No. 4 seeds Miller and Kwiat earn All-America honors, advance to semifinals on Day 1 of NCAA III Wrestling Championships

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Junior All-American Luke Miller and freshman Kyle Kwiat guaranteed themselves All-America honors with a pair of victories on the first day of the 2010 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships Friday at the US Cellular Center.

Both men are now guaranteed top-6 finishes in their respective weight classes and the top eight finishers in each of the 10 weight classes earn All-America honors.

They will both compete again in the semifinals Saturday morning against the top-seeded wrestlers in their weight classes.

Miller, the No. 4 seed at 157 pounds with a record of 37-4, advanced to the semifinals with a pair of shutouts on the day, including a 3-0 decision over No. 5 seed Jason Adams of Augsburg (Minn.) in the championship quarterfinal round Friday night.

Kwiat, the No. 4 seed at 174 pounds with a 40-4 record, won in a thrilling 6-4 overtime decision over No. 5 seed Frank Heffernan of Wilkes (Pa.) in the championship quarterfinals Friday evening to assure himself of All-America honors.

After a scoreless first period in his quarterfinal match, Miller got two minutes of riding time by crontrolling Adams for the enitre second period.

Miller then got a reversal with just under a minute to go in the third period to take a 2-0 lead and rode out Adams for the victory, his second shutout of the championships. His third piont came via his nearly two-timute riding time advantage.

He will face top-ranked Jesse Harrington of Delaware Valley (Pa.) in the semifinals on Saturday.

Kwiat got a first period takedown and escapes in each of the second and third periods, but surrendered a pair of reversals to end regulation in a 4-4 tie in his quarterfinal match.

Kwiat attacked early and got a takedown with roughly 20 second elapsed in the overtime period to register the win.

He was leading 4-2 and in control of Heffernan late in the third period, but Heffernan got a reversal with seven seconds left in the match to force overtime.

Kwiat will now face top-seeded Evan Brown of Dubuque (Iowa) in the semifinals on Saturday.

Both Miller and Kwiat posted shutouts in first round action Friday afternoon to reach the quarterfinals.

Miller got a quick takedown and then five 3-point near falls to win his opener with an impressive 18-0 technical fall victory over Ryan Warcynksi of Dubuque (Iowa) in just 2:21 of the first period.

Kwiat began his Championships competetion with a solid 5-0 decision over Sam Engelland of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

He got a first period takedown, a third-period reversal and more than two minutes of riding time to get a win in his first-ever NCAA Championships match.

Both men reached the NCAA Championships by winning their respective weight classes at the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 20.

Miller won his second consecutive OAC Championship at 157 pounds and finished fourth at the 2009 NCAA III Championships.

The third session, which features the championships semifinals, the consolation quarterfinals and semifinals and the third, fifth and seventh place matches, will start Saturday at 10 am CST.

Session four, which will consist of the 10 championship bouts, will start Saturday night at 7 pm CST.