GUNNISON, Colo. — A trio of grapplers earned a pair of wins on the first day of the NCAA Super Region IV Championships as the Newman wrestling team has multiple wrestlers on the cusp of reaching the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time.

Junior Dustin Reed at 125 pounds, freshman Heath Gray at 174 and sophomore Dalton Weidl at 197 will all wrestle in Saturday's consolation semifinals starting at noon back at Mountaineer Field House on the campus of Western State Colorado University.

Reed breezed through his first two matches of the day, picking up his second pin of the season two minutes into the first bout. An 8-2 victory followed in the quarterfinals to run the junior's winning streak to 21 matches, but that streak was snapped in an exciting semifinal against Western State's Ronald Wardleigh. Reed bounced back from two deficits to tie things at 6-6, but Wardleigh escaped to take a one-point lead with 10 seconds left.

Gray earned a 13-7 win to start the day before running into No. 8 Tarrence Williams of Colorado State Pueblo in the quarterfinals. A loss there only temporarily slowed the freshman, who rolled off wins of 7-4 and 8-7 in the consolations to keep his season alive. The second wrestleback bout saw Gray bounce back from a 6-3 deficit after one period against California Baptist's Christian Smith and collect a four-point move along the edge late in the second period to earn the win.

Weidl started his second chance at the regional tournament with his first win, a pin over Central Oklahoma's Jadon Davenport. He was pinned by the No. 6 wrestler in the country, Colorado Mines' Paul Wilson, in the quarterfinals, but responded by forcing two stalling points out of Adams State's Richard Bencomo, one late in regulation and one in sudden victory to pick up a 4-3 win. That was followed by a 40-second fall to reach the consolation semifinals.

All three have locked up places in the top six, and must win two of their next three matches to lock up a place in the top four and move on to the NCAA Championships in two weeks.

Kyle Ryan was turned back in the first round by the No. 5 wrestler in the country in California Baptist's Jacob Waste, but responded with a 9-3 decision against Luis Terrazas of New Mexico Highlands in the first round of consolations. His run through the wrestlebacks wouldn't continue though, as Colorado Mines' Rocky Michaelson topped him in the second consolation round.

Jake Gentzler (133), Garrett Whitson (141), Forlanda Parker (149), Colton Duhr (157) and Noel Torres (165) saw their seasons end in the first session of the day. Gentzler hung in with a 30-win wrestler in the first round before falling 5-0, and suffered a tough 5-4 loss in the first tiebreaker in the consolations. Whitson, Parker and Duhr had difficult first-round matchups against MIAA foes that sent them to the consolations, where they ran into equally-solid RMAC opponents.

Torres (165) suffered a pair of close losses by decision, falling 9-8 to Western State's Travis Bradford in the first round, and finishing his day with a 9-6 loss to Central Oklahoma's Daniel Carillo.

Reed, Gray and Weidl will be back on the mats Saturday, as the consolation semifinals begin at noon, followed by the place matches.

Newman Results

125-No. 2 Dustin Reed, Jr.

                First round-Won by fall, Brandon Vu, San Francisco State, 2:00

                Quarterfinals-Won by dec., Zachary McKenna, California Baptist, 8-2

                Semifinals-Lost by dec., Ronald Wardleigh, Western State, 7-6

133-Jake Gentzler, Sr.

                First Round-Lost by dec., Cruz Velasquez, Simon Fraser, 5-0

                Consolation Round 1-Lost by dec., Noah Au-Yeung, Colorado Mines, 5-4 (TB-1)

141-Garrett Whitson, Fr.

                First Round-Lost by fall, Joshua Ailey, Central Oklahoma, 2:35

                Consolation Round 1-Lost by maj. dec., Joshua Miller, Chadron State, 16-5

149-Forlanda Parker, So.

                First Round-Lost by fall, Destin McCauley, Nebraska-Kearney, 1:24

                Consolation Round 1-Lost by tech. fall, Devin Vasquez, Adams State, 6:32 (21-4)

157-Colton Duhr, Jr.

                First Round-Lost by fall, Joey Dozier, Fort Hays State, 6:52

                Consolation Round 1-Bye

                Consolation Round 2-Lost by maj. dec., Jason Buhr, Colorado Mesa, 16-5

165-Noel Torres, Jr.

                First Round-Lost by dec., Travis Bradford, Western State, 9-8

                Consolation Round 1-Bye

                Consolation Round 2-Lost by dec., Daniel Carillo, Central Oklahoma, 9-6

174-Heath Gray, Fr.

                First Round-Won by dec., Reid Watkins, Simon Fraser, 13-7

                Quarterfinals-Lost by dec., No. 8 Tarrence Williams, Colorado State-Pueblo, 7-5

                Consolation Round 2-Won by dec., Mike Marshall, San Francisco State, 7-4

                Consolation Quarterfinals-Won by dec., Christian Smith, California Baptist, 8-7

184-Kyle Ryan, So.

                First Round-Lost by tech. fall, No. 5 Jacob Waste, California Baptist, 1:57 (19-0)

                Consolation Round 1-Won by dec., Luis Terrazas, New Mexico Highlands, 9-3

                Consolation Round 2-Lost by fall, Rocky Michaelson, Colorado Mines, 2:31

197-Dalton Weidl, So.

                First Round-Won by fall, Jadon Davenport, Central Oklahoma, 4:52

                Quarterfinals-Lost by fall, No. 6 Paul Wilson, Colorado Mines, 1:06

                Consolation Round 2-Won by dec., Richard Bencomo, Adams State, 4-3 (SV)

                Consolation Quarterfinals-Won by fall, Mick Dougharity, Western State, :40