TRENTON, N.J. - Five SIUE wrestlers advanced through day one of the 2021 Mid-American Conference Championships and will compete for a spot in next month's NCAA Tournament.

"I excited about our guys who are wrestling," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "Most of the time we are winning is when we were attacking and on the offensive."

Saul Ervin won his first two matches but dropped his 141-pound quarterfinal match at Central Michigan's Dreden Simon 8-4.

Aaron Schulist (133), Cardeionte Wilson (149), Ryan Yarnell (184) and Colton McKiernan (285) also will work their way through the consolation bracket.

"It was also frustrating because we left a lot of close matches out there," If we find a way to win those matches, we would have a lot more guys wrestling on day two."

SIUE is in ninth place in the team scoring. The Cougars have 31 points, the same number of points accumulated last season in the whole 2020 Championships.

The rest of the tournament at Cure Arena is scheduled for Saturday.

Complete results are below.

Team Scores
1. Missouri 161.5
2. Central Michigan 96.5
3. Rider 96.0
4. Northern Illinois 57.5
5. Cleveland State 56.5
6. Edinboro 49.0
7. Kent State 43.0
8. Clarion 37.0
9. SIUE 31.0
10. George Mason 30.5
11. Ohio 26.5
12. Buffalo 25.5
13. Bloomsburg 22.0
14. Lock Haven 9.5

125 - Austin Macias
Champ. Round 1 - Lucas Rodriguez (Edinboro) won by decision over Austin Macias (SIUE) (Dec 5-3)
Cons. Round 1 - Austin Macias (SIUE) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Tristan Daugherty (Buffalo) won by decision over Austin Macias (SIUE) (Dec 3-0)

133 - Aaron Schulist
Champ. Round 1 - Aaron Schulist (SIUE) won by decision over Matthew Maloney (Lock Haven) (Dec 12-5)
Quarterfinal - Matt Schmitt (Missouri) won by tech fall over Aaron Schulist (SIUE) (TF 22-5)
Cons. Round 2 - Aaron Schulist (SIUE) won by fall over Justin Patrick (Cleveland State) (Fall 4:24)

141 - Saul Ervin
Champ. Round 1 - Saul Ervin (SIUE) won by major decision over Shawn Nonaka (George Mason) (Maj 12-0)
Quarterfinal - Saul Ervin (SIUE) won by decision over Caleb Brooks (Northern Illinois) (Dec 10-3)
Semifinal - Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) won by decision over Saul Ervin (SIUE) (Dec 8-4)

149 - Cardeionte Wilson
Champ. Round 1 - Cardeionte Wilson (SIUE) won by decision over Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) (Dec 11-6)
Quarterfinal - Anthony Cheloni (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Cardeionte Wilson (SIUE) (Dec 4-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Cardeionte Wilson (SIUE) won by major decision over Christian Gannone (Bloomsburg) (Maj 15-4)

157 - Justin Ruffin
Champ. Round 1 - Justin Ruffin (SIUE) won by decision over Daniel Segura (George Mason) (Dec 6-1)
Quarterfinal - Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) won by injury default over Justin Ruffin (SIUE) (Inj. 2:46)
Cons. Round 2 - Alex Carida (Bloomsburg) won by injury default over Justin Ruffin (SIUE) (Inj. 0:00)

165 - Chase Diehl
Champ. Round 1 - Riley Smucker (Cleveland State) won by decision over Chase Diehl (SIUE) (Dec 4-2)
Cons. Round 1 - Chase Diehl (SIUE) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Jake Silverstein (Rider) won by fall over Chase Diehl (SIUE) (Fall 0:49)

174 - Kevin Gschwendtner
Champ. Round 1 - Jacob Oliver (Edinboro) won by decision over Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE) (Dec 10-8)
Cons. Round 1 - John Worthing (Clarion) won in sudden victory - 1 over Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE) (SV-1 11-9)

184 - Ryan Yarnell
Champ. Round 1 - Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) won by major decision over Giuseppe Hoose (Buffalo) (Maj 12-0)
Quarterfinal - Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) won by major decision over Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) (Maj 10-2)
Cons. Round 2 - Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) won by decision over Tyler Bates (Kent State) (Dec 5-2)

197 - Sergio Villalobos
Champ. Round 1 - Greg Bulsak (Clarion) won by fall over Sergio Villalobos (SIUE) (Fall 4:42)
Cons. Round 1 - Gage Braun (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Sergio Villalobos (SIUE) (Dec 10-6)

285 -Colton McKiernan
Champ. Round 1 - Colton McKiernan (SIUE) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Zach Elam (Missouri) won by decision over Colton McKiernan (SIUE) (Dec 5-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Colton McKiernan (SIUE) won by decision over John Kelbly (Cleveland State) (Dec 3-1)