PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Bellarmine wrestling competed in its first ever NCAA Division I National Championships this week, sending redshirt freshman AJ Rallo and redshirt senior Devan Hendricks to the mat to represent the program and the university as its first ever national qualifiers.

"It was an awesome year of growth for us this season. Devan and AJ finishing off our season at the Division 1 NCAA Tournament was a cool culmination of four years of waiting for this opportunity," head coach Ned Shuck said. "This tournament is special and now Bellarmine is known on the national stage thanks to the efforts of so many people."

Held at the Wells Fargo Center, the double elimination event began at 12 pm E.T. on Thursday with matches scheduled to take place all day.

Rall, who earned an at-large bid, was the first Knight to take to the mat. As the 25 seed in the 141-pound weight class, Rallo drew the eighth seeded Andrew Alirez out of Northern Colorado in the first round. After battling for the full seven-minute match, he ultimately fell to Alirez, a 2023 National Champion, by 5-0 decision.

Later in the afternoon, Hendricks, an automatic qualifier thanks to his SoCon Championship, took the mat as the 24 seed in the 184-pound class. Hendricks pressured his opponent, Reece Heller, the nine seed out of Pittsburgh, and wrestled hard for a full seven-minutes before taking a tough 2-0 decision loss.

Both Hendricks and Rallo move to the consolation bracket after their first-round losses.

Rallo once again took the mat first, this time against the 24 seed Jason Miranda from Stanford. Rallo battled once again but lost the bout in a 4-1 decision.

Hendricks made his second appearance soon after, taking on the 25 seed Jared McGill out of Edinboro. Devan left it all on the mat but took a tough 6-0 decision loss.

For Rallo, the event was just the beginning as he gained valuable experience he can use to mold the rest of career at Bellarmine.

Hendricks, who has wrestled as a Bellarmine Knight for six-years, ended his career at the sports biggest stage.

"I didn't get the results I wanted, but I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to wrestle here and represent Bellarmine," Hendricks said. "I didn't get to accomplish all the goals I set for myself, but I came so much further than I ever saw myself being able to in high school. It's a bittersweet ending, but I'm proud of what I've been able to do, and I'm looking forward to my future."

Despite the tough ending to his season, Hendricks leaves Bellarmine as the all-time leader in career wins after amassing 98 in his time as a Knight. He will also forever be known as the first SoCon Champion in program history.

"I can't thank our athletic director, Scott Wiegandt and my sport supervisor, Pam Stackhouse enough for giving me the opportunity to lead this program and the support to grow it together," Shuck added. "We have had a lot of fun through the process in our challenges and successes. To our alumni and our current wrestlers, thank you for your time energy and effort to make our program special on and off the mat. Our future is so exciting and I 'Can't Wait' to see how the Louisville community and all of Kentucky's support continues to grow and get behind our program so we can provide more unique and elite opportunities for our student athletes and all Kentucky wrestlers!"

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