Maryville results at Kaufman/Brand Open

St. Louis - At the season opening Kaufman/Brand Open, the No. 2 Maryville wrestling team won two weight classes while posting a runner-up and third-place finish. Nate Rodriguez claimed the title at 141, while Ethan Sherertz won first place in the 197 division. The tournament was hosted Saturday at Westminster Christian Academy.

In the 125 weight classification, Jaret Singh marched to the finals before getting edged for the title. He posted a 13-6 win in his first match against SIU Edwardsville's Gage Datlovsky, then recorded a 3-2 victory over Jake Silzer of Illinois. In the finals against Weston Basler, Singh lost a narrow 3-1 decision.

Rodriguez rolled through the 141 field, only giving up three points along the way to his first-place finish. He notched a 7-0 victory over Missouri's Nick Nasenbeny, then followed up with another triumph over a competitor from Mizzou, Zach Synon, by a 4-1 count. Rodriguez won the title with an 8-2 victory over Darren Wynn of McKendree.

James Krischke won his first two matches in the 149 classification until dropping his semifinal match. He battled through the back draw and took third place with a 6-2 win and a 14-4 major over Victor Hughes of Baker University.

Greg Hegarty opened his tourney at 157 with a 13-4 major win, then followed up with an 8-2 victory over Missouri's Blake Pepper. In the semis, Hegarty pinned Luke Fortuna of Mizzou at the 5:09 mark to reach the finals. However, he was narrowly outpointed 5-3 by Phyllip DeLoach, another foe from Missouri, for the title.

In the 165 weight class, Derrick Swaney won his opener via a 15-0 tech fall but lost his next bout. In the consolation draw, he posted back-to-back wins by scores of 6-4 and 9-2, before getting tripped up in the semis. Swaney dropped the fifth-place match to close out his day.

Travis Lang notched a fall in just 1:50 to start the day in the 174 draw but lost his quarterfinal match. He bounced back for an 8-2 win in the consolation draw but was edged by a sudden victory decision.

Sherertz began his tournament run with a 5-2 decision over Luke Diener of McKendree, then toppled Dillon Archer of Lindenwood by a 10-6 count. In the finals, Sherertz won the crown with a 5-3 win over Andre Lee of Illinois.

In the heavyweight division, Donnell Walker had one of the fastest falls of the day with a pin in just 33 seconds. However, he lost his quarterfinal bout and then was forced to withdraw in the consolation bracket.

Two Saints wrestlers who were competing unattached also won titles in the Amateur Division at 133 and 184.