FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

Team Standings

Tournament Brackets

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Mar. 11, 2016)-- When the dust settled after day one of competition at the 2016 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside had four of its six grapplers surviving the opening rounds, helping the Rangers sit seventh overall in the team standings.
 
UW-Parkside collected 34.5 points in the opening rounds, sitting 2.5 points shy of fifth-place which was shared by California Baptist University and the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. Saint Cloud State University leads the heap of teams with 52.5 points while Ohio's Notre Dame College is second with 50.5 points.
 
Ronzel Darling survived day one unscathed, winning his opening match by decision 7-6 before downing Pitt-Johnstown's Evan Link 6-3 in round two to guarantee All-American status at 125-pounds.
 
At 165-pounds, Nick Fishback edged Notre Dame's Juwan Edmond 8-6 in round one before squeaking out a 3-2 win over Cal Baptist's Nolan Kistler to ensure a spot on the podium as an All-American.
 
Nick Becker remained undefeated on the season, punching a ticket into the quarterfinals at 174-pounds. Becker pinned Simon Fraser University's Reid Watkins in 6:00 before laying waste to Notre Dame's Roberto Rivera 8-0 in the second round.
 
Montrail Johnson won his opener 5-2 at 184-pounds before getting upended 13-2 by Pitt-Johnstown's Travis Mckillop. Johnson rebounded with a 7-5 win over Taylor DeLong from the University of Indianapolis and still remains in contention for a potential third place showing while guaranteeing a spot on the podium as an All-American.
 
At 133-pounds, Joseph Her needed five minutes and 44 seconds to pin Maryville University's Dakota Bauer before falling by major decision 11-3 in the second round. Her saw his tournament run come to a close in the wrestlebacks, stumbling 17-10 to Adams State University's Martin Ramirez. Pernevlon Shepperd was the other Ranger to get knocked out in day one, suffering a pair of two point setbacks in his Nationals debut.
 
The Rangers return to the mat tomorrow to close out the NCAA Championships.