KENT, Ohio - Caleb Tyus battled back from an opening-round Mid-American Conference Championships loss and has earned a position at the 2024 NCAA Division I Championships.

Tyus placed third Saturday at 149 pounds by defeating Northern Illinois' Jaivon Jones 3-2 in a tiebreaker. Tyus also bested George Mason's Kaden Cassidy 9-6 in the consolation semifinals, avenging his first-round loss from Friday. The third-place finish gives Tyus an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 21-23 in Kansas City, Missouri.

"He did a really great job of coming through the back side of the bracket," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "He wrestled well to come back and secure his spot."

SIUE placed eighth as a team with 69 points, the best team finish for the Cougars since taking seventh in 2019.

Six SIUE wrestlers finished in the top eight. The Cougars' top finishers were Davian Guanajuato (125/5th), Marcel Lopez (133/3rd), Eric Almarinez (141/4th), Dominic Lopez (174/7th) and Deron Pulliam (184/5th).

"A couple of guys will have a chance at a wild card for NCAAs," said Spates. "All six of the guys did a great job today. It seemed like we got stronger as the tournament went on."

Final Team Scores
1 Central Michigan 131.0
2 Rider 114.5
3 George Mason 112.5
4 Lock Haven 93.0
5 Buffalo 85.5
6 Ohio 82.0
7 Northern Illinois 74.5
8 SIUE 69.0
9 Clarion 68.0
10 Cleveland State 64.5
11 Kent State 43.0
12 Edinboro 17.0
13 Bloomsburg 16.5

125
Davian Guanajuato placed 5th
Champ. Round 1 - Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) won by major decision over Bronson Garber (Bloomsburg) (MD 16-4)
Quarterfinal - Blake West (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) (Dec 7-3)
Cons. Round 2 - Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) won by decision over Max Elton (Buffalo) (Dec 7-5)
Cons. Round 3 - Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) won by decision over Ben Aranda (Cleveland State) (Dec 8-3)
Cons. Semi - Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) won by decision over Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) (Dec 1-0)
5th Place Match - Davian Guanajuato (SIUE) won by medical forfeit over Joey Fischer (Clarion)

133
Marcel Lopez placed 3rd
Champ. Round 1 - Marcel Lopez (SIUE) won by major decision over Brandon Wittenberg (George Mason) (MD 8-0)
Quarterfinal - Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) won by fall over Marcel Lopez (SIUE) (Fall 6:54)
Cons. Round 2 - Marcel Lopez (SIUE) won by major decision over TJ England (Clarion) (MD 8-0)
Cons. Round 3 - Marcel Lopez (SIUE) won by decision over Vincent Perez (Central Michigan) (Dec 6-2)
Cons. Semi - Marcel Lopez (SIUE) won by decision over Pablo Castro (Kent State) (Dec 5-1)
3rd Place Match - Marcel Lopez (SIUE) won by decision over Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) (Dec 6-4)

141
Eric Almarinez placed 4th
Champ. Round 1 - Eric Almarinez (SIUE) won by decision over Will Betancourt (Rider) (Dec 4-2)
Quarterfinal - Eric Almarinez (SIUE) won by major decision over Dylan Layton (Cleveland State) (MD 16-5)
Semifinal - Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) won by fall over Eric Almarinez (SIUE) (Fall 6:23)
Cons. Semi - Eric Almarinez (SIUE) won by decision over Ryan Sullivan (Clarion) (Dec 7-5)
3rd Place Match - Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) won by decision over Eric Almarinez (SIUE) (Dec 6-3)

149
Caleb Tyus placed 3rd
Champ. Round 1 - Kaden Cassidy (George Mason) won by decision over Caleb Tyus (SIUE) (Dec 8-2)
Cons. Round 1 - Caleb Tyus (SIUE) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Caleb Tyus (SIUE) won by injury default over Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven) (Inj. 2:44)
Cons. Round 3 - Caleb Tyus (SIUE) won by tech fall over Kyle Schickel (Clarion) (TF-1.5 5:48 (16-0))
Cons. Semi - Caleb Tyus (SIUE) won by decision over Kaden Cassidy (George Mason) (Dec 9-6)
3rd Place Match - Caleb Tyus (SIUE) won in tie breaker - 2 over Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) (TB-2 2-1)

157
Brock Woodcock
Champ. Round 1 - Brock Woodcock (SIUE) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Peyten Kellar (Ohio) won by fall over Brock Woodcock (SIUE) (Fall 4:17)
Cons. Round 2 - Munktulga Zuunbayan (Northern Illinois) won by major decision over Brock Woodcock (SIUE) (MD 20-8)

165
Bradley Gillum
Champ. Round 1 - Garrett Thompson (Ohio) won by tech fall over Bradley Gillum (SIUE) (TF-1.5 3:00 (15-0))
Cons. Round 1 - Bradley Gillum (SIUE) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Tate Geiser (Cleveland State) won by major decision over Bradley Gillum (SIUE) (MD 16-7)

174
Dominic Lopez placed 7th
Champ. Round 1 - Dominic Lopez (SIUE) won by decision over AJ Burkhart (Kent State) (Dec 6-3)
Quarterfinal - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) won by tech fall over Dominic Lopez (SIUE) (TF-1.5 5:37 (15-0))
Cons. Round 2 - Dominic Lopez (SIUE) won by decision over Ricardo Salinas (Northern Illinois) (Dec 4-3)
Cons. Round 3 - Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) won by tech fall over Dominic Lopez (SIUE) (TF-1.5 6:39 (17-1))
7th Place Match - Dominic Lopez (SIUE) won by decision over AJ Burkhart (Kent State) (Dec 7-5)

184
Deron Pulliam placed 5th
Champ. Round 1 - Deron Pulliam (SIUE) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Deron Pulliam (SIUE) won in sudden victory - 1 over Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) (SV-1 4-1)
Semifinal - Malachi DuVall (George Mason) won by fall over Deron Pulliam (SIUE) (Fall 4:15)
Cons. Semi - Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) won by decision over Deron Pulliam (SIUE) (Dec 2-0)
5th Place Match - Deron Pulliam (SIUE) won in sudden victory - 1 over Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) (SV-1 4-1)

197
Ryan Yarnell
Champ. Round 1 - Sean Carroll (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) (Dec 4-3)
Cons. Round 1 - Cael Black (Lock Haven) won by decision over Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) (Dec 10-8)

285
Dan McKiernan
Champ. Round 1 - Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) 14-15 won by major decision over Dan McKiernan (SIUE) (MD 11-2)
Cons. Round 1 - John Meyers (Clarion) 10-14 won by decision over Dan McKiernan (SIUE) (Dec 6-3)

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