ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Boston University made an early exit from the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship at the Savvis Center on Thursday, March 17. The three wrestlers representing B.U. - seniors Rayes Gonzales (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Courtney Howard (Sitka, Alaska), along with sophomore John DaCruz (Ludlow, Mass.), were each eliminated on the first day of the three-day tournament.

Gonzales, wrestling at 149, fell to Wisconsin's Craig Henning, in a tight 13-11 match, then lost to Northern Illinois' Mike Grimes, 14-8, in a consolation-round match. Gonzales ended his senior season with a 20-7 record and a 67-26 mark overall.

Howard, who made every start for the Terriers at heavyweight, lost a pair of decisions to Iowa's Matt Fields, 9-5, and Navy's Tanner Garrett, 8-5. He posted a career-best 29-11 record as a senior, boosting his career record to 78-51 at B.U.

DaCruz, the Terriers' leading in pins with 13, dropped both of his matches by way of third-period pins. Oregon's Scott Barker pinned DaCruz 5:43 into the match, while Ohio's Joel Weirner eliminated DaCruz with a fall 5:36 into their consolation match. He finished his sophomore campaign with a 19-8 record, improving his overall two-year mark to 39-17.

B.U. finished fourth at the CAA Championship. The Terriers were 10-6 (5-4 CAA) this season. The program has sent at least two wrestlers to Nationals in each of the last 27 years. Head coach Carl Adams has been here for 24 of those years and, including this year, has sent 55 Terriers to Nationals for a total of 85 appearances.

RAYES GONZALES (149) L - 13-11, Craig Henning (Wisconsin) L - 14-8, Mike Grimes (Northern Illinois)

JOHN DACRUZ (197) L - F 5:43, Scott Barker (Oregon) L - F 5:36, Joel Weirner (Ohio)

COURTNEY HOWARD (285) L - 9-5, Matt Fields (Iowa) L - 8-5, Tanner Garrett (Navy)