Bartlesville, Okla.—Spire men's wrestling traveled to Bartlesville this weekend to battle at the KCAC Men's Wrestling Championship and battle they did as all twelve Spire wrestlers who competed placed in the top 5 with Brody Gee, Roman De La Cruz, Gabe Chesbro, Graham Kilpper, and Josey Jernegan all taking home 1^st place in their respective weight classes. Spire men's wrestling as a whole took home 2^nd  place overall scoring a total of 148.0 team points, finishing right behind the Falcons of Friends University who tallied 168.0 points.

Champion in the 125lb. weight-class, Brody Gee, made easy work of his afternoon with two quick matches. Brody made light work of his match against Romero of Avila University with a minute and a half pin over the Eagle wrestling. No. 3 ranked Gee then defeated Pacheco of Friends University by major decision (12-3), wrapping up his afternoon in the rightful number one spot.

Roman De La Cruz would continue the winning tradition on Saturday. Roman, currently ranked No. 15 nationally in the 133lb. weight-class, defeated Holguin of York University by fall early in his day. De La Cruz would seal his destiny in the top spot again in his match versus Pina of Avila with a major decision win (16-3) to wrap up his regular season.

Bobby Burke would snag 3^rd place overall yesterday, going 2-1 in the highly competitive KCAC tournament. Burke would start his day dropping his first match by decision (11-12) to Larson of Ottawa University, however this would be the 141lb.-er's only loss on the day. Burke would go on to defeat Dement of Oklahoma Wesleyan University by major decision (17-6) and would follow this up with an identical win by major decision (17-6) over Larson of Ottawa, getting the rematch against the OU athlete to go in his favor this time.

In the 149lb. weight-class, Ryan Buccat, would take home 5^th place overall going 2-2 on the mat.  Buccat would start his afternoon off with a loss by decision (2-6) to OKWU's Lopez. Ryan would bounce back in his second match of the day with a win by decision (12-10) over Rusher of Friends University, but would then find himself battling against fellow Spire teammate, Ben Smith in the third match of the day. Buccat would eventually fall to Smith by decision (0-7), but then end the evening on a high note, defeating Ward of Avila with a 13-8 decision.

Going 2-2 on the afternoon and earning a hard-fought 4^th place was freshman Ben Smith in the 149lb. weight class. Ben would start his day off on a high note, taking down Murray of OKWU by fall in five and a half minutes. Smith's next round would prove a bit tougher as the newcomer dropped his match to Duling of Friends University by decision with a final total of 9-14. Smith would split his final two matches both ending by decision as he would pick up a win against teammate Ryan Buccat (7-0) and a day-ending loss in the 3^rd place match against Thomas of Avila University with a final tally of 5-6.

First place winner in the 157lb. weight-class and currently No. 10 ranked, Josey Jernegan, would have himself on a win streak. Jernegan would defeat Marshall of Avila by way of fall (2:35) and wouldn't stop there. In his next match on the day, Josey would again defeat his Friends University opponent by fall in one minute and twenty-seven seconds, setting the tone for his third and final match of the tournament against another Friends Falcon in Cayleb Atkins, defeating the Falcon wrestler by decision with a final tally of 9-5.

Fellow 157lb. wrestler Trever Mogren would go 1-2 on the day, earning 5^th place overall for the freshman. Mogren would drop his first two matches of the day first to Atkins of Friends University by fall and then in a tough battle in match two against another Falcon wrestler, Mason Moore, by tech fall with a 0-15 final tally. Impressively, Trever would fight back in his last match of the day and absolutely dominate Hein of Ottawa University by way of tech fall with a score of 22-7.

Freshman Graham Kilpper had a tremendous conference weekend in his young career, fighting his way to 1^st place in the 165lb. weight-class. In his first two matches of the day, Graham would defeat both Thomas from OU and fellow USM teammate Lleyton Hoover by tech fall with a final mark of 17-0. Kilpper left no doubt in his final match of the tournament to clinch a 1^st place finish as he defeated Sell of Friends University by major decision with a 14-3 final.

Sticking in the 165lb. weight-class, Lleyton Hoover went an even 2-2 in the tournament, taking home 4^th place overall. Hoover would start the day off with a win by decision over Tate of Oklahoma Wesleyan, but would then fall shortly after to USM's own Graham Kilpper by tech fall (17-0). From there, Lleyton would fight to the finish against Dell of OKWU and come out on top with a 9-7 win by decision sending him into his final match. Lleyton would battle, but come up just short in the 3^rd place match, falling by decision (6-11) to Duling of Friends University.

Michael Ager in the 174lb. weight class took home 2^nd place in Oklahoma, going 1-1 with a bye to secure his finish. Ager first faced Caleb Davis of York University and fought for every point, subsequently coming out on top by decision 2-0. In his final match of the evening, Michael held his own against Holthaus of Friends University, but would be defeated by decision 2-7 to end his weekend.

Gabe Chesbro, No. 20 nationally in the 197lb. weight-class had another excellent outing when it mattered most as he proudly walked away with 1^st place in his respective weight class after finishing a clean 2-0. Gabe's first match saw a back-and-forth face-off against Trotter of Avila, that would excitedly end in the Spires favor with a win by decision 9-2. In his final match of the day, Chesbro would again come up victorious with a win by decision 3-1 over Davidson of Friends University, sealing his champion status.

Devon Lolar in the 285lb. weight class would face a tough day on the mat, dropping two matches with two bye's subsequently earning him 4^th place overall. In Lolar's first match of the afternoon, Devon would put up a fight against Elwell of Ottawa University, but would lose by fall in nearly three minutes to the Braves wrestler. Devon's final face-off would come against another OU athlete, Cooper Webb and would again be a tough battle for the two heavyweights. Lolar would give it his all, but fall to Webb in four minutes and twenty-six seconds.

With the season charging towards its end, the Spires only have the national stage left to conquer. USM will travel to Wichita, Kansas to battle it out at Heartland Credit Union Arena in the NAIA National Championships beginning on Thursday, March 5^th through Saturday, March 7^th.