The Basics:

Event: 2023 NCAA National Championships 
Location: Roanoke, Va. (Berglund Center)

The Lead: Mahlic Sallah is now a two-time All-American for the Roanoke wrestling team as he completed Day one of the 2023 NCAA Div. III Wrestling Championships being hosted by Ferrum at the Berglund Center in Roanoke.

Sallah Highlights:

• Sallah opened by taking on the No. 8 seed Edwin Morales of Bridgewater State. Neither wrestler could score a point in the first period. Sallah chose to start the second period down and earned the escape just 21 seconds into the period. Morales would choose down to start the third and earn his own escape six seconds into the period as the two wrestlers would head to sudden victory, tied at 1-1. It did not take too long for Sallah to score as he earned a takedown just 21 seconds into the period to earn the 3-1 decision win and advance to the quarterfinals.
• In the quarterfinals, Sallah took on the No. 1 seed and defending national champion Jaritt Shinhoster of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Shinhoster scored in each period while keeping the Maroon off the board for the 12-0 major decision over Sallah.
• In his third match of the day, Sallah faced off against Kalyn Jahn of Wisconsin-La Crosse with All-American status on the line. Sallah scored first with a takedown just over a minute in with Jahn picking up an escape before the end of the period. Sallah deferred his decision until the third with Jahn picking bottom to start the second period. He would level the match at 2-2 with an escape 18 seconds into the period. Sallah chose neutral to start the third and got a takedown with 50 seconds left for the 4-2 lead. Jahn was able to score an escape with 41 seconds left but Sallah was able to keep from being scored on again as he finished with a 4-3 decision, a spot in Day 2, and his second-straight All-American honors!

Sallah Highlights:

• Sallah will face off against No. 3 seed David McCullough of the US Coast Guard Academy in his first match on Saturday.