Mar 16-18 · Resumed yesterday at 16:00 UTC
2023 NCAA Championships Watch Party
It’s raining here in Tulsa, but it’s still a great night for some NCAA wrestling in my opinion!
Another great rendition of the national anthem and we’re minutes away.
What do you say? You don’t care about blogs, you just want the results? Okay great, here’s a link to just the results, no blog. Check them out and ignore this blog. It’s fine, I’ll get over it.
16th round
125 pounds
One minute into the round, Spencer Lee is ahead 10-0 on Michigan’s Jack Medley. And it’s a 16-0 tech fall for Spencer Lee. He’s pretty good.
Jore Volk of Wyoming and Killian Cardinale in a matchup of the 21 and 28 seeds, respectively, even though Cardinale is ranked 14. Cardinale showed no signs of injury slowing him down this season and 5-1 after 2 periods. Cardinale will take the decision and is one game away from his second AA medal.
Lock Haven’s Noto is technically the highest seed vs Wisconcin’s Barnett, the Badger All-American is ranked higher, #6 to #10. It’s 3-3 in the third. Barnett escapes to make it 4-3 in his favor late in the third, but Noto gets the takedown in the final seconds to advance to the quarterfinals.
Jarrett Trombley and Matt Ramos in overtime, 4-4. A few matches are close to scoring for each wrestler, but the scores remain tied and it goes to tiebreaks. Trombley made Boilermakers fans sweat, but #4 seed Matt Ramos survives to the quarters.
Nebraska’s Liam Cronin, the #3 seed who has never AA’d, advances to the quarters over UMD’s Braxton Brown.
Glory lead Ungar 4-0 and pour it on their EIWA rival. Princeton Tiger flattens Cornellian to win by major.
Brandon Courtney ends Jack Wagner’s bid for Cinderella. The Sun Devil beats the Tar Heel by unanimous decision.
Remarkable consolation results
4th-ranked and 12th-seeded Mike DeAugustino of Northwestern wins to eliminate 5th-seeded and 11th-ranked Caleb Smith of App State.
133 pounds
#1 Roman Bravo-Young continues his march to number three. UTC’s Brayden Palmer makes him work, but RBY collects the win without too much trouble.
NC State’s Kai Orine takes on CSU-Bakersfield’s only rep, Chance Rich. Orine takes it with Major and holds the iguana’s tongue celebration (I assume) for the sizable Wolfpack contingent in attendance.
UPSET ALERT: #19 Eddie Ventresca beats #7 and two-time All-American Pat McKee. However, this is where McKee thrives, in the consolation bracket. He was eliminated early in the last two NCAAs, finishing 3rd and 5th.
One of the more anticipated bouts of the tournament, at least after the 133-pound bracket was updated when Lehigh’s McGonagle scratched, gets underway when ASU’s Michael McGee takes on Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez. McGee never lets Mendez get to his offense, downing the freshman 6-2.
Red-hot Aaron Nagao has Pitt’s Mickey Phillippi, a triple blood rounder looking for his first trip to the medal round in his final year of eligibility. And Nagao goes beast mode, running through a scramble and getting two sets of nearfalls before securing the pinfall.
Vito Arujau is running up Zach Redding in scoring, at least through two periods.
Three-time NCAA runner-up Daton Fix, eager to add a title to his list of accolades, races to an early lead inside the Arena closest to his hometown of Sand Springs, Oklahoma. And it’s an 8-4 win for Fix, his 100th win of his collegiate career, stat courtesy of Arena Announcer Bryan Hazard. That’s a lot of wins!
Sam Latona, Virginia Tech All-American from Alabama, gets another close win, this time 2-1 thanks to riding time, over Cody Phippen of Air Force.
Lucas Byrd of Illinois defeats Michael Colaiocco of Penn in mild upset, 10th seed 11th seed over 7th seed, 6th seed.
141 pounds
Cole Matthews of Pitt (and sponsored by Primanti Brothers) gets the first win in the weight class with a 1-0 victory over Cael Happel.
Ryan Jack of NC State via Connecticut leads Parker Filius of Purdue via Montana in a match between two wrestlers from states that don’t often get much representation at NCAAs. And Filius gets the come-from-behind win – belated UPSET ALERT – and Purdue advances their second wrestler to the quarterfinals.
Real Woods nearly upset Ohio State’s Dylan D’Emilio, but the Iowan escaped by the skin of his teeth, much to the approval of Hawkeye fans and the disapproval of nearly everyone else in the arena.