LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nine members of the Bellarmine University wrestling team will be challenging for spots at the NCAA Championships as the NCAA Super Region Three will take place Saturday at West Liberty's Academic Sports & Recreation Complex.

Wrestling action begins at 10 a.m. (ET).

Set to compete for the Knights are freshman Brandon Lucas (125), sophomore Alex Rhine (141), junior Gage Branson (149), freshman Gavin Grime (157), sophomore Eric Beck (165), sophomore Andrew Sams (174), junior Andy Dobben (184), sophomore Brett Bryant (197) and freshman Brian Stears (285).

The top three wrestlers from each weight class earn bids to the NCAA Championships. Bellarmine, in the third year of the program, is seeking its first national qualifier.

"We need to break the ice and get one guy to the big show," Knights Coach Spencer Adams said. "Once that happens, our program is going to take off exponentially."  

It will definitely be a Herculean challenge. Of the 10 teams in Super Region Three, nine received votes in the latest top 25 poll. The ranked teams include No. 2 Wheeling Jesuit, No. 5 Notre Dame (Ohio), t-No. 13 Indianapolis, t-No. 13 Tiffin, t-No. 20 Lake Erie and t-No. 23 Ashland. West Liberty, Bellarmine and Findlay all received votes.

As one would expect with so many prominent team rankings, there are an abundance of wrestlers ranked individually who are participating in Super Region Three. There's at least two top 12 grapplers in each weight class, and 141 and 285 carry a hefty four. Bellarmine sophomore Andrew Sams is ranked eighth at 174. The Super Regional is comprised of 16-man brackets.

"This tournament is very tough," Adams said. "We are a talented team but we are going to have to pull some upsets to make it out. On paper, we have one projected qualifier (Sams). I think we can definitively do better than that, but we will have to wrestle to our full potential. The good news is that if we can break through the region and make it out, we will have a serious shot at All-American no matter what weight class it is."

Sams earned first-team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference accolades, Branson garnered second-team recognition and Beck and Lucas received honorable-mention notice. Sams has built a 36-4 record and enters the Super Regional on an 18-match winning streak. Branson is 28-5 and Beck has also amassed 28 wins. Stears has registered 27 wins, Lucas has 20, Bryant has 18, Rhine has 16, Grime has 15 and Dobben has 12.

Adams believes the Knights are prepared to face formidable opponents. He noted that in Bellarmine's 14 duals, eight of the opponents were ranked in the top 25 in either Division II or the NAIA. The Knights also participated in tournaments that contained Division I wrestlers from programs such as Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, West Virginia, SIUE and Cleveland State.

"The stakes are high this weekend, but we haven't had an easy schedule so our guys are used to seeing top-level competition," Adams said. "They are prepared and ready. For some of them, they simply have to break the mental barrier and believe that they are good enough. For others, the odds are against them and they will have to really pull something out to make top three. I am excited to see how things turn out and to see how our guys respond."

Having a wrestler qualify for the NCAA Championships would be a defining moment for the program, but Adams is quick to note a one-day Super Regional doesn't define an entire season.

"I am proud of the guys regardless of this weekend's outcome," he said. "We have had a tremendous year and to think that we are still in our first three years of our program, it's really amazing to me. These guys are progressing and getting better all the time. That's all I can really ask of them. Their time is coming and for some that time may just come this weekend!"

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