Day one of the NCAA Championships is in the books, and fifth-year senior and 2011 national champion Dustin Kilgore is headed to the NCAA Quarterfinals following a pair of major decision victories Thursday inside Wells Fargo Arena.

On the opening day of the NCAAs, Kilgore kept his perfect season alive by defeating both Iowa’s Nathan Burak and Ohio’s Phil Wellington 10-2. In each match Kilgore scored two takedowns in the opening period and one in the second and third periods.

Kilgore’s NCAA-leading 41st win of the season earned him a spot in the quarterfinal match Friday, in which he will take on Penn’s Micah Burak. Micah, Nathan’s brother, handed Kilgore his last NCAA loss way back at the Southern Scuffle in December 2010.

Joining Kilgore in opening-day victories were fellow fifth-year senior Stevie Mitcheff and freshman Mack McGuire, who both made their first NCAA Championshipappearances Thursday.

A couple of takedowns in his opening 125-pound bout allowed Mitcheff to roll past Oklahoma State’s Ed Klimara. Mitcheff hit a wall, though, in his second-round match in which he was faced with the task of wrestling two-time NCAA champion McDonough. Mitcheff lost 5-1 in a hard-fought effort, but seeks to bounce back Friday against North Carolina’s Joe DeAngelo.

McGuire dropped his first 133-pound match on the day when he was unable to pull off another upset against No. 7 Jon Morrison of Oklahoma State 8-0. He refocused, though, and came back strong with an 8-5 decision over Rider’s Jimmy Morris in the consolation bracket. He is slated to meet No. 9 seed Levi Wolfensperger of Northern Iowa Friday.

Sophomore and 165-pounder Caleb Marsh, who also made his NCAAs debut, came up short in his two matches against a pair of top 10 opponents, losing to No. 7 seed Conrad Polz of Illinois 8-4 and getting pinned by No. 10 Nick Moore of Iowa.

Redshirt freshman Sam Wheeler (174 pounds), also making his first NCAAs appearance, dropped his first bout 9-3 to No. 5 Josh Asper of Maryland and his second match 10-6 to Virginia Tech’s Austin Gabel.

Fifth-year senior Casey Newburg (184 pounds) fell 7-3 in his face-off with No. 3 seed Robert Hamlin of Lehigh to start the day. In the evening consolation bracket, Ohio State’s Cody Magnum squeezed past Newburg 3-1 to end his day.

Friday’s action begins at 11 a.m. and can be see on ESPNU.