OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- With another dominant performance in Friday's quarterfinal bouts, Notre Dame has eight wrestlers alive in the championship bracket of the 2010 NAIA National Championship Tournament. (Brackets)

The Wrestling Falcons have reached the semifinal round at 125 pounds (#Tyler Savage#), 141 (#Adam Koballa#), 149 (#Jeffrey Pelton#), 157 (#Thomas Straughn#), 174 (#Cody Butzer#), 184 (#Alex Denman#), 197 (#Derek Foore#) and the heavyweight division (#Orlando Scales#). In Friday's early action, NDC went a combined 10-3.

That performance, along with three of the wins coming on pins, puts Notre Dame in excellent position to win the College's first national championship in any sport. The Blue & White came into Friday leading the 36-team tournament. The Falcons had 44 points, six more than second-place Southern Oregon (38 points).

NDC got pins from Cody Butzer at 174, Derek Foore at 197 and Orlando Scales in the heavyweight division. The pins by Foore and Scales were accompanied by Alex Denman's win at 184, with all three bouts going into the Notre Dame win-column nearly simultaneously.

“That was a big lift for us,” said NDC Head Coach #Frank Romano#.

“Those three bouts ended, bing-bing-bing, and that was a shot of adrenaline for our guys. Everyone is up emotionally and wrestling with confidence.”

Shortly before those bouts ended, Butzer finished off his quarterfinal foe, fifth-ranked Jameon Rush (Hastings-Neb.), in 24 seconds.

Foore's pin, his first of the tournament and 13th of the season, came against Great Falls' (Mont.) Alex Calvi, the No. 4-ranked NAIA grappler at 197. Foore came into the tournament undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Wadsworth, Ohio, native is now 3-0 in Oklahoma City.

In addition to NDC's eight competitors advancing to Friday night's semifinal bouts, the Falcons still have three other wrestlers (#John Bittenger#, #Kevin Hardy#, #Ashtin Primus#) alive in the tournament.