Looks like we made it! Four months of the regular season, one weekend of conference championships, and here we are, in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City getting ready to begin the most excellent tournament of the world’s oldest and greatest sport.
We’re at the 2024 NCAA D1 Wrestling Championships, and we’ll have an account of all the action here for you in real time!
2024 NCAA Championships Watch Party
Have some time to kill before the wrestling starts? Might I recommend spending an hour watching the latest FloSports Original: Spencer & Austin? I’m admittedly biased but in my humble opinion it rules.
Where Are Brackets?
I’m hoping you came here for the live blog but if you just want the brackets I understand as well. We all crave brackets. Here is the link to the D1 NCAA Championship event page on Trackwrestling. Brackets are very easy to find from there. Sweet sweet brackets.
What About the Schedule?
Sure, right here.
Thursday, March 21
Session 1 – 12:00 pm (Pigtails & Round of 32)
Session 2 – 7:00 pm (Round of 16 & Consolations)
Friday, March 22
Session 3 – 12:00 pm (Quarterfinals & Consolations)
Session 4 – 8:00 pm (Championship Semifinals & Round of 12)
Saturday, March 23
Session 5 – 11:00 am (Placing Matches)
Session 6 – 7:00 pm (Championship Finals)
You may remember everything written above from such hits as Session I Match Notes. That is because I cut and pasted it directly from the award-winning live blog I just finished writing a couple of hours ago.
It is because I have been so busy that I can’t craft a proper preamble for every sessions’ live blog, but don’t think for a second it is because I don’t care. It is because the action is happening so fast and so furious that there is little time to prepare.
So little time that the second round will be begin in less than an hour and I still have plenty of work to do before I can start live blogging, so hold on tight and we’ll be in the midst of more rad NCAA Championship wrestling in no time!
Consolation bracket matches will take place on the outside mats, numbers 1, 2, 7 and 8. Championship side bouts will be inside on mats 3, 4, 5 and 6. We’re going to focus on the Round of 16 championship bouts but you can follow every bout on Trackwrestling (and watch it live on ESPN).
125 Pounds
PSU’s Braeden Davis has Cornell’s Brett Ungar. No scores after three minutes, though Davis was taking ground consistently in the bout. Davis gets an escape in the second to lead 1-0. No more scores now Ungar gets a turn underneath. Davis riding tough, 37 seconds of RT. Davis with over a minute of RT and counting. Ungar gets the escape but with less than 10 seconds in the period so Davis will secure the win 2-1.
All-American Pat McKee of Minnesota vs ASU’s Richie Figueroa. Figueroa strikes first with a takedown after a brief scramble. He has the first points on the championship side of session 2. An escape and another takedown gives Figueroa the 6-1 lead. McKee needs injury time. His left leg has been giving him problems all season unfortunately. McKee able to gut it out and continue. Figs up 9-1 in the second. And Figueroa will win by a major decision to score an extra team point for the Sun Devils.
Fresh off a first round upset is Harvard’s Diego Sotelo taking on Lock Haven All-American Anthony Noto. The Bald Eagle by way of New York scores first to lead the Crimson wrestler 3-1. 6-1 lead for Noto in the second period. Sotelo has a win over Noto this season but Noto now has a 9-1 lead going into the third. Sotelo tried to get a turn on top but Noto will take it 9-1.
Northern Colorado’s Stevo Poulin’s life be like a wrestling match with 2024 NCAA finalist Matt Ramos of Purdue. Ramos takes an early 3-0 lead, now 3-1. 3-2 now in the second period. Stevo riding tough on top in the third. A rideout would send things to OT but now Tamos is out and it’s 4-2 in favor of the Boilermaker. Stevo threatening but Ramos defends. 30 seconds. Ramos will win 4-2 in a hard fought bout.
Lehigh’s true freshman Luck Stanich has a serious test against Nebraska’s veteran Caleb Smith. No scores after one period, Smith escapes in the second to make it 1-0. Stanich underneath to start the 3rd, same score. Now 1-1, riding time not a factor. Sudden victory, and it’s the Husker with a double leg that he finishes for the win. Caleb Smith has the Nebraska fans on their feet!
Drake Ayala of Iowa wastes no time getting the first takedown over Stanford’s Nico Provo. Provo out quickly to make it 3-1. Ayala’s slide by is deadly! Ayala now leads three takedowns to three escapes still in the first. Ayala cruising, another TD in the third and it’s a tech fall victory, to which manny Hawkeye fans cheer.
Eric Barnett of Wisconsin and Jakob Camaoch of NC State in a battle of All-Americans. Barnett with the first score after a scramble and some good balance on top. Barnett is feeling his scrambles today and still leads 3-1 after two periods and a lot of mat wrestling. RT at 1:10 for the Badger. Barnett leads 7-2 in the third. Barnett will take it, 8-2 with riding time, impressive win.
OK State’s Troy Sprately with Virginia Tech’s Cooper Flynn is the last 125lb bout of this round. Sprtatley breaks the goose eggs off the board to amek it 3-0 late in the first. 3-1 still in Sprately’s favor at the end of the second period. Spratley with the escape and 1:46 of RT to lead 4-1 in the third. Spratley makes it official, 7-1 and is moving on to the quarterfinals.
133 Pounds
Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin wasting no time with the first takedown over Ethan Oakley of App State. Three nearfaul for Ragusin, and an escape makes it 6-1 at the end of the period. Ragusin keeps the lead going into the 3rd but now it’s 10-5, Oakley trying to get a turn on top. Oakley can’t get a turn so it’s 11-5 with the RT point and Ragusin wins.
With Sprately still on the mat comes the Cowboy standard bearer Daton Fix to take on Ohio State’s Nic Bouzakis. Fix and Bouzakis in a dicey upper body exchange but Fix is too savvy and he gets the takedown and the 3-0 lead. A takedown in the third for Bouzakis makes things interesting but Fix fends off the comeback and wins 5-4 to make his fifth appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals.
Rutgers’ Big Ten champ Dylan Shawver has Bucknells Kurt Phipps. Shawver close to a takedown at the end of the period but Phipps did just enough to keep the double bagels on the scoreboard. Full rideout in the second period so still 0-0 but 120 seconds of RT for the Scarlet Knights. Shawver takes neutral to preserve that RT. Scramble in the third but eventually stalemated. Shawver dinged witfor stalling, on the restart nearly lands a duck under but they scramble. And time runs out on Phipps so it’ll be a gutsy 1-0 win for Dylan Shawver.
Campbell’s Domenic Zaccone will take on the reigning NCAA and UWW world champ Vito Arujau of Cornell. Arujau and Zaccone go tumbling from one end of the mat to the other, no score, but Cornell coaches think there was one in there and throw the brick. No score on the review, but a little while later Arujau corrals Zaccone and now leads 3-1.
Julian Chlebove of Arizona State has Iowa State’s Evan Frost. After a scoreless first, Frost get an escape in the second to lead 1-0.
Little Rock’s true frosh phenom Nasir Bailey has UVA’s Nittany Lion slayer Marlon Yarbrough, who upset Aaron Nagao in the first round.
