ST. LOUIS — The three Montana athletes competing at the NCAA wrestling championships saw their tournament runs come to an end on Friday.
North Dakota State Luke Weber, a Forsyth native and Big 12 champion, won his first match on Thursday as the No. 9 seed in the 165-pound bracket before a 7-5 loss to Stanford’s Shane Griffith in the second round sent Weber to the consolation bracket.
Weber bounced back on Friday with a 7-0 decision over Andrew Nicholson from UT-Chattanooga and a 2-1 decision over NC State’s Thomas Ballard.
One more win would have guaranteed him a top-eight finish and All-American status, but Weber dropped a 5-1 decision to Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole in the blood round.
Former Havre four-time state champion Parker Filius, a No. 18 seed for Purdue in the 141-pound bracket, dropped a 7-6 decision to South Dakota State’s Clay Carlson in the first round to move to the consolation bracket.
Filius won his next two matches: a 9-0 major decision over Drexel’s Julian Flores and a 6-3 decision over Pittsburgh’s Cole Matthews. But Filius would fall to Nebraska’s Chad Red in the third consolation round by an 11-3 major decision.
Iowa State redshirt senior Jarrett Degen, a 149-pound Belgrade product, was eliminated from the tournament, falling 10-7 to Purdue's Griffin Parriott in the first round on Thursday and 8-6 against Arizona State's Cory Crooks in the consolation round.
Degen ends his career as a two-time All-American and four-time NCAA national tournament qualifier.
(Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct previously misreported scores.)
