ST. LOUIS - The University of Oregon's Ryan Dunn kicked off action in the NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday morning with a win at the Scottrade Center.

The 133-pound redshirt junior from Estacada, Ore., scored a 12-11 decision in his NCAA debut over Lock Haven's Billy Ashnaut.

After Ashnault got out to a 5-0 lead in the first period with a takedown and 3-point near-fall, Dunn responded with an escape and three takedowns to tie the score 7-7 at the end of the first period. After another escape point by Ashnault to start the second period, Dunn add two more takedowns to tie matters 11-11 at the end of the second period, then added an escape point to start the third period for the only point of the final stanza.

Ashnault, a freshman, fell to 12-16 on the season and was the Eastern Wrestling League runner-up. 

Next up Thursday evening for Dunn is his third match of the year vs. Oklahoma State's third seed Coleman Scott. Dunn upset the Poke junior, then ranked first nationally in Eugene at McArthur Court, 5-3, in mid-February. The returning NCAA runner-up Scott won the pair's first meeting in December's Reno Tournament of Champions with a 14-6 major decision.

Also Thursday afternoon, UO redshirt freshman heavyweight Charlie Alexander lost his NCAA opener, 3-0, to Virginia Millitary Institute's Joshua Wine. Alexander was taken down with approximately a minute left in the first period to go down, 2-0. The Central Point, Ore., product Alexander started down in the second period but never escaped. In the third period, Wine again started on top and never allowed Alexander to escape to get a riding time point.

Wine, a freshman, raised his record to 9-2, and was the Southern Conference champion two weeks ago. 

For Oregon, Dunn's win Thursday afternoon raised his record to 23-7 and tied him for the team lead in wins with Alexander (23-11).

The pair earned thier NCAA invitations thanks to their second- and fourth-place finishes in the Pac-10 Championships at McArthur Court in Eugene three weeks ago.

Action resumes for the Ducks later Thursday evening, and more event information is available at the www.NCAAsports.com and www.intermatwrestle.com websites.