ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Six SIUE wrestlers placed among the top six Saturday at the Kaufman-Brand Open.

Tyshawn Williams was SIUE's top finisher as he placed second at 149 pounds. Illinois' Brock Ervin was the lone wrestler to defeat Williams 6-4.

"He wrestled well and came up close in the final," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "There were a number of scrambles in that title match, but Tyshawn just wasn't able to get that last takedown he needed."

Jake McKiernan took third place at heavyweight. He was pinned in the opening round of the tournament by Illinois' Duece Rachal in 34 seconds but fought his way back through four matches to meet up once more against Rachal. The second time McKiernan pinned Rachal in 6:22 for third place.

"It was good to see him make some adjustments within the tournament," said Spates. "We need some more of that from the rest of the team."

Gage Datlovsky, a freshman, placed sixth at 125 pounds and has now been top six in both of his first two collegiate tournaments. Clayton Bass and Logan Gruszka finished fifth and sixth, respectively, at 174 pounds. Jake Godinez also placed fourth at 184 pounds.

Spates said many of his wrestlers rested this week and were getting over nagging injuries from week one.

"We had a lot of guys dinged up so we had some guys sit out this weekend," said Spates. "We have one more tournament next weekend and then an aggressive December schedule. I wanted to make sure we were healthy going into those December dual meets."

SIUE's next event is one week from today at the Lindenwood Open.