With two alive in the championship rounds, Rutgers wrestling was looking for Sebastian Rivera and John Poznanski to move one spot closer to a national title in the final session of day one at the NCAA national wrestling tournament. Rivera was set to face in-conference foe Dylan Duncan, and Poznanski was going to see former All-American Dakota Geer in their pre-quarterfinal match-ups.
Despite wrestling in the same conference, Sebastian Rivera never crossed paths with Dylan Duncan until tonight. Duncan, the fourteenth seed, was able to capitalize first with a takedown in the opening period. Duncan would go on to ride Rivera out the rest of the first period, holding a surprising 2 – 0 lead over the three seed.
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Rivera, however, wasted no time in the second period getting out in-front of Duncan. An escape, a takedown, and a ride out would give Rivera a 3 – 2 advantage going into the second period, with riding time not being a factor.
It was the third period where Rivera was able to put the match out of reach, thanks to a tilt that racked up four near-fall points. Rivera would be reversed by Duncan, after Duncan was able to get off his back. Rivera quickly escaped from Duncan and secured a takedown, which would ice a 10 – 4 decision for Rivera.
Rivera moves on to tomorrow morning’s quarter-final match, where he will see Allan Hart of Missouri. A win for Rivera will not only send him to the semi-finals, but will also secure All-American status for the third time in his career.
At 184-lbs was a battle between young up-and-comer verses proven veteran, as John Poznanski was in a battle with former All-American Dakota Geer.
Geer’s length appeared to be a potential challenge to Poznanski’s offense, but “Poz” found a way to find openings. Poznanski used multiple attacks to take Geer down twice, and controlled nearly the entire match.
It was not just Poznanski’s offense that won the battle, but his defense as well. Geer only capitalized on one of several shot attempts. One sequence which stood out was when Poznanski appeared to be all-but taken down, until he was able to whizzer out of Geer’s single leg attempt, all while balancing on one knee.
Poznanski walked away with a dominant 6 – 3 victory, sending him to the quarter-finals tomorrow morning. Poznanski will wrestle Binghamton’s Louie DePrez, a three-time national qualifier. Like Rivera, Poznanski will be an All-American if he can take out the third seed DePrez.
Jackson Turley wasn’t ready for his season to end tonight. Turley dominated his way to a victory Thursday evening, wrestling Anthony Mantanona of Oklahahoma in the first round of wrestlebacks.
It took just one period for Turley to pin Mantanona, after once already putting Mantanona to his back with a body lock earlier in the match. Turley next wrestles tomorrow morning in the second round of the consolation bracket, where he will see Indiana’s Donnell Washington.
Turley’s teammates in the wrestlebacks, Mike Van Brill and Billy Janzer, did to fair as well.
After a Cinderella run to a bronze medal at the Big Ten tournament, things did not pan out as Mike Van Brill would have hoped this weekend. Van Brill was upset in the opening round by the twenty-third seed Triston Lara. That would put Van Brill in the wrestlebacks with NIU’s Anthony Cheloni.
Van Brill was able to score the first point with a takedown, and later gave up an escape which resulted in a 2 – 1 first period.
Near-fall points once again were the demise of Van Brill, as Cheloni was able to reverse Van Brill and put him to his back for a six-point sequence. Van Brill was able to get out of danger, but trailed 5 – 4 after Cheloni swung the momentum in his favor.
Van Brill started the third period on top of Cheloni, and quickly cut Cheloni loose to give Van Brill an opportunity to tie the match with a takedown. It was Cheloni, however, who scored the takedown to win the match, and ultimately end Van Brill’s NCAA tournament and season.
Van Brill, who is technically a fifth-year senior, will have the option to come back next year, being this season does not count towards eligibility.
Billy Janzer wrestled the seventeenth seed JT Brown of Army in his first consolation bracket match. A loss for Janzer would mean the end of his tournament, and season.
Janzer and Brown both had a takedown and an escape throughout the match, which resulted in a tied score late in the third period at 3 – 3. With time running out in the third period, Brown was able to score a double-leg takedown on Janzer, to go up 5 – 3. The short time did not allow for Janzer to tie the match, ultimately ending his first national tournament.
Sebastian Rivera, Jackson Turley, and John Poznanski will be back in action tomorrow morning. Rivera will wrestle at 11:00 am ET in his quarter-final. Turley and Poznanski will be wrestling at 3:00 pm ET, with Turley wrestling in the consolation bracket and Poznanski wrestling a quarter-final match. Fans can catch the action live on ESPN 3 and ESPNU, or follow along on trackwrestling.com
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