La Crosse, Wisconsin (March 15, 2024) - Matthew Lackman secured his third All-American honor to lead Alvernia on the first day of competition at the 2024 NCAA Division III National Championship on Friday in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Lackman won his quarterfinal match by way of fall to secure his third All-American honor and a trip into the semifinals on Saturday morning. Jason Rezac moved into the consolation bracket after session one and lost a 14-10 decision on Friday evening.

Jason Rezac - 157 lbs
Jason Rezac faced #5 Blake Jagodzinske in the first round of competition after Jagodzinske won his pig-tail bout via a fall. After some initial quick moves to start out the bout, Jagodzinske took down Rezac on the edge of the circle just over a minute into the bout. Jagodzinske then flipped Rezac onto his back and got the pin 1:06 into the bout.

With the loss, Rezac moved into the consolation bracket and faced unseeded Gabriel Smith of Cornell College in the first round of consolation action in the Friday evening session. Rezac took an early 7-2 lead with a takedown and nearfall in the first period against Smith. Rezac's nearfall late in the first period was nearly a pin against Smith, but Rezac just missed getting Smith's back completely down. Two takedowns for Smith in the second period even the match at 8-8 with Rezac picking up a point on an escape for his eighth point of the bout. Rezac retook the lead with an escape to open the third period, but Smith recorded two more takedowns in the third period to rack up six more points en route to the 14-10 win over Rezac.

Matthew Lackman - 165 lbs
Matthew Lackman got to work quickly against unseeded Steven Rochard of Coast Guard. Lackman got a takedown in just 12 seconds to pick up three early points. He then opened the second period with an escape and a takedown to take a 7-0 lead early in the second period. Rochard then got hit with stalling to give Lackman the 8-0 lead heading into the third period. Lackman picked up another takedown midway through the third period for the 11-0 lead and picked up a final point on riding time for the 12-0 major decision to start out the championship.

Lackman then faced eighth-seeded Patrick Wisniewski of Johnson and Wales in the championship quarterfinals in the Friday evening session. Lackman started the bout with a takedown just over a minute into the first period to take an early 3-0 lead. He held a 3-0 lead into the second period and took Wisniewski down on a reversal just six seconds into the second period. Lackman kept Wisniewski down and flipped him onto his back to pick up the win by fall in 3:48 to earn his third All-American honor and move onto the semifinals on Saturday morning.

Up Next
Lackman will take on fourth-seeded Noah Leisgang of the host Eagles of Wisconsin La Crosse. Tomorrow's semifinal bout will be a rematch of the 165 lb semifinal last season where Lackman defeated Leisgang by a 5-2 decision to move onto the championship bout. The semifinals will begin tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM (CT)/11:00 AM (ET).