DAY 2 RESULTS

DES MOINES, Iowa – The third-ranked Southern Oregon wrestling team will enter the final day of the 2012 NAIA National Championships in second place in the team standings and with four individuals competing for national titles.

The Raiders have six wrestlers active in the tournament, with four in the finals and two more placing to earn All-American status. Top-ranked Grand View has four wrestlers still vying for championships with five more in the wrestlebacks and leads the team race with 141.5 points, 23 ahead of SOU (118.5). Second-ranked Campbellsville sits in third (100.5).

“The guys wrestled well in the semis and we'll take the four we've got,” SOU head coach Mike Ritchey said of the four Raider finalists. “They're competing well, we've got six All-Americans and we've got a chance to break the second highest team total that we've had.”

Top-ranked Mitchell Loftstedt broke his own school record with his 25th pin of the season in the 125-pound semifinals, pinning Missouri Baptist's Deteorelous Prayther in 2:39 after tying the record he set in 2010 with a pin of Dickinson State's eighth-ranked Bryden Lazaro in 2:01 in the quarterfinals. He will have a chance to win his second national championship on Saturday.

Fourth-ranked Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) advanced to the finals in the 149, picking up a 9-3 decision victory over Dickinson State's sixth-ranked Bradley Steele in the quarterfinals and taking down Missouri Valley's third-ranked Shay Shive in a 6-5 decision in the semis.

Third-ranked Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) reached the semifinals in the 174 with a pin of Indiana Tech's eighth-ranked Tanner Martin in 1:23, and he advanced to the finals with a 9-3 victory over Oklahoma City's fourth-ranked Derek Peperas.

Third-ranked Austin Vanderford (Ninilchik, Alaska/Ninilchik) picked up a 13-1 major decision over Baker's 11th-ranked Robert Shadrach, and No. 8 Derek Rottenberg (Red Bluff, Calif./Red Bluff)'s 4-3 decision victory over Baker's seventh-ranked Jarid Price advanced both Raiders to the 184 semifinals. Vanderford reached the finals with a 5-4 decision victory over Missouri Baptist's sixth-ranked Weston Keleher, while Rottenberg dropped a 5-4 decision in the semifinals.

Sixth-ranked Brian Lemmon (Heppner, Ore./) and No. 10 Derek Mestrovich (Boise, Idaho/Skyview) each dropped their quarterfinal bouts to fall into the 165-pound consolation bracket, where Lemmon advanced to the consolation semifinals with a 16-0 major decision victory. Tenth-ranked Kyle Wirkuty (Portland, Ore./Centennial) knocked off Cumberlands' Matt Scheve with a 12-3 major decision in the 141 consolation bracket before falling in a 3-2 decision.

“It's been a good weekend,” Ritchey said. “We had our hopes of getting a title, but we knew it would be tough coming into their playground. We're proud of our guys. Everybody's wrestling smart; aggressiveness wins and that's what we're doing.”