Tournament Brackets/Results

WICHITA, Kan. - Colorado School of Mines' Cody Thompson is into the national semifinals at 149 pounds, getting through a tough first day unscathed at the 2024 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships.

Thompson, a first-time nationals qualifier, will be an all-American no matter what happens on Saturday as he went 3-0 on Friday at Hartman Arena. He will be the 38th all-American in Mines Wrestling history.

The redshirt sophomore took care of business in a 149-pound bracket blown wide open by upsets in the top half, defeating UIndy's Jackson Hoover 11-3 in a preliminary, beating eighth-seeded Cael Larson of Augustana 5-3 in the first round, and then avenging a regular-season loss to UW-Parkside's Jalen Spuhler with a 13-11 decision in the quarterfinals.

Thompson will face Lander's Zeth Brower, the fourth seed, in the semifinals during Saturday's morning session at 10 a.m. ET. The other semifinal will have second-seeded Jacob Ealy of Pitt-Johnstown face sixth-seeded Dylan Brown of Central Oklahoma. Thompson is trying to become Mines' first national finalist since Weston Hunt in 2021, and first champion since John Simpson in 1998.

In the preliminary round against Hoover, both men had early shots before Hoover scored midway through the first period, but a quick Thompson escape led to his own three points to end the first up 4-3. A late shot by Thompson added another takedown in the waning seconds of the second period, and an escape from his bottom choice in the third made it 8-3. Thompson then scored in defense of a late Hoover shot to seal the win 11-3. 

Against Larson of Augustana, Thompson went on the offensive early and it paid off with a takedown on the edge of the mat just over a minute into the bout. Thompson rode out the remainder of the period, and neither man scored in an action-packed second; Larson cut Thompson midway through the first into an immediate takedown, and an optional restart made it 5-3 in favor of Thompson as he held on for the win.

The quarterfinal against Spuhler, who had pinned Thompson when they met at the Midwest Classic in December, proved to be high scoring as Thompson won 13-11. Thompson went ahead first when an early scramble at the edge of the mat, initially whistled out of bounds, was challenged by Austin DeVoe and resulted in three points. A quick Spuhler reversal and escape went right back into a takedown for the Mines man to lead 7-2 at the end of the first after Parkside's challenge for a reversal was not given. Thompson extended the lead to 11-2 less than 30 seconds into the second period, escaping and immediately taking Spuhler down, but a reversal made it 11-4 through two. Two late takedowns by Spuhler didn't matter, as Thompson's escapes and 3:01 of riding time sent him to the semis.