—Photo by Randi Yeager/IAwrestle EX-DODGER Drake Ayala wrestles for Iowa against Elijah Griffin of California Baptist. Ayala won 10-2.

KANSAS CITY — Drake Ayala put together two dominating performances here Thursday as the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships kicked off.

Ayala, a three-time state champion for Fort Dodge Senior High, advanced to the 125-pound quarterfinals. He will meet Troy Spratley of Oklahoma State back here on Friday inside the T-Mobile Center.

His teammate and fellow former Dodger, Brody Teske, advanced to the second round at 133 before falling.

Joining Ayala in the quarters will be Real Woods, Jared Franek and Mike Caliendo.

Iowa sits in second after the opening day with 24.5 points, tied with Iowa State and just ahead of Michigan and NC State. Penn State is in first with 34.5 team points.

In the opening round, Ayala, a redshirt sophomore, scored a 10-2 major decision over Elijah Griffin of California Baptist. He followed that up by overpowering Nico Provo from Stanford, 19-4.

The No. 3 seed, Ayala went 1-2 two years ago as a true freshman at the NCAA championships.

After a scoreless first vs. Griffin, Ayala scored an escape and three-point takedown to take command. He added two more takedowns in the third, including one with just two seconds left.

It was much different against Provo, as Ayala earned a trio of three-point takedowns in the first and led 9-3 after the opening three minutes. He added two takedowns in the second and one more in the third for good measure.

Spratley, the six-seed, topped Max Gallagher of Penn and Cooper Flynn from Virginia Tech to advance. Ayala posted an 8-1 over Spratley earlier this year.

The winner between Ayala and Spratley takes on either Eric Barnett from Wisconsin or Caleb Smith of Nebraska in the semifinals. Barnett upset NC State’s Jakob Camacho and Smith stunned two-seed Luke Stanich of Lehigh.

Sitting on the top side of the bracket are top-ranked Braeden Davis of Penn State and Purdue’s Matt Ramos among those who advanced.

Teske, a four-time state champion at FDSH, downed Derrick Cardinal from South Dakota State, 12-4, before coming up short vs. Lehigh’s Ryan Crookham, 8-3.

Crookham, the No. 2 seed and one of just a handful of unbeaten wrestlers still standing, was a three-time state champion in Pennsylvania and nominee for USA Today Wrestler of the Year.

Teske scored three takedowns vs. Cardinal, picking up one in each period.

Up next for Teske in the consolations will be No. 17 seed Braxton Brown of Maryland. The two met at the Big Ten Championships, with Teske posting a 4-1 decision for fifth.

Others staying alive in the consolations for Iowa include Caleb Rathjen, Patrick Kennedy, Zach Glazier and Bradley Hill.

Friday’s quarterfinals will air on ESPNU and stream on ESPN+ beginning at noon with the semifinals and blood rounds set for 8 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN+. Saturday’s medal rounds are set for ESPNU and ESPN+ with the finals on ESPN and ESPN+.