Three wrestlers earn at-large bids, five total now in NCAA Tournament
While Sammy Alvarez and Billy Janzer received automatic bids to the NCAA tournament this past weekend, eight other Scarlet Knights awaited their fate. At-large bids were up for grabs Tuesday, deciding whose season would continue on to Minnesota, and who would have their season put to an end.
SIGN UP FOR PREMIUM AND GET A FREE $50 GIFT CARD — CLICK HERE FOR MORE!!
Nic Aguilar, Mike Van Brill, and Jordan Pagano were the fortunate Rutgers wrestlers who earned at-large bids on Tuesday. All three wrestlers will join Alvarez and Janzer at the 2020 NCAA tournament in two weeks, as Rutgers wrestling will have a total of five NCAA qualifiers.
Aguilar and Van Brill each finished one place outside the automatic qualifier allotment for their respective weight classes. Doing so is one of the criteria for the opportunity at an at-large bid.
Aguilar’s resume was assumed to be good enough to receive a bid, whereas there were some concerns about Van Brill getting his ticket. Fortunately for Van Brill, his quality performance at the Big Ten tournament did the trick.
Jordan Pagano sat out the Big Ten tournament due to injury. Although he was not able to compete, Pagano was required to weigh-in and step on the mat to forfeit his first match. If Pagano had not done so, he would not have been eligible for an at-large selection.
There was not as much concern for Pagano’s selection, as he has ranked wins over a number of ranked opponents, including two top 10 wins in the final two weeks of the regular season. Sources say Pagano will be healthy in time for the NCAA tournament.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel