CLEVELAND – Gardner-Webb redshirt seniors Alex Medved and Blake Salyer took second and third-place at 157 and 197 pounds, respectively, while sophomore Justin Kozera finished in fifth place overall at 285 pounds at the 2012 CSU Open hosted by Cleveland State University on Saturday.

Medved (4-1) posted four straight wins after a first-round bye to advance to the finals of the championship bracket at 157 pounds, where he suffered an 8-1 loss over Jeffrey Pelton of Notre Dame to settle for second place overall.

Salyer (5-1) also suffered only one loss on the day, as he bounced back from a first-round 6-0 loss to Garrett Linton of Notre Dame to win the next five bouts in the wrestleback bracket to take third place overall at 197 pounds. Salyer, who blanked Jared Johnson of Chattanooga 4-0 in the third-place match, also defeated teammate Boyce Cornwell (1-2), who wrestled unattached, by a score of 2-0 during his five-match winning streak. Cornwell’s other loss came to the eventual champion Michael Salopek of Virginia in the second round of the championship bracket.

Also placing at the CSU Open for GWU was Kozera (3-1), as the sophomore, who wrestled unattached at 285 pounds, advanced to the championship semifinals with a fall over Raymon Stone of Cleveland State at 2:23 before suffering a forfeit loss by way of an injury default to Matt Tourdot of Old Dominion to fall into the wrestleback bracket.

There, Kozera received a medical forfeit win over Andrew Ewers of Shorter to take fifth place overall at 285 pounds.

GWU wrestler Austin Trott (4-2), who wrestled unattached at 157 pounds, recorded four wins on the day, three of which came in the wrestleback bracket over Samphanh Viengmany of Tiffin, Dyllan Cottrell of Appalachian State and Louden Gordon of Notre Dame, to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to Jedd Moore of Virginia.

After a first-round win 6-1 win over Jared Browning of West Virginia at 133 pounds, redshirt sophomore Robbie Golde (4-2) bounced back from a second-round loss to Garrison White of Northwestern to post three more wins, including an 8-0 major decision win over Vinny Punzone of Notre Dame, in the wrestleback bracket to advance to the quarterfinals of the wrestleback bracket.

Like Golde, freshman Ryan Mosley (4-2), who wrestled unattached, registered four wins on the day to advance to the semifinals of the wrestleback bracket at 141 pounds.  Mosley dominated his second-round match to post a 12-4 major decision win over Tyler Kelly of Notre Dame to draw Justin Lavelle of Old Dominion, who is ranked No. 15th in the nation at 141 pounds.

In the match, Mosley earned a 5-1 decision over Lavelle to move on to the quarterfinals of the championship round, where he was edged by Maurice Miller of Notre Dame, 2-1, to fall into the wrestleback bracket.

In the 141-pound wrestleback bracket, Mosley posted a 4-2 decision over Sam Hanau of Central Michigan and then a 3-2 victory over Scott Mattingly of Central Michigan to advance to the semifinals where he suffered another one-point loss, this time 6-5 to Tyler Small of Kent State, who is a two-time MAC champion and NCAA qualifier.

Also competing at 141 pounds was sophomore Davante Andujar (2-2) who recorded an 8-0 major decision win over Joshua Beemer of Notre Dame and an 8-1 decision over Ty Davis of Central Michigan to go 2-2 on the day overall.

At 165 pounds, redshirt senior Justin Guthrie (3-2) picked up three wins on the day, two of which came in the championship bracket over Travis Moyer of Lock Haven and Marcus Johnson of Old Dominion, while freshman Kyle Ash (2-2), who wrestled unattached, earned two wins on the day before seeing his day end with a 6-3 loss to Guthrie in the wrestleback bracket.

Like Guthrie, freshman Hunter Gamble (3-2), who wrestled unattached at 174 pounds, posted three wins for the event, including a fall over teammate Miguel Gordon (1-2) in the wrestleback bracket, while Gordon’s win came over Ryan Jacobs of Life University at 5-3 in the second round of the consolation draw.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs had three grapplers compete at 125 pounds, as freshmen Tyler Ziegler (2-2) and Cortez Starkes (2-2) each recorded two wins apiece on the day and advanced to the fifth round of the wrestleback bracket. Ziegler earned a 9-5 decision over Dwann Hall of Shorter and a 7-3 win over Narcisco Inchaurregui of Notre Dame for his two victories at the event, while Starkes, who wrestled unattached, posted a fall over Bijan Banks of Edinboro and a 10-4 win over Alfredo Gray of Kent State on the day.

GWU’s Gray Jones (1-2) advanced to the quarterfinals of the 184 pounds championship bracket with a 3-1 win over Eric Ford of MU, yet suffered back-to-back losses to Jake Waste of Buffalo, who took second place overall, and Trey Hicks of Life, who finished in fifth place, to finish his day at 1-2 overall.

Like Jones, Travis Porter (1-2) also advanced to the quarterfinals in the heavyweight championship bracket yet dropped his next two bouts to finish the day at 1-2.

Freshman Alex White (0-2), who wrestled unattached at 125 pounds, as well as fellow newcomer Joseph Evans (0-2) and redshirt freshman Matt Kowalski (0-2) at 165 pounds also suited up for the Runnin’ Bulldogs on Saturday.

Gardner-Webb (2-5, 0-2 SoCon) will wrap up the 2012 calendar year on Dec. 29, as the Runnin’ Bulldog grapplers will compete at the Brute Invitational in Lock Haven, Pa.