Thompson earned the No. seven spot at 165 pounds with an 8-3 decision over Iowa's Eric Luedke. Luedke opened the match with a takedown but Thompson escaped to trail 2-1 after one frame. Thompson differed the choice in the second round to Luedke who chose to start on bottom. Luedke escaped to gain a 3-1 lead, but Thompson soon scored a takedown to even the match at 3-3. Thompson chose the defensive position to start the third period. The Bulldog escaped to gain a 4-3 lead with just over a minute remaining. With 20 seconds left in the match Luedke attempted a shot but Thompson countered to score a takedown and add two back points as time expired. Thompson's effort was impressive enough to illicit a standing ovation from the Ford Center crowd of over 15,000.

Thompson's road to the podium and All-American Status began on Thursday with consecutive upsets over the 10th and seventh seeded wrestlers in his weight class. On Friday, a quarterfinal loss to No. two seed Johny Hendricks sent Thompson to the consolation bracket where he defeated ninth-seeded Michael Poeta to become The Citadel's first All-American. Thompson then lost by fall to the first unseeded wrestler that he faced, Edinboro's Deonte Penn. The loss to Penn put Thompson into the seventh place match against Luedke.