St. Louis, MO - Three members of the Hofstra wrestling team – graduate student Greg Gaxiola, redshirt junior Zachary Knighton-Ward, and senior Charles Small – all advanced to the next round of the consolation matches in their respective brackets as Day One of the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships concluded from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri Thursday evening.

Starting off the session in the 149-pound preliminary bracket, Gaxiola scored a 4-0 decision victory over No. 30 seed Marcus Robinson of Cleveland State to advance to the consolation bracket. Gaxiola scored a takedown in the first period to go up 2-0, and then scored two points off a Robinson penalty and an escape to ensure his advancement. Gaxiola then took on Navy's Casey Cobb, the No. 19 seed, and won 3-2 over the Midshipman. Down 2-1 in the third period after being hit with a penalty and allowing an escape, Gaxiola hit Cobb with a successful takedown with just 20 seconds remaining in the match to move on in the bracket. Gaxiola will next wrestle No. 20 seed Joshua Heil of Campbell.

After dropping into the consolation bracket at 285 pounds, Knighton-Ward picked up his first NCAA Championships win with a quick pin of North Dakota State's Brandon Metz. In a scramble, Knighton-Ward tossed Metz from his back and quickly put the Bison wrestler on his back for a takedown and four near fall points. The heavyweight grappler repositioned himself and secured the pin just 55 seconds into the opening period. No. 21 seed Tate Orndorff of Ohio State will be Knighton-Ward's next opponent on Day Two.

In the 184-pound bracket, Small squared off against No. 7 seed Brit Wilson of Northern Illinois. Small fell behind early and, although he scored a third-period takedown of Wilson, Small was defeated by 5-2 decision and dropped into the consolation bracket. Small will wrestle on Friday against Ohio State's Rocky Jordan, the No.24 seed of the bracket.

Vinny Vespa, Holden Heller, Ricky Stamm and Trey Rogers also wrestled in Session Two for Hofstra. Vespa was eliminated in the second 141-pound preliminary bracket match by No. 30 seed Dyaln D'Emilio of Ohio State by 8-0 major decision. In the 157-pound consolation bracket, Heller suffered an 8-4 decision loss to Army West Point's Markus Hartman, the 30-seed in the bracket.

At 165 pounds, Stamm won his match in the preliminary bracket by a 5-3 sudden victory decision over Drexel's Evan Barczak. After a scoreless first period, Stamm secured an escape before Barczak scored a takedown, and the scoring was reversed in the third period with Barczak escaping and Stamm recording a late takedown. After holding off a takedown attempt by Barczak, Stamm repositioned himself from a neutral ground position to score a two-point takedown with 14 seconds left over the No.30 seed. Stamm advanced to the consolation bracket, where he would suffer defeat by pin at the hands of No. 19 seed Gerrit Nijenhuis of Purdue.

In the 197-pound bracket, Rogers advanced out of the preliminary bracket with a 6-1 decision win over Logan Andrew, the No. 32 seed from Chattanooga. Rogers scored an escape in the second period before getting two takedowns in the third period, plus a point for riding time, to earn the win and advance to the consolation bracket. He would be eliminated by No. 14 seed Greg Bulsak of Clarion in a 10-1 major decision.

Day Two will begin on Friday, March 19, at 11 a.m. with Session Three, followed by Session Four at 3 p.m., and Session Five at 7 p.m. will conclude the day's action. Sessions Three and Four will be televised on ESPNU, while Session Five will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN 2. Every match on Friday will also be streamed on the ESPN App.