Berkshire got off to a fast start on the first day of the Division III Sectional Wrestling Tournament at Beachwood on Friday.

The first six Badgers to take the mat won by pin to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round and need just one more win to qualify for next weekend’s district tournament.

Freshman Nate Walker started the pin parade with a 3 minute, 45 second fall over Newbury’s Sam Barnhardt. He’ll face top seed Justin Maccartney of Grand Valley in the semis.

Third-seeded T.J. Malkus, a sophomore, is just one win away from his second district tournament after he pinned Wickliffe’s Collin McLaughlin in 1:14. Malkus wrestles Cardinal’s Dakota Ward in the 113-pound semifinals.

Sophomore Cody Charvat had the most impressive win of the night as he avenged a 9-5 loss to Villa Angela-St. Joseph’s Mato Vunak in the consolation semifinals of last year’s sectional tournament which prevented Charvat from advancing to the district tournament as a freshman.

Vunak scored the match’s first takedown but as he’s done so many times this season Charvat came from behind and stuck Vunak in 3:15. Charvat will face top-seeded Cody Miller of Pymatuning Valley in the 126-pound semifinals.

Sophomore Brandon VanderMaas is on his way to earning a second district berth after he pinned Newbury’s Tim Henry in 1:30. VanderMaas faces Beachwood’s Andrew Kitay in the 132-pound semifinals.

Junior captain Jason Kaser lost in the first round of the 2011 sectional tournament but came out strong in this year’s opening round. Kaser needed just 3 minutes and 3 seconds to stick Hawken’s Matt Pitera. In the 138-pound semifinals he gets his chance to avenge his 2011 first round loss to Grand Valleys’ Travis Pelles.

Sophomore Ryan Miller cruised to the 170-pound semifinals with a 1 minute, 4 second fall over Wickliffe’s Zach Lundberg. Miller faces top-seeded Glenn Zaller of Grand Valley in the semifinals.

Heavyweight Devon Stivers was the only Badger not to come out on the winning side of things on Friday. He fell to second-seeded Ryan Cassel of Pymatuning Valley and will try to bounce back in the consolation bracket with a match against VASJ’s Erin Williams.

The Badgers, with just seven wrestlers, finished the opening round with 46 points, good for fifth place out of 13 teams.

Action continues this morning with consolation bouts beginning at 10:30 a.m. followed immediately by the semifinals.

Championship round matches begin tonight at 6:30 p.m.