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ERIE - Junior Connor Maliff (133), redshirt freshman Dylan Nace (141) and senior Tyson Searer (285) remain alive in the consolation bracket at the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Championships through Friday's action at Mercyhurst University.

Maliff, Nace and Searer will all wrestle towards top-four placements and a trip to the NCAA Division II Championships, which will be held March 11-12 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Each will need two wins on Saturday to advance, barring any "true fourth" matches.

Searer, the No. 2 seed in the region and ranked No. 7 nationally, opened his day with a pin of Nigel Touissant (Gannon) in the first round before suffering a second-period fall vs. No. 7 seed James Louison (LIU Post) in the quarterfinals.

Searer responded with a pin of Nick Nester (Alderson Broaddus) in 3:29 to advance to Saturday's consolation quarterfinals, where he will take on No. 6 David Wuestner (Millersville). Searer is 2-0 in his career vs. Wuestner, winning a 2-1 decision on February 4 and a 6-4 decision last year.

A 2013 national qualifier as a freshman at 197 pounds, Searer enters Saturday with a 17-7 overall record (12-2 in-region). He is a three-time regional placewinner and can become ESU's first four-time placewinner since reclassifying to DII prior to the 2009-10 season.

Nace, the No. 3 seed in the region, was upended by Ryan Bennett (Ohio Valley) by a 6-5 decision in the first round. He advanced to the consolation quarterfinals with a pin of No. 4 seed Vinny Turano (LIU Post) in 5:35 to set up a match-up vs. No. 8 Thomas Nulty (Millersville).

Nace, 20-3 on the year and 13-2 in-region, won both bouts vs. Nulty this season, a second-period fall (4:46) on December 5 at the PSAC Championships and an 11-4 decision on February 4.

Maliff knocked off No. 8 seed Dante Steffenino (Shippensburg) by a 7-5 score in his first round bout, his second win vs. Steffenino this year following a 7-2 decision on January 19.

He took an 11-0 setback vs. No. 1 Nick Roberts (Pitt-Johnstown) in the quarterfinals, but responded with a 6-3 decision vs. Zach Ulerick (Kutztown) to stay alive in the consolations. Maliff had lost a 12-0 verdict vs. Ulerick just 10 days ago.

Maliff's consolation quarterfinal match-up is No. 5 seed Kevin Kinyua (Mercyhurst), who won by technical fall in the meeting on January 22.

ESU had one other quarterfinalist in junior Joey Kratochvil, the No. 7 seed at 157 pounds, who received a bye to the quarters. He dropped an 8-0 major decision vs. No. 2 seed Matt Martoccio (Kutztown), a returning All-American, and then lost a 12-4 count vs. Logan Shurina (Alderson Broaddus) in the consolations.

Three Warriors lost in the opening round and won a consolation bout before their day ended.

Junior Tyler Richardson, the No. 5 seed at 184 pound, lost a 16-6 score vs. Sawyer Leppla (Wheeling Jesuit), won a 5-2 decision vs. Morris Lawson (Seton Hill) and fell 13-8 vs. No. 6 seed Ron King (LIU Post). Richardson previously had wins over all three this season, including a 3-1 decision vs. King on January 9.

Richardson was a returning national qualifier, finishing as regional runner-up at 197 pounds last season. His season ends at 14-9 (7-8 in-region) after reclassifying to 184 midway through the year.

Redshirt freshman Collyn Dorney (125) lost to a pair of seeded wrestlers, No. 5 Jacob Goodwin (Notre Dame) by fall and No. 6 Austin Petril (Kutztown) by major decision, around a 24-9 technical fall vs. David Reagan (Shippensburg) in his first consolation match. Dorney finishes 13-14 overall (5-11 DII) in his first season of competition.

Freshman Josh Deutel (165) won a 9-3 decision vs. Seth Decker (Millersville) in his first consolation bout. He opened with an 18-2 setback vs. No. 2 seed Nate Ross (Gannon) and bowed out by fall vs. Mark Lentz (Shippensburg).

Freshman Kevin Knox (174) and junior Brandon Steele (197) were both 0-2 in their weight classes.

Wrestling resumes at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Mercyhurst. The Warriors have had 11 wrestlers combine for 14 national qualifying performances, including Searer in 2013, in six seasons in DII.



125 - Collyn Dorney (13-14)
1st round - No. 5 Jacob Goodwin (Notre Dame) pinned Dorney, 3:00
Consolations - Dorney tech. fall David Reagan (Shippensburg), 24-9 (3:54)
Consolations - No. 6 Austin Petril (Kutztown) maj. dec. Dorney, 14-2

133 - Connor Maliff
1st round - Maliff dec. No. 8 Dante Steffenino (Shippensburg), 7-5
Quarterfinals - No. 1 Nick Roberts (UPJ) maj. dec. Maliff, 11-0
Consolations - Maliff dec. Zach Ulerick (Kutztown), 6-3
Consolation Quarters - No. 5 Kevin Kinyua (Mercyhurst)

141 - No. 3 Dylan Nace
1st round - Ryan Bennett (Ohio Valley) dec. Nace, 6-5
Consolations - Nace pinned No. 4 Vinny Turano (LIU Post), 5:35
Consolation Quarters - No. 8 Thomas Nulty (Millersville)

149 - Christian Silva (0-7)
1st round - No. 8 Nikoloz Varazshvili (Ohio Valley) maj. dec. Silva, 13-4
Consolations - Ryan Kaminski (Gannon) dec. Silva, 5-3:sv1

157 - No. 7 Joey Kratochvil (10-12)
Quarterfinals - No. 2 Matt Martoccio (Kutztown) maj. dec. Kratochvil, 8-0
Consolations - Logan Shurina (Alderson Broaddus) maj. dec. Kratochvil, 12-4

165 - Josh Deutel (3-8)
1st round - No. 2 Nate Ross (Gannon) tech. fall Deutel, 18-2 (5:57)
Consolations - Deutel dec. Seth Decker (Millersville), 9-3
Consolations - Mark Lentz (Shippensburg) pinned Deutel, 1:42

174 - Kevin Knox (0-5)
1st round - No. 3 Dean Meyer (Wheeling Jesuit) maj. dec. Knox, 15-4
Consolations - Daniel Carpenter (West Liberty) pinned Knox, 5:38

184 - No. 5 Tyler Richardson (14-9)
1st round - Sawyer Leppla (Wheeling Jesuit) maj. dec. Richardson, 16-6
Consolations - Richardson dec. Morris Lawson (Seton Hill), 5-2
Consolations - No. 6 Ron King (LIU Post) dec. Richardson, 13-8

197 - Brandon Steele (5-15)
1st round - No. 8 Jamar Henry (Mercyhurst) dec. Steele, 3-1
Consolations - Jake Horton (LIU Post) dec. Steele, 5-3

285 - No. 2 Tyson Searer
1st round - Searer pinned Nigel Touissant (Gannon), 1:51
Quarterfinals - No. 7 James Louison (LIU Post) pinned Searer, 5:46
Consolations - Searer pinned Nick Nester (Alderson Broaddus), 3:29
Consolation Quarters - No. 6 David Wuestner (Millersville)