DeKALB — The field has shrunk to just four teams after day two of the 35th annual men’s Tugs competition as all four of the top seeds advanced to the semi-final round.

In the first match of the tournament Monday, No. 8 seed Alpha Kappa Lambda survived a three-rope match against No. 9 seed Delta Chi to move onto the quarterfinals.

No. 3 seed Phi Sigma Kappa also punched its quarterfinal ticket Monday, taking down No. 6 Tau Kappa Epsilon in only two rounds.

In the first of three matches Tuesday, No. 4 seed Phi Kappa Psi took down No. 5 seed Sigma Nu in the longest match in the tournament so far.

Phi Kappa Psi and Sigma Nu split the first two ropes leading to a third rope tie-breaker to decide the winner. After over 30 minutes of battling on the last rope, Phi Kappa Psi came out victorious.

Mitch Kraftcheck, junior anchor for Phi Kappa Psi, said he was impressed with Sigma Nu’s performance.

“We knew Sigma Nu was going to be a strong rope,” Kraftcheck said. “They really impressed us when they came out. They came out strong, and they were a lot faster than we expected them to be.”

The second match pinned Alpha Kappa Lambda against the No. 1 seed and defending champions, Phi Kappa Theta. Alpha Kappa Lambda wasn’t able to keep its momentum going from Monday as it fell to Phi Kappa Theta in two rounds.

Brendan Pfeiffer, junior second head rope caller for Phi Kappa Theta, said it was important to come out and establish themselves as a dominant team in their first match of the tournament.

“You always want to start off really hot and with a good win,” Pfeiffer said. “We came out and showed the hard work that we put in. We got two rolls, and that’s what were hoping for. Hopefully that keeps on going throughout the tournament.”

The final Tuesday match featured No. 2 seed Sigma Alpha Epsilon facing off against No. 7 seed Sigma Alpha Mu. Sigma Alpha Epsilon came out as victorious in similar fashion to Phi Kappa Theta, only needing two ropes to take down Sigma Alpha Mu.

Jerome Minick, senior sixth trenchman for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said even though they suffered a tough loss to Phi Kappa Theta in the championship last year, his team is prepared and ready to come out as champions this year.

“Last year we went to the championship against Phi Kappa Theta and lost in three ropes,” Minick said. “Our hearts were in it, but I’m not going to make any excuses. This year we put in a lot more hard work and soul searching and we’re here to win.”

The tournament will continue 4:30 p.m. Thursday when Phi Kappa Theta takes on Phi Kappa Psi outside University Plaza. After the Phi Kappa Theta and Phi Kappa Psi contest, Sigma Alpha Epsilon will compete with Phi Sigma Kappa at 5:30 p.m.

The winners of those two matches will face off in the championship 1:00 p.m. Saturday outside of University Plaza.