ST. CHARLES, Mo. - McKendree University men's wrestling competed in the Lindenwood Open hosted by the Lions at Hyland Arena. McKendree claimed two top finishes with senior Daniel Filipek earning first in the 184 Gold Division and freshman Zeke Waltz taking the top spot in the 174 amateur Black Division. 

The Bearcats had 10 individuals compete in the amateur Black Division (freshman/sophomores) with Waltz (174) collecting the top finish of Bearcats competing in that division and Joey Semerad taking second in the 141 class. Freshman Dustin Olmstead earned a consolation bracket title in the 285 black division while Noah Villarreal earned fourth place in the 149 bracket. 

In the gold division, Filipek led the way  with his top placement in the 184 bracket while senior Jose Champagne (157) earned a second place finish and redshirt freshman Cory Peterson (165) collected a third place finish. In the 197 class, redshirt freshman Logan Kvien fell just short of a first place finish with a loss by decision in the match.

141-lb. Black Division:
Freshman Joey Semerad collected a second place finish in the 141-lb bracket behind a 3-1 overall record. Semerad earned his first win of the weekend with a major decision of 12-4 over Troy Mock of Triton and a pin in the second at 6:50 against Joseph Rice of Missouri Valley. His third win went to tie-breakers over Caleb Tyus of SIUe. The freshman dropped the first-place match via a 4-0 decision, finishing second in the bracket.

149-lb. Black Division:
 Freshman Noah Villarreal opened his tournament with a tech fall victory (19-2) over Dillon Hooper (Labette) and followed it up with an 8-3 decision over Grant Garrett of GLVC-foe Drury. Villarreal dropped his third contest by 8-3 decision to Brandon Ahlemann (Liberty). Villarreal won his next matchup via major decision once again (19-5) and finished fourth in the bracket. 

174-lb. Black Division:
The freshman Waltz earned back-to-back victories by fall, defeating Brandon Rohr of Cloud County (2:23 mark) and Shaun Gates of Hannibal-LaGrange at the 4:20 mark. Waltz's third match was won by major decision, 11-3, putting him into the first-place match. Waltz went on to win the top placement by 8-5 decision. 

285-lb. Black Division:
Olmstead, a Smithton, Illinois-native, earned a consolation championship by going 3-1 on the weekend. The freshman dropped his opening match by fall but bounced back with a win by fall (3:22) over Ross Raucci (Triton). Olmstead clinched a spot in the consolation championship match by earning a tech fall, 21-6 win against Grant Baber (Oklahoma City) and then a decision victory of 3-2 against Gavin Daniels (Carl Albert State).

157-lb. Gold Division:
Champagne, a product of Marian Catholic, began his bracket with back-to-back pins, defeating Michael Peters (Maryville) at the 1:26 mark and the Jovon Mitchell in 1:43. Champagne moved into the first-place matchup via a 3-2 decision victory over Joe Roberts of Illinois but dropped the first place match by decision, 7-3. 

165-lb. Gold Division: 
Peterson lost his initial matchup of the weekend by decision (10-7), moving to the opposite side of the bracket and earning his first win in the next contest by major decision (18-5). Peterson then collected a decision victory by a count of 11-9 and moved into the third place match. He then collected the third-place finish by a decision of 9-4 over Anthony Des Vigne of Central Oklahoma. 

184-lb. Gold Division: 
Filipek went 3-0 enroute to the top placement in his class, winning all three matchups by decision. His first win came against James Anding of GLVC-foe Maryville by 8-3 decision. The next two bouts were both 3-1 decision victories, defeating Alex Kauffman (Central Oklahoma) and then Sam Osho of Marian (IN) to take first place. 

197-lb. Gold Division:
Kvien began his weekend with a 12-5 decision victory over Cumberland's River Henry. He followed up his first win with a win by fall (2:06) over Karim Shakur (Missouri Valley). Kvien earned another victory by decision, 10-5, against Ryan Yarnell of SIUe to enter the first place bout against Jack Flynn of Missouri. The redshirt freshman dropped the match 9-4, finishing second overall in the bracket. 

OVERALL RESULTS:
Black Division:
125lb | Jason Strope | 2-2
125lb | Christian Cartright | 1-2
141lb | Joey Semerad | 3-1, 2nd
141lb | Ronan Schuelke | 2-2
149lb | Noah Villarreal | 3-2, 4th
149lb | Christian Pfeiffer-Laguerre
157lb | Ryan Haynes | 2-2
174lb | Zeke Waltz | 4-0, 1st
285lb | Julian Ramirez | 0-2
285lb | Dustin Olmstead | 3-1 Cons. Champ. 

Gold Division:
125lb | Cam Fusco | 2-2, 5th
133lb | Ryan Ripplinger | 2-2, 4th
149lb | Josh Ramos | 1-2
157lb | Jose Champagne | 3-1, 2nd
157lb | Robbie Snellenberger | 0-2
165lb | Cory Peterson | 4-1, 3rd
184lb | Daniel Filipek | 3-0, 1st
184lb | Rozell Baker | 2-2
197lb | Logan Kvien | 3-1, 2nd
197lb | Vincenzo Scaletta | 4-2, 4th
197lb | Caleb Guise | 0-2
285lb | Kevin Zange | 0-2

UP NEXT:
McKendree men's wrestling is back on the mats on Saturday, December 4th at the Jim Koch Open hosted by UW-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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