2012 NCAA Wrestling Championships Blog

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Friday, March 16 – Session IV
9:30 p.m. – UVa ends Session IV in a 27th-place tie with Purdue with 17.5 points.

7:30 p.m. – The Cavaliers’ season has come to an end, as Fausey dropped a 2-0 decision to Ben Bennett. After a scoreless first period, Bennett quickly escaped to start the second. He then rode Fausey for the entire third period to secure the riding time point and win 2-0 and clinch All-America honors. Fausey went 3-2 in the tournament.

7:00 p.m. – We’re slowly working our way to the round of 12 matches at 184 pounds, where Jon Fausey will take on No. 3 seed Ben Bennett of Central Michigan. The two were just announced as on deck for Mat 6.

Friday, March 16 – Session III
2:05 p.m. – Session III is officially over. UVa is tied for 22nd place with Purdue and Wyoming with 17.5 team points.

1:45 p.m. – UVa ends the session on a good note as Jon Fausey wins 5-3 over Nathan Schiedel of Binghamton. The lone remaining Cavalier in the field, Fausey will wrestle No. 3 seed Ben Bennett of Central Michigan tonight for the right to become an All-American. Session IV begins at 6 p.m. CT this evening.

1:40 p.m. – Two more Cavaliers are out, both in extremely close bouts. Gus Sako fell 3-1 to No. 11 seed Cam Tessari of Ohio State, while Sulzer was ridden for the entire third period in his match with Ben Jordan, and the riding time point proved costly in the 3-2 loss.

1:20 p.m. – Tough stretch for Virginia. After Snyder is eliminated, both Nelson brothers fall in their matches and are knocked out. Nick Nelson dropped a 12-2 major decision to Michael Nevinger of Cornell at 141 in the final match of his career, while Matt Nelson fell 5-3 to Zach Horan of Central Michigan.

1:10 p.m. – Matt Snyder is the first Cavalier to get eliminated after falling 4-1 to No. 3 seed Alan Waters of Missouri. Now the Nelson brothers are wrestling side by side on Mats 2 and 4.

12:40 p.m. – Jon Fausey was in control throughout in an 8-2 win over Casey Newburg of Kent State at 184. He advances to face Nathan Schiedel of Binghamton. The Cavaliers went 6-0 in the first part of the wrestlebacks today; the third round of wrestlebacks will start in the next few minutes.

11:52 p.m. – Nick Sulzer advances with a 10-8 decision over Army’s Coleman Gracey. Sulzer racked up 2:22 in riding time while controlling most of the match. He moves on and will face Ben Jordan of Wisconsin, who upset No. 5 seed Michael Evans of Iowa, in his next match.

11:42 p.m. – Nick Sulzer is taking the mat now on Mat 7. At the same time, his brother, Aaron, from Eastern Michigan, is on Mat 1 wrestling at 157 pounds.

11:07 a.m. – The comebacks continue. Gus Sako falls down 4-0 to Kent State’s Ian Miller at 149, but works his way back and scores the deciding reversal with 1:11 remaining for a 10-8 win. Sako earns his second NCAA win, but his first on the mat (won by medical forfeit last night).

10:58 a.m. – Comebacks must run in the family. Nick Nelson rallies from a 4-0 hole to win 6-4 over Oklahoma State’s Josh Kindig in sudden-victory time. Nelson gave up a quick takedown and two back points, but then reversed Kindig to finish the period. He rode Kindig for the entire second period and escaped early in the third to lock up the riding time point. He took Kindig down 16 seconds into the sudden-victory period to nab the win.

10:40 a.m. – Matt Nelson storms back from a 6-1 first-period deficit to defeat Zach Zehner of Wyoming, 10-9, to advance at 133. Nelson was in danger on getting pinned in the first period before fending off Zehner and just giving up two back points. He looked fresher down the stretch and cut Zehner loose twice in the third, then quickly taking him down again.

10:25 a.m. – Matt Snyder starts the Cavaliers’ day on a great note, pinning Jared Germane of EMU 24 seconds into the third period. After the two battled through a 4-4 first period, Snyder rode Germane for all of the second period before scoring the quick pin in the third.

10 a.m. – We are ready to get started with day 2 of the championships. Matt Snyder will be first up for the Cavaliers on Mat 8, facing Jared Germane of Eastern Michigan. The Cavaliers are sporting the orange singlets today.

Thursday, March 15 – Session II
10 p.m. – Wrap-up videos from Matt Nelson here and Nick Sulzer here.

9:40 p.m. – Nick Sulzer wraps up a great wrestleback session for UVa with a 3-2 tiebreaker win over No. 10 seed Cody Yohn of Minnesota. Yohn was penalized in the final seconds of the tiebreaker for holding on to the leg. This finishes the day for UVa; all six Cavaliers are alive for the Friday session.

8:55 p.m. – UVa has its first two wins of the second session. Gus Sako advances to competition Friday after his scheduled opponent, Mario Mason of Rutgers, took a medical forfeit. Matt Nelson then picked up a 6-2 win over Jamie Franco of Hofstra. Nelson took an early lead with a takedown, then built over two minutes of riding time in the solid win. Sako will face No. 5 seed Ian Miller of Kent State, while Nelson will take on Zach Zehner of Wyoming tomorrow.

8:15 p.m. – Jon Fausey suffers a heartbreaking loss at 184 pounds, giving up a takedown to No. 5-seeded Kevin Steinhaus with four seconds left. Fausey will take on the winner of Navy’s Luke Rebertus and Kent State’s Casey Newburg tomorrow morning.

7:20 p.m. – UVa is off to a slow start in the second round, as No. 7 seed Nick Nelson was upset by Zach Neibert of Virginia Tech, 4-2, at 141. Nelson fell behind 3-0 in the third period before reversing Neibert, who already had built up well over a minute in riding time to clinch that point. Nelson was unable to get any back points in the closing seconds in falling to the wrestlebacks. He will face the winner of the Joshua Kindig (Oklahoma State)/Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) match in Session III Friday morning.

7:00 p.m. – No. 11 seed Matt Snyder fell into the wrestlebacks with a 4-3 loss to No. 6 seed Frank Perrelli of Cornell in a tiebreaker. Snyder scored an early takedown before giving up a reversal and the two batted tooth and nail from there. Snyder will wrestle the winner of the Vince Rodriguez (George Mason)/Jared Germane (EMU) match.

6:25 p.m. – We’re about ready to get underway with the second session. Matt Snyder takes the mat first!

Thursday, March 15 – Session I
1:55 p.m. – Session I is in the books for the Cavaliers, who finish round 1 with seven team points. Coach Garland talks about the first round here and Jon Fausey comments here. The second round begins at 6:30 p.m. CT.

1:35 p.m. – No. 12 seed Jon Fausey was extremely impressive in a 9-0 major decision over Ian Hinton at 184 pounds. Fausey led 5-0 after one period, built up 3:54 in riding time and rode Hinton for the entire third period. He will wrestle No. 5 seed Kevin Steinhaus of Minnesota this evening.

1:10 p.m. – Nick Sulzer went down to the wire with No. 7 seed Josh Asper before falling 6-4. It was a match of ‘close but not quite’ for Sulzer, who was in on several shots but could not quite finish. It gets no easier for Sulzer; he will wrestle No. 10 seed Cody Yohn of Minnesota in the wrestlebacks. Yohn was an upset victim of Cal Poly’s Dominic Kastl in the first round.

1 p.m. – Next match up for UVa: Nick Sulzer will make his NCAA debut against a familiar foe, No. 7 seed Josh Asper of Maryland, who won his pigtail match to advance.

12:30 p.m. – Gus Sako gave No. 2 seed Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State all he could handle before falling 7-2 at 149. The two were tied 2-2 in the second before Parks recorded a takedown with 25 seconds left. Parks shot in after a late Sako takedown attempt to push the match out of reach. Sako will wrestle Mario Mason (Rutgers) in the wrestlebacks tonight.

12:10 p.m. – No. 7 seed Nick Nelson won a 1-0 defensive struggle over Mike Kessler of Appalachian State at 141. Kessler built up 1:24 in riding time in the second period before Nelson escaped. Nelson then rode Kessler for the entire third period to seal the win and advance to face Zach Neibert of Virginia Tech, a 6-5 upset winner over No. 10 seed Jake Sueflohn of Nebraska.

11:45 a.m. – Matt Nelson’s first NCAA match was a quick one against No. 7 seed AJ Schoop of Edinboro. Schoop scored a takedown a minute in, then put Nelson on his back just over a minute later before finishing off the pin in 2:22. Nelson moves on to face Jamie Franco of Hofstra in the wrestlebacks this evening.

11:20 a.m. – No. 11 seed Matt Snyder overcame a late deficit for a first-round win over Johnny Dijulis of Ohio State at 125 pounds in UVa’s first bout of the afternoon session. After a scoreless first period, Snyder rode Dijulius for the entire second. Dijulius took neutral to start the third and was able to gain control for the takedown with just over a minute left. Snyder slowly worked his way out and with 35 second left was able to reverse Dijulius and ride him the rest of the way for the 3-2 win. He gets No. 6 seed Frank Perrelli of Cornell in round 2 this evening.

11 a.m. – We’re underway here at the NCAA Championships. Keep tabs on the Cavaliers all week here.