again this coming Saturday, Jan. 21, when it hosts half of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Duals. Conference action is set to begin inside the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center at 9 A.M.