CLEVELAND, Ohio – Gardner-Webb redshirt junior Tyler Marinelli dropped a pair of matches on Thursday at the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Quicken Loans Arena.

Marinelli (Jefferson, Ga. / Jefferson HS) made his first appearance at the NCAA Championships, qualifying after winning the 2018 SoCon title at 157 pounds. He finishes his third season on the mats at Gardner-Webb with a strong 26-8 record overall and will be one of the Runnin' Bulldogs most experienced – and accomplished – wrestlers returning for the 2018-2019 campaign.

Marinelli opened the action early on Mat No. 5 Thursday at Noon, battling Old Dominion's Larry Early before falling via a 7-4 decision. Early recorded an early takedown and Marinelli was able to respond with an escape, but could not get his offensive repertoire going in the loss.

A mild upset in the 157-pound bracket saw the No. 16 seed, Princeton's Mike D'Angelo, fall into the consolation bracket after a first-round loss.

D'Angelo went on the offensive early, getting a takedown and gaining more than 90 seconds of riding time heading into the second period. Marinelli was able to pick up two points on a reversal, but D'Angelo responded with a reversal of his own to go up 4-2. He pushed his scoring to 10 points with a four-point near fall and pinned Marinelli at the 3:55 mark to end the match.

Marinelli is the second consecutive 157-pounder to win the Southern Conference title and advance to the NCAA Championships, following in the footsteps of two-time qualifier Ryan Mosley (2015, 2017) – now a graduate assistant coach with the Runnin' Bulldogs.

Gardner-Webb and head coach Daniel Elliott will return four key starters from this past season, with the addition of several promising newcomers on the horizon for the 2018-2019 season.