WARD AND VOLIVA PLACE AT MISSOURI VALLEY OPEN

MARSHALL, Mo. – Avila men's wrestling had an impressive showing at the prestigious Missouri Valley Open on Saturday, with Luke Ward taking third place in the 149-pound class and Jeremiah Voliva coming in sixth in the 184-pound division.

Ward had a phenomenal performance, going 6-1 on the day.

He picked up an 18-2 tech fall win and followed that up with a 4:21 pin against Missouri Valley's Cameron Bruce in the next round.

The first of Ward's three-consecutive decision wins came against Robert Meza II of Missouri Baptist, following that up with a 10-6 decision over Benedictine's Daniel Loizeaux.

After losing to Missouri Valley's Esteban Armenta in the opening round, Ward got his revenge later in the day, defeating Armenta via 10-6 decision to advance to the third-place match.

Voliva came in sixth-place in the 184-pound division, racking up wins via fall in 1:47 and a 6-5 decision versus Ottawa's Jackson Sides.

Avila had other impressive performance throughout the Open, including two wins each from Aiden Pina, Bobby Thomas and Nicholas Oji.

The Eagles have one last regular season competition before the conference tournament, hosting Oklahoma Wesleyan for a dual on Thursday from Mabee Fieldhouse, beginning at 7 PM.

A full list of results from Saturday's competition can be found at TrackWrestling.com.