Briar Cliff wrestling competed at the Dave Edmonds Open Saturday in the Hindman Hobbs Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The day was highlighted by Christian Balmer's first place finish at 174-lbs., with several other Chargers placing in their respective weight classes.
 
"I'd like to give some attention to Christian Balmer for winning his first college tournament," said head coach Joe Privitere. "He earned it through his commitment to his goals and work ethic to back those goals up."
 
Balmer won by fall over his first two opponents, Carter Mix (Iowa Western) and Chritian Martinez (Waldorf), in 2:12 and 3:34, respectively. He then took a 4-1 decision over Lahina Kane (Doane) in the semifinal round. Balmer finished off his impressive day with a fall (4:15) over Chris Bridges (St. Ambrose) in the first-place match.
 
"We had two other finalists and several place winners today," said Privitere. "What really stood out for me was the way we were winning matches. We had a lot of pins and points on the board. I think today showed that the team is peaking at the right time."
 
Connor Mahoney also advanced to the first-place match, winning by fall in his first two matchups at 197-lbs. Mahoney pinned Jose Sanchez (Northwestern) in 4:22, and followed that up with a fall over Samuel Adams (Dickinson State) in 1:47. He dropped his first-place bout to Michael Aguirre (Iowa Western) 13-7 to take second. 
 
After receiving a bye in the first round in 149 bracket, Andrew Shea won by major decision over Brandon Gonzalez (unattached) 9-0. Shea then went on to beat Iowa Western's Kruise Kiburz 6-4 and Malcom William 5-2 in his next two matchups. He fell by tech fall 19-3 to Kaleb Larkin (Valiant) in the first-place match.
 
At 197-lbs., Jonathan Garcia pinned Izaiah Ieramia (Waldorf), but dropped his semifinal bout to Michael Aguirre 3-1. Garcia responded in the consolation semifinals with a 1:35 pin over Jose Sanchez (Northwestern) and followed that with a 0:42 pin over Konrich Speelmon (Dickinson State) in the third-place match.
 
Ben Peters drew Kaleb Larkin (Valiant) in the first round and fell by major decision. Peters wrestled back to the third-place match by winning five straight matchups with four pins. Kruise Kiburz (Iowa Western) won by no contest over Peters. 
 
Alton Allen placed fourth in the heavyweight decision falling to Trent Strong (Iowa Western) in the third-place match. Jake Leicht took fifth place at 174 with three falls in his four matchups. 
 
The Chargers return to the mat on February 18 and 19 for the GPAC Championships in Mitchell, South Dakota.