WILLIAMSPORT (Pa.) – Russell Benson and Rob Duxbury are the lone Delaware Valley University wrestlers still alive and vying for a spot at the NCAA Division III nationals after day one of the NCAA Division III Southeast Regional Championship.

As a team, the Aggies sit in 14^th position with 31.5 points. Messiah College and No. 25 Ferrum University lead the way with 71 and 66 points, respectively, and Wilkes follows with 63.5 points.

The top-3 place winners in each weight class earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship in Roanoke, Virginia in two weeks.

Benson earned the fifth seed in the 133-pound bracket and went 2-0 in his first day of matches. He got the best of Lycoming's Connor Hurley with a pin in the first period, but needed hard work to move past Wilke's Dylan O'Connor in the second match.

The bout went to double overtime with the score knotted at 1-1 after each wrestler earned an escape. Early in the second overtime period, Benson escaped the grasp of O'Connor to advance to the semifinals where he is slated to do battle with the sixth ranked wrestler in Division III at 133 pounds Ricky Cavallo of John's Hopkins.

The freshman will wrestle two matches tomorrow, and needs to win at least one to reach nationals. A win over Cavallo will put him in the finals, but a loss will drop him into the third place match where it would be a must-win situation to earn the automatic berth.

Junior Rob Duxbury lost his first match of the day in the 141-pound bracket to Mario Vasquez of Ferrum College by 12-6 decision.

He fought back in the consolation bracket with an 8-3 decision and a 6-5 overtime decision over Sean Thompson of Gettysburg. He will face top-seeded Brandon Woody of Avery tomorrow in his first match, and will need one more win after that to advance to the third-place bout.

Anthony Costanza won his first bout at 184 pounds with a 12-10 decision over Alex Miller of Washington and Jefferson, but was pinned in his next two matches to end his weekend.

Oscar Daniels dropped his first match at 285 pounds to eight-ranked Paul Triandafilou of Gettysburg, but used a 10-5 decision to move passed Tavon Blowe of Avery. He was then pinned by Alveno Matthews of Ferrum in the first period.

Action at the Southeast Regional will resume at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Full results and brackets from day one can be found here.