Roanoke's Samuel knocks off returning champ Stuhl of Augsburg in NCAA Div. III Nationals first session

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- It should come as no surprise when one of the big names falls in the first session of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. It seems to happen every year.

The tournament was barely 10 minutes old Friday morning when it happened again.

Mark Samuel, a sophomore from Roanoke College, pulled off the early surprise this time when he defeated 141-pound defending champion Sam Stuhl of Augsburg 9-1 in the preliminary round at the La Crosse Center.

"I'm pretty excited that I won, but beforehand I was confident that I would beat him," said Samuel, who won three state titles for E.A. Laney High School in North Carolina. "I was confident in my training, confident in everything extra I do. I was ready to go out there and do what I do."

Samuel showed he meant business when he recorded a takedown at 1:03 of the first period for a 3-0 lead.

"Once I got that takedown I knew that I was in it, that I could compete with these guys," Samuel, making his first trip to the national tournament, said. "That's a pretty big confidence boost, for sure."

Samuel upped his lead to 5-0 with a second-period reversal and had built more than two minutes of riding time when the second period ended. He capped the victory with another takedown in the third period.

"Anything can happen (at this tournament)," Samuel said. "All these weights are pretty good. I think everybody is pretty evenly stacked. It's anybody's game. It doesn't really matter what you're ranked or seeded."

Stuhl, who was seeded sixth and did come back to win his consolation match, was the only defending champion who did not advance to the quarterfinals.

In a rarity, all 10 top seeds survived, but one second seed (Chase Baczek of Wabash at 184) and two No. 3 seeds (Nate Fitt of Coast Guard at 149 and Kasey Ross of Wartburg at 184) went 0-2 and were eliminated.

Defending champion Joziah Fry of Johnson & Wales and 2022 champion Jacob Decatur of Baldwin Wallace remained on a collision course in the 125-pound semifinals. Other returning champions who won were two-time champion Robbie Precin of North Central at 133, Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace at 149, Nolan Hertel of Wisconsin-La Crosse at 157 and Wartburg's Zane Mulder (174) and Mo Endene (197).

The defending champion Augsburg lost three of four matches in the preliminary round but still had enough firepower left to lead the team race with 20 points. Wartburg and Baldwin Wallace, the teams that finished second and third, respectively last year, were tied for second with 14.5 points, followed in the top 10 by Wisconsin-La Crosse (11.5), Coast Guard (10), Wisconsin-Eau Claire (9), Johnson & Wales (8.5), Averett (7.5), Stevens (7.0) and Roanoke (6.5).