DeKALB — Three Huskies finished in the top two of their respective weight classes as the wrestling team opened their season Saturday in the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open in Ames, Iowa.

“It’s a decent start, [but] we feel we left a lot out there on the mat,” Head Coach Ryan Ludwig said. “My coaching staff and I will make sure the team continues to put the work in to become better and execute more.”

Freshman Bryce Thurston finished second and scored 20 team points in the freshman/sophomore division 141-pound competition. Thurston won by fall over Chase McLaughlin of the Grand View University Vikings in the quarterfinals of the 141-pound division.

He defeated Chase Lienhard of the University of Northern Iowa Panthers by fall and went on to the championship and lost to Kristian Vazquez of Iowa State. Thurston finished second in the 141-pound competition.

In the open division 125-pound competition, sophomore Brock Hudkins placed second and scored 19 team points. In the quarterfinals, Hudkins won by major decision 11-1 over Cole Manion of Grand View.

Hudkins went on to the semifinals and defeated Zac Gentzler of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville by decision 3-1. Hudkins fell in the first place match by decision 5-2 to Jacob Schwarm of the Panthers, claiming second place.

Redshirt sophomore Michael Aldrich placed fifth and scored seven team points in the open division 174-pound competition. Aldrich lost in the quarterfinal to Dylan Blackford of Grand View by decision 9-2. Aldrich went on to face Marcus Coleman of Iowa State and lost by major decision 14-4. In the fifth place match, Aldrich won by decision over Jacob Meehan of University of Northern Iowa 8-4.

Senior Quinton Rosser finished fourth place in the second open division 174-pound competition. Rosser lost in the quarterfinal to Taylor Lujan of Northern Iowa by decision 12-10. Rosser was defeated in the third place match against Marcus Coleman of Iowa State by fall over.

In the open division 184-pound competition, redshirt junior Bryce Gorman finished first place and scored 20 points. Gorman won in the quarterfinal over Bryce Shewan of Southern Illinois by decision 8-2.

He won by decision over Dane Pestano of Iowa State by decision 6-4. Gorman went on to the first place match against Wyatt Koelling of University of Missouri and won by decision 10-4.

{{tncms-inline account=”RyanLudwigNIU” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats to <a href="https://twitter.com/BryceGorman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BryceGorman</a> on securing the championship at the Iowa State Open! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/worklikeadog?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#worklikeadog</a></p>— Ryan Ludwig (@RyanLudwigNIU) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanLudwigNIU/status/926907974597033984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”926907974597033984″ type=”twitter”}}

“Gorman was fantastic; he was great and he executed, and that’s why he came in first place,” Ludwig said.

The Huskies will be back in action 9 a.m. Saturday as they head to Ypsilanti, Michigan for the Eastern Michigan Open Tournament.