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SOU leads the NAIA pack ST. CHARLES, Mo. � One day into the 44th annual NAIA Wrestling Championships and Southern Oregon University couldn�t be in a better position. The fourth-ranked Raiders took 12 wrestlers to the 20-team meet at Lindenwood College and, after Friday�s first-round action, find themselves on top of the pack with 11 competitors still alive. "The next round to this thing is going to be crucial," said SOU coach Mike Ritchey, whose squad has six wrestlers in the championship round and five in the consolation bracket. "We just have to see where we�re at when the dust settles." SOU�s 74� points have already surpassed last year�s team�s final mark. The Raiders hold a 10-point lead over second-place Missouri Valley and a 16�-point lead over top-ranked Montana State-Northern. Sixth-seeded Nolan Harris moved into today�s 125-pound semifinal round against Missouri Valley�s Chad Hopkins with two victories on Friday. In his first-round match, Harris got past Dave Pogue, 12-10, then pinned third-seeded Josh Buchanan of Lindenwood College in 1 minute, 10 seconds. At 141, Jeremy Wynia earned a 19-4 decision over Lindenwood�s Micah Copeland, then needed sudden death overtime to take out North Dakota�s Derek Wigle, 4-2. Wynia faces eighth-seeded Johnnie Hurtado of Embry Riddle in today�s semifinals. Hurtado ousted top-seeded Jason Fratzke in the quarterfinals. Also advancing to the semifinal round was 165-pound freshman John Sills. Sills had little trouble with his first-round foe, downing Jamestown College�s Tim Schultz, 17-6. In the quarterfinals, Sills slipped past No. 3 seed Brian Campbell of Embry College, 8-6, and will face second-seeded Andy Mueller of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. At 184, Dan Sturgell blew by Dana College�s Riley Tonkin, 15-0, then pinned Dickenson State�s Brandon Paddan in 6:19. Sturgell faces a familiar foe in a key semifinal match today in Montana-State Northern�s Tyson Thibierge. The two met in last year�s semis with Thibierge coming out on top. "That match is very crucial for us," said Ritchey. "They (MSN) are right behind us so a win by Dan would be huge." The Raiders moved two wrestlers into the 197 semifinals. SOU�s Devin Parks got past Mike Dahl of Dickenson State by fall in 3:20. Parks moves on to face possibly the most dominate wrestler in the tournament in MSN�s Turk Lords. Lords is a three-time defending national champion at his weight and Ritchey isn�t about to jump the gun on predicting an upset. "I�m not predicting one," said Ritchey. "Weirder things have happened but this guy (Lords) looks like he�s been chiseled out of raw granite." On the other side of the 197 bracket, SOU�s Wesley Balensifer, an unseeded redshirt freshman, upset sixth-seeded Joe Potts of Missouri Valley College, 5-3, in the first round. Balensifer then went out and took care of University of Mary�s Randy Gust, 10-9, to advance to a semifinal tilt with Lindenwood�s Wayne James. Colin Murphy (149), Brian Wilson (165), Zach Mock (174), Abe Haddon (184) and Devin Cole (285) each lost on Friday but remain alive in the consolation bracket. "We�re facing some uphill battles going into this thing," said Ritchey. "The five guys still alive in the back door (consolation bracket) have really got to carry the fight in the first round (today). It�ll be fun to see what happens, it�s still wide open." Tournament action concludes today with a 9 a.m. start. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.