La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is in third-place after the first day of competition at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships in Festival Foods Arena at the La Crosse Center. The Eagles have 43.0 team points. Wartburg College (Iowa) leads with 63.5 points while Augsburg College (Minn.) is second with 51.5.

Coe College (Iowa) is fourth (41.5) and Saint John's University (Minn.) in fifth (40.0). Ithaca College, N.Y. is sixth (37.0) followed by Concordia-Moorhead, Minn. (35.5), the University of Mount Union, Ohio (27.0), The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, N.Y.. (25.0) and Elmhurst College, Ill. (24.0) to round out the top-10. A total of 47 teams scored points.

Albie McKinney (125-pounds), Bebeto Yewah (141) and Mike Schmitz (174) all advanced to Saturday's semifinal round. The three wrestlers have guaranteed an All-America honor. It is the first career All-America honor for McKinney, second for Yewah and third for Schmitz.

McKinney defeated Steve Godine of The College of New Jersey by major decision (12-1) in his first match. McKinney, seeded third, earned a win by fall (2:10) over Carl Deluca of UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals. He'll face second seed Mark Kist of Wartburg College (Iowa) in the semifinals Saturday morning.

Yewah, the defending national champion at 133-pounds, won by major decision (18-8) over Ces Antista of Williams College (Mass.) at 141-pounds Friday morning. Yewah is the top-seed at 141 and advanced to the semifinals with a win by decision (6-1)  over eighth-seed Davis Alsieux of Centenary University (N.J.). He take on fourth-seed Chris Albright of York College (Pa.) in the semifinal round.

The defending NCAA III champion at 174-pounds, Schmitz opened with a win by decision (7-5) over Scott King of Coe College (Iowa) Friday. Schmitz, the second seed in this year's tournament, earned a win by decision (5-4) over seventh-seeded David Priest of Ithaca College (N.Y.) in the quarterfinals. He will face third-seed Zach Molitor of Augsburg College (Minn.) in Saturday's semifinals. 

At 133-pounds, the Eagles' Adam Sheley went 2-1 Friday. He won by major decision (9-0) over Matt Holmes of Loras College (Iowa) before an overtime loss (6-4) to Mike McInally of Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.) in the quarterfinals. Sheley, seeded fifth, came back to earn a win by decision (11-4) over Tigue Snider of Cornell College (Iowa) in the consolation bracket. With his victory over Snider, Sheley earns NCAA III All-America honors. He'll wrestle in the consolation round Saturday morning. 

At 285-pounds, Billy Mayer earned his first career All-America award with a win by decision (7-3) over Ron Fusco of Springfield College (Mass.) in the consolation round. He opened the tournament with a win by decision (6-3) over Derick Hesson of the University of Mount Union (Ohio). Seeded-seventh, Mayer lost by fall (2:41) to second-seeded Mark Corsell of Elmhurst College (Ill.) in the quarterfinals. He'll compete in the consolation bracket Saturday morning.

Matt Mauseth, the NCAA III Champion at 149-pounds in 2009, was eliminated from this year's championships with an 0-2 record Friday. Seeded sixth, Mauseth lost by decision (11-7) to James Locke of Coe College (Iowa) in his first match before a loss by decision (9-5) to Zac Andrews of Delaware Valley College (Pa.). Mauseth finishes the season at 22-11 and 102-29 in his career. He ranks 16th in career wins and earned three NCAA III All-America honors (first in 2009; third in 2010 and sixth in 2008). 

UW-L's Cory Ferguson was eliminated from competition after finishing 1-2 at 165-pounds Friday. He won by decision (7-4) over Joseph Hambleton of Cornell College (Iowa) in his first match, but dropped his next two matches. Ferguson,  seeded-eighth, lost to top-seeded Josh Terrel of the University of Dubuque (Iowa) by decision (8-2) in the quarterfinals and by decision (5-2) to James Myers of Olivet College (Mich.). Ferguson finishes the season at 18-9 and 71-27 in his career.

Mitch Artist went 0-2 in Friday's action. He lost  by major decision (9-1) to seventh-seed Josef Rau of Elmhurst Colege (Ill.) in his first dual before losing by fall (2:41) to Greg Rhoads of Wabash College (Ind.). Artist finishes the season at 15-9 and 33-18 in his two-year UW-L career. 

Action continues Saturday, March 12 at 10 a.m.