The Lindenwood wrestling team officially opened up its season when it competed in the Maryville Kaufman-Brand Open on Saturday. Seven Lions placed while one reached the semi-finals of a single-elimination bracket.
 
The highlight of the night belonged to freshman Carlos Jacquez in the 125-weight class for amateurs. Jacquez captured the title by streaking four victories including two technical falls, one pin, and a major decision win in the finals over Zane Baugh from Baker University. The bracket rewarded Jacquez with a bye in the first round before he took over the flight. Last year, Jacquez compiled a record of 12-7 during the fall.
 
Tim Bogar also made a statement in his flight. Wrestling in the amateur 157-weight division, the Wildwood, Mo. native dominated three opponents in a row by pin to reach the semi-finals before falling. More impressively, Bogar managed to pin each of his opponents in under two minutes into each match. Bogar wrestled at Lafayette High School last year.
 
Coming off a stellar 2015-16 season consisting of an NCAA National Championship appearance, Kyle Jolas flourished with a second-place finish in the Elite 165-weight class division. Jolas received a bye first round that set up a matchup with Alex Destra of Missouri Valley College. Jolas pinned him at the 2:42 mark to reach the semifinals against Dan Filipek who wrestled unattached from McKendree University. Jolas had no trouble as he registered a 12-4 major decision. In the finals, Jolas battled tough against Connor Flynn of the University of Missouri, but Flynn came out on top with a 4-2 decision.
 
Morgan Fitzgerald also made noise in the Elite-165 class by finishing fourth place and winning four decisions. Fitzgerald won his first round by a 6-1 decision before facing Filipek in the second round. The two competed in a hard, tightly-contested match before Filipek came out on top with a 5-3 decision. Fitzgerald won his first three consolation matches that set up a rematch with Filipek for third place. Like the first match, the two were evenly-matched, but Filipek barely edged out Fitzgerald with a 3-2 victory.
 
Another NCAA National qualifier from last season had success in his division. Danny Swan moved up from 125 to 133 pounds in the elite category in which he earned a fourth-place finish. He won his first two matches to reach the semifinals to face Dylan Duncan from the University of Illinois. Swan lost, but overcame a close match in the consolation by winning a 6-4 decision over Dustin Kirk of King University. He faced Mickey Phillippi who competed unattached in the third-place dual. The match needed a tiebreaker to determine the victor in which Phillippi barely won 3-2.
 
The third NCAA National qualifier in Dillon Archer finished fourth place as well in his class. Competing in the 197-weight division at the elite level, Archer got a bye first round then lost in the semifinals by a 6-4 decision. He won his first consolation match by a 3-2 decision to set up a third-place matchup with Danny Hicks of Illinois. Hicks needed overtime to defeat Archer as he collected a sudden victory.
 
Patrick Kristin got fourth place in the Amateur-174 class. He collected two decisions and a major decision which included an appearance in the semifinals. Kristin battled tough, but fell by a 5-1 decision to the eventual second-place finisher.
 
Other wrestlers who contributed the Lions' success over the weekend were Jake Borgmeyer and Austin Schuler. Borgmeyer finished sixth place in the Elite-285 division while Schuler lured in two wins including a main-draw victory in the Amateur-133 weight class.
 
Lindenwood will prepare for next weekend as it hosts the annual Joe Parisi Open on Saturday, November 19 starting at 9 am. The event will take place in Hyland Arena.