No. 2 Ryan Flores earned falls in each of his three bouts to highlight the No. 8 American University wrestling team's performance Saturday at the Journeyman/Asics Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y. No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa also posted a perfect 3-0 record for AU, which included a fall and a major decision.

As a team, the Eagles dropped three close duals, 24-18 to No. 16 Penn, 21-20 against Central Michigan, and 24-22 versus No. 24 Purdue. AU, however, was without the services of a wrestler at 197 lbs. (a spot usually held by No. 8 Daniel Mitchell), and as a result, forfeited each of the bouts at that weight class.

"Despite forfeiting 197 and using a small 125 backup wrestler at 133, our team performed very for the first dual meet action," Head Coach Teague Moore said. "Ryan Flores showed why he can be the national champion this season. I'm pleased with where our team is at in late November."

Flores was impressive all day as he began the morning with a fall against Penn's Anthony DiLonardo in just 47 seconds. The heavyweight followed that with a pin against No. 16 Peter Sturgeon of Central Michigan at 3:49 before concluding his day with a fall at 1:30 against Purdue's Alex White. Last year, Flores finished fourth in single-season program history with 10 falls.

Sanjaa also went undefeated on the day at 157 lbs., which included a 6-3 decision over No. 20 Donnie Corby of Central Michigan. He posted a fall at 2:34 against Penn's Troy Hernande and recorded a tech fall versus Jake Fleckenstein of Purdue.

No. 9 Matt Mariacher, Kevin Tao, and Thomas Williams each won two of three matches on Saturday. At 141 lbs., Mariacher dropped a decision to No. 4 Zack Kemmerer of Penn but bounced back to earn a major decision over Scott Mattingly of Central Michigan and a tech fall against Jake Fleckenstein of Purdue. Tao picked up a pair of major decisions at 149 lbs., defeating Malcolm Martin of Central Michigan, 13-5, and then 12-3 over Purdue's Frankie Porras. At 125 lbs., meanwhile, Williams recorded a pair of decisions, 3-1 over Geoffrey Bostany of Penn and 6-3 versus Camden Eppert of Purdue.

The Eagles will return to action this Friday, December 2 when they visit No. 11 Maryland in a dual meet. The action from College Park will get underway at 7 p.m.

"We are excited to compete against Maryland next week," added Moore. "I hope to see many of our AU fans in College Park."