CORALVILLE, Ia. – The Bellarmine University wrestling team concluded its first action back since Christmas, turning in a strong showing at the highly esteemed Soldier Salute in Coralville, Ia.
 
"I love how our team is growing! I learned a ton about our group in this tournament," said head coach Ned Shuck. "We have made some major gains with consistency in our approach and reflection. I also see some things I need to put more emphasis on positionally in our training going forward for the rest of the season."
 
Competing in a heavily stacked field with 11 teams ranked in NWCA's Top 25 poll with an additional three times in the field receiving votes in the poll.
 
As a team, the Knights finished 7^th out of 23 teams, scoring 73.5 points. BU finished behind No. 2 Iowa (266.0), No. 10 Northern Iowa (162.0), No. 7 Minnesota (129.0), Wyoming (103.0), Navy (97.5) and No. 14 South Dakota State (94.5). With the finish, the Knights placed ahead of No. 13 Iowa State (70.0), No. 23 North Carolina (63.5), No. 19 Missouri (59.0), and No. 3 Oklahoma State (41.5).
 
Individually, Bellarmine had four wrestlers place in the weight classes in redshirt junior Jack Parker (125), redshirt freshman Keenan Wyatt (184), redshirt senior Devan Hendricks (184) and senior Daulton Mayer (285).
 
Mayer led the group with a 4-2 record on the weekend for a fifth-place finish. In the first round, Mayer defeated Iowa's Easton Fleshman by fall (4:44) before moving on to a 10-5 decision win over Iowa State's Daniel Herrera, the No. 26 ranked heavy-weight wrestler in the nation via Intermat. Mayer continued his winning ways with 5-3 decision over Sam Mitchell of Wyoming before falling 11-6 to Bennett Tabor out of Minnesota. In a rematch against Herrera, Mayer fell victim to pin this time. In his final bout of the tournament, Mayer turned in another fall, this time over Northern Iowa's Adam Ahrendsen (1:04).
 
Hendricks had the second highest finish of the team, taking seventh with a 3-2 record. Both Wyatt and Parker finished eighth in their respective classes.
 
"Getting nationally ranked opponent wins is easy to see from the outside, but I'm way more excited about how this team is wrestling as a whole," Shuck said of his team's performance. "With our team having some good winter break training, a couple days traveling together and competing in a challenging environment; our brotherhood has never been stronger!"
 
Bellarmine will have a quick turnaround for their next outing as the Knights head to their final tournament of the season, travelling to Chattanooga, Tn. for the Southern Scuffle, hosted by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
 
"We are fired up for a quick turnaround for another awesome two-day tournament! These guys love a tough challenge!" Shuck added.
 
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