No. 1 Mavs get ready for Kaufman-Brand Open this Friday, Saturday

The Maverick wrestling team continued non-team events Saturday at the Nichols Open, where junior All-American Jacob Marrs led the Mavs with a third-place finish at 197 pounds.Finishing with a 5-1 record, Marrs fell to Trevor Brandvold of the University of Wisconsin, but came back to nab third from Tom Block of Minnesota State, Mankato.

Held at Iowa State University, no team scores were kept as the Mavs, ranked No. 1 nationally in Division II in a preseason coaches' poll, battled a variety of opponents.

Sophomore Aaron Denson placed fourth with a 4-2 record at 174 pounds, and redshirt freshman Esai Dominguez came in fifth, also with a 4-2 record, at 149 pounds.

Senior Ross Taplin, wrestling unattached at 174 pounds, finished third with a 5-1 record. Heavyweight freshman Elijah Madison, also wrestling unattached, finished second with a 4-1 record.

The Nichols Open was the second time the Mav wrestlers have seen action this semester, with Dominguez, Taplin and Madison - among others - all placing in the Daktronics Open on Nov. 8.

The Mavs will next host the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 22 at the Sapp Fieldhouse. The open is the largest one-day collegiate wrestling tournament in the nation.

The day begins at 9 a.m. and will feature some of the best wrestlers and programs in the country in all divisions. About 40 teams and more than 600 wrestlers are expected to participate in the open.

For complete results from the Harold Nichols Open, visit http://tinyurl.com/5jnbls.