Senior Daniel Price won three of five matches to claim his second NAIA medal in as many years at Valley. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The Missouri Valley College men's wrestling team had five members win medals Saturday at the NAIA Championships in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Vikings started the meet strongly, with seven wrestlers reaching the quarterfinal round -- more than any team outside of Lindenwood and McKendree (Ill.) -- but won only two of those Friday winners' bracket matches to drop from fourth place to sixth at the end of the meet.

The Lions won three individual titles to out-pace the Bearcats, 130 to 109.5 points, for their third title in four years and fourth crown overall. Valley's 85.5 points meant an improvement from ninth place in 2007, when it also had five all-Americans.

One reason for the Vikings' second-day swoon was their draws. Both sophomore Eric Graham (141 pounds) and senior Daniel Price (184) were bumped off by defending national champions. Graham rallied with three straight wins to finish fourth, while Price won two of his next three bouts for seventh place -- Valley's only repeat medal winner from a year ago.

Meanwhile, sophomore Brian Graham (149), who had won his first two bouts by major decision, kept going. He pulled off another major and bumped off second-ranked Byron Kuylen of Montana State-Northern, 12-8, to reach the finals -- where he lost a 13-9 decision to No. 1 Ryan Moyer of Lindenwood.

The Vikings' other quarterfinal winner, junior Billy Exline (125), was stopped in the next round by a 9-7 loss to eventual champion Cory Borges -- the Northern Lights' top-ranked grappler. Exline pinned his next two foes to finish third.

Junior Brandon Nice (141) won three of his first four matches, but was beaten by Eric Graham in the wrestleback quarterfinals -- eventually placing eighth, Valley's only non-ranked entry to medal.

Fifth-ranked junior Jon Gerhold (133) began with two wins, but then suffered close losses back-to-back to end his tourney earlier than hoped a year after medalling. Junior Jeff Cobb (197) suffered the same fate: two wins to start the meet, followed by a pair of losses.

Freshman heavyweight Michael Johnson picked up a back-side win by default, while junior Garrett Harding (133), sophomore Brad Perkins (149) and freshman Charlie Gibbs (197) were done in two rounds.

The Vikings only had one senior (Price) in their 11-man line-up, so are hoping to contend next season for the first time since finishing second in 2005 -- two years after claiming their third national championship.