ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – Two area wrestlers are grappling on the biggest stage.

UPDATE: Tioga’s Austin Lamb dropped his final two matches at 165 pounds for RIT at the NCAA D-III Wrestling Tournament on Friday night. Lamb lost to Nate Fuller of Wartburg College 4-3 ending his season at (18-5). Athens’ Gavin Bradley also dropped his final match of the season in the consolation round to Brady Koontz of Dubuque at 125 pounds 10-1.

Bradley finishes the year at (39-12) and is the first freshman in school history at Castleton to go to the tournament. Both Bradley and Lamb were one win away from earning All-American status.

Below, the original article on both Lamb and Bradley from Friday night.

Tioga graduate Austin Lamb, a senior at 165 pounds for RIT, won his first match at the 2023 NCAA D-III Wrestling Championships in Roanoke, Virginia Friday. Lamb, the sixth seed, beat Harrison Kelly of Washington and Lee University 5-3 advancing to the quarterfinals. Austin now has an (18-5) overall record after dropping a quarterfinal match to third seed Noah Leisgang of the University Of Wisconsin-Lacrosse 2-1.

Athens grad Gavin Bradley won his preliminary match at 125 pounds for Castleton University. Bradley, the first true freshman in school history to make the NCAA Tournament, beat Delaware Valley’s Jake Blair 7-4. Gavin then dropped a hard loss to second seeded Jacob Decatur of Baldwin Wallace University by pin in 1:57.

Bradley battled back in the wrestleback round with a 9-4 win by decision over Luc Valdez of Wisconsin University-Oshkosh. Next up for Bradley (39-11) is eighth seed Brady Koontz from The University of Dubuque.

(PHOTO: RIT Athletics)