ROANOKE, Va. – Notre Dame College wrestling kicked off their season at the Southeast Open this past Sunday, sending 12 athletes to compete. The day was broken up into an open bracket and a freshman/sophomore bracket for the weight classes. Michael Viramontes took second place in the 197 lbs. weight class of the freshman/sophomore bracket.

Of the 12 NDC grapplers who competed in the open, which featured many wrestlers from top NCAA Division I programs, six won at least one match-up. Viramontes won twice at 197 lbs., beating Josiah McCallum (Buies Creek RTC) and Kevin Makosy (Maryland) by decision. In the final round, the sophomore fell to Zach Brown of the Virginia Military Institute.

Kelan McKenna also had a solid day in the Open 141 bracket. After being defeated by Zach Sherman from the University of North Carolina, McKenna continued to wrestle for fifth place. He won three matchups, including one pin and one major decision. He would end the day with a sixth place finish, coming up short in the fifth place match.

Other wrestlers of note were Justin Crawford and Tony Vezzetti. Crawford wrestled in the freshman/sophomore bracket at 157. He lost in the first round, but then won three matches in pursuit of fifth place. He used a major decision, a pin and a 6-1 decision to continue on before being defeated by Tony Negron, of NC State, to end the day. In the open 184 lbs., Vezzetti pinned Drew Peck, from the University of Virginia, to start the day. After a loss, the senior defeated Michael Battista, also from Virginia, by decision. He would finish the day with a 2-2 record.

"I'm happy with the weekend and how the guys performed," said head coach Sonny Marchette. "Some good things and some not as good, but overall a good productive weekend."

Notre Dame will wrestle at the Ohio Intercollegiate Open, hosted by Case Western Reserve University, on November 10.