RENO, Nev. – Southern Oregon 184-pounder Ryan McWatters has already established himself as a force in the NAIA ranks this season, and the senior continued his dominance against a handful of NCAA Div. I opponents Sunday while placing fourth at the Reno Tournament of Champions.

Ranked third in the NAIA with a 6-0 dual record coming into the day, McWatters went 6-2 at Reno and began his run with three wins in the champions bracket: a 6-2 decision against Wyoming's Luke Paine, a 10-1 major decision over Boise State's Keavon Buckley and a 6-5 win over Oklahoma State's Luke Bean.

McWatters fell in the seventh minute of his quarterfinal bout against top-seeded Jeff Koepke of Illinois, but bounced back with three triumphs in the consolation bracket. He defeated Simon Fraser's Morgan Smith, 4-3, Wyoming's Jace Jensen, 13-2, and second-seeded Austin Severn of Central Michigan, 7-5. In the third-place match, third-seeded Jordan Ellingwood of Central Michigan stopped him in a 6-1 decision.

Five other Raiders scored with victories, led by Tyler Cowger's 4-2 mark. Cowger, ranked second in the NAIA at 149, started with a 15-0 technical-fall triumph against unattached wrestler Michael Carr of Oregon State. Montana State-Northern's Drake Randall upset him in the round of 32 before he came back with decisions over Wyoming's Branson Ashworth (6-4) and Campbell's Zane Knight (5-2). He was eliminated by Wyoming's Jake Elliott, 5-2.

Casey Coulter (125) and Hunter Hodges (157) each went 2-2 for SOU. Coulter won by fall in his first round, needing 2 minutes, 8 seconds to finish Simpson's Matt Sauceda. He lost in the round of 16 against Stanford's Brian Rossi, but won 7-5 in his first consolation against Clackamas's Devaughn Sapien.

Hodges took his first-round bout, 8-5 over Colorado Mesa's unattached Payton Tawater. He was knocked out of the championship bracket by Boise State's Demetrus Romero, but scored another decision over Cal Poly's unattached Alec Donovan, 10-5 in the consolation bracket.

Chandler Michael (149) and Alejandro Sandoval (285) had a pin apiece for the Raiders – Michael in 1:23 over Cal Poly's Connor Kim in the first round, and Sandoval in 2:12 against Highline's Teban Mansaray in a consolation match.

The Raiders are off until traveling to Atherton, Calif., for the Menlo Invite on Jan. 2.