CLEVELAND, Ohio - Colorado School of Mines' NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships came to a premature end as all four of its entrants were eliminated on day one of the tournament.

The Orediggers, who sent multiple competitors to nationals for the first time in a decade, battled all day and picked up several notable wins, but ultimately ran up against some tough draws in each of the four weight classes. Skyler Lykins and Robert Gambrell both picked up first-round wins to advance to the championship quarterfinals.

All four entrants - Lykins, Gambrell, Noah Ottum, and Weston Hunt - were making their first NCAA appearances, and all four will have a chance to return next year as none graduate this season.

149 POUNDS
Ottum had a tough first-round draw against #3-ranked and fourth-seeded Kyle Rathman of Minnesota State, and fell 5-1 despite battling hard in the match. Rathman earned a late takedown in the first to lead 2-0, but Ottum escaped to start the second before another Rathman takedown made it 4-1. Neither man scored in the third as Rathman picked up riding time to win 5-1. Ottum then suffered an 11-5 defeat to Bellarmine's Gage Branson in the consolation first round as Branson picked up three takedowns plus a nearfall-4 over the first two periods to build an insurmountable lead.

157 POUNDS
Lykins scored a big upset in the first round, taking down #6-ranked and third-seeded Cortez Arredondo of Southwest Minnesota State 9-8. Lykins controlled from the start after an early Arredondo takedown, getting an escape, penalty point, and takedown of his own to lead 4-2 after one; Arredondo had a reversal and a takedown in the second to Lykins' escape and reversal to make it a 7-6 Lykins lead heading into the third. Lykins chose bottom and escaped, but Arredondo took him down with 48 seconds to tie it 8-8. Arredondo then elected to cut Lykins for an escape to go for the win, but Lykins held off his shots in the final seconds to win 9-8. The momentum wasn't there for Lykins in subsequent matches, however, as Augustana's Colin Ayers held on for a 12-9 win in the championship quarterfinals, and Lykins fell 13-6 to Newberry's Austin Palmer in the consolation bracket after Palmer worked an early takedown to back points in the bout.

174 POUNDS
Gambrell advanced to the championship quarterfinals thanks to a 7-4 win over Wisconsin-Parkside's Connor Price in the first round, using a third-period reversal to break a tie and win. Price struck first with an early takedown before Gambrell escaped and earned his own two to lead 3-2; Gambrell then had the second period's only point on an escape to lead 4-2. In the third, Price earned a takedown with 1:17 left to tie it up 4-4, but Gambrell quickly reversed him for the lead and added riding time to make it 7-4. Gambrell then faced off with undefeated and #1 Brandon Supernaw of Western Colorado in the championship quarterfinals, and battled hard despite taking a 16-9 loss. Gambrell led 7-6 after two periods, but Supernaw earned three third-period takedowns plus a nearfall-2 to win. Gambrell's tournament came to an end at the hands of Damon Greenwald of Seton Hill, who caught Gambrell with an early takedown to win by fall at 0:32.

285 POUNDS
#12 Weston Hunt had a brutal draw to face two nationally-ranked wrestlers in pigtails to start the tournament. Hunt suffered a 3-2 heartbreaker against #10 Greg Wilson of Central Oklahoma to start as Wilson took a 1-0 lead on a second-period escape, then had a takedown with 12 seconds left in the third to win it despite two Hunt escapes in the period. Facing an elimination bout against #6 Jacob Robb of Mercyhurst, Hunt left no doubt as he controlled from the start to win 9-4. Hunt had a quick first-period takedown and Robb an escape to make it 2-1, and Hunt had the second period's only point on an escape to lead 3-1; in the third, Robb escaped from a bottom start but Hunt sealed it up with a takedown to four nearfall points, and a late reversal by Robb was academic. A rematch of the Super Region VI final went the other way, however, as Simon Fraser's Ciaran Ball outlasted Hunt 4-3 in the consolation first round. Ball picked up a first-period takedown and escapes in each of the next two periods to win despite a second-period reversal by Hunt.