Sulzer Advances to Quarterfinals at NCAA Championships
Story Links
March 20, 2014
Brackets/Team Scores After Session II | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Virginia wrestling team completed its first day of competition Thursday at the NCAA Championships at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. Third-seeded Nick Sulzer (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) cruised to a pair of wins at 165 pounds as he advanced to the quarterfinals.
Five Cavaliers remain alive in the tournament after the first day of action. Virginia is tied for 24th place in the team standings with six points after day one.
“Nick Sulzer looked amazing,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “He’s putting up a lot of points and scoring from a lot of positions. We’re really excited for what he’s doing.
“This could have been one of the best rounds in program history and we just missed it,” Garland said. “Blaise Butler came close against the seven-seed in overtime – it was a match that could have gone either way. Gus Sako got taken down late by Zach Neibert from Virginia Tech. It hurts because we could have had 149, 157 and 165 right in a row in the quarters.
The tournament’s third session starts at 11 a.m. ET on Friday. ESPNU will have the television coverage, while ESPN3 will have separate feeds of all eight mats. A link to live brackets also will be available at VirginiaSports.com, while live updates will be provided on the Virginia Wrestling Twitter account, @UVaWrestling.
Sulzer started his day with a 9-3 decision over Virginia Tech’s Chris Moon in the first round before topping 14th-seeded Dylan Palacio of Cornell, 12-6, in the second round. He will wrestle 11th-seeded Turtogtokh Luvsandorj of The Citadel in the quarterfinals with All-America honors on the line. Sulzer scored an 8-4 decision over Luvsandorj on Jan. 2 at the Southern Scuffle.
Four Cavaliers advanced to Friday competition in the consolation bracket. Each will need to win three matches Friday to clinch All-America honors.
Seeded 10th at 157 pounds, Blaise Butler (R-So., Belvidere, Ill.) advanced to the second round with a 7-6 win over Rutgers’ Anthony Perrotti. He fell in his second match, 3-1, on a last-second takedown in sudden-victory time by seventh-seeded Brian Realbuto of Cornell. Butler will wrestle Columbia’s Markus Scheidel Friday morning in the wrestlebacks.
The No. 7 seed at 149, Gus Sako (R-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio) lost his second-round match to 10th-seeded Zach Neibert of Virginia Tech, 3-2. He won his first match of the day, 7-4, over Northern Illinois’ Robert Jillard. Sako will face Michael Depalma of Kent State on Friday.
Stephen Doty (R-Sr., St. Louis, Mo.), the No. 11 seed at 174, advanced to the second round with a 3-2 win over Virginia Tech’s Austin Gabel before falling 5-4 to sixth-seeded Logan Storley in a match that came down to the riding time point. Doty will face Brian Harvey of Army on Friday.
Nick Herrmann (So., Amarillo, Texas) advanced in the consolation round with an 8-2 win over West Virginia’s Cory Stainbrook. He dropped a hard-fought 7-5 decision to sixth-seeded Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma in the first round. Herrmann will take on 12th-seeded Tim Lambert of Nebraska on Friday morning.
Three Cavaliers bowed out of the tournament Thursday. After falling 10-3 to fourth-seeded Scott Schiller of Minnesota in the first round, Zach Nye (R-So., Enola, Pa.) bounced back to defeat Blake Rosholt of Oklahoma State, 7-3, in the consolation pigtail match. His season ended with a 7-6 defeat to 13th-seeded Daniel Mitchell of American.
Jon Fausey (R-Sr., Dalmatia, Pa.) saw his UVa career come to an end with a pair of narrow losses, 7-5 to 13th-seeded Jack Dechow and 7-5 to Rider’s Chris Morrison. Fausey finished 10th in career wins at Virginia with 98.
Seeded 16th at 141 pounds, Joe Spisak (R-Jr., Boiling Springs, Pa.) saw his season come to a conclusion with a pair of losses Thursday. He fell 9-8 in a wild first-round match to Laike Gardner of Lehigh, then was pinned by Iowa State’s Gabe Moreno to finish his season with a 19-14 record.
Virginia Results – double elimination
Nick Herrmann (125 pounds)
1st Round – No. 6 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma) dec. Herrmann, 7-5
Conso Rd. 1 – dec. Cory Stainbrook (West Virginia), 8-2
Conso Rd. 2 – No. 12 Tim Lambert (Nebraska)
No. 16 Joe Spisak (141 pounds)
1st Round – Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. Spisak, 9-8
Conso Rd. 1 – Gabe Moreno (Iowa State) pinned Spisak, 1:09
No. 7 Gus Sako (149 pounds)
1st Round – dec. Robert Jillard (Northern Illinois), 7-4
2nd Round – No. 10 Zach Neibert (Virginia Tech) dec. Sako, 3-2
Conso 2nd Rd. – Michael Depalma (Kent State)
No. 10 Blaise Butler (157 pounds)
1st Round – dec. Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers), 7-6
2nd Round – No. 7 Brian Realbuto (Cornell) dec. Butler, 3-1 (SV)
Conso 2nd Round – Markus Scheidel (Columbia)
No. 3 Nick Sulzer (165 pounds)
1st Round – dec. Chris Moon (VT), 9-3
2nd Round – dec. No. 14 Dylan Palacio (Cornell), 12-6
Quarters – No. 11 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (The Citadel)
No. 11 Stephen Doty (174 pounds)
1st Round – dec. Austin Gabel (VT), 3-2
2nd Round – No. 6 Logan Storley (Minnesota) dec. Fausey, 5-4
Conso 2nd Rd. – Brian Harvey (Army)
Jon Fausey (184 pounds)
1st Round – No. 13 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) dec. Fausey, 7-5
Conso 1st Rd. – Clint Morrison (Rider) dec. Fausey, 7-5
Zach Nye (197 pounds)
1st Round – No. 4 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Nye, 10-3
Conso Pigtail – dec. Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma State), 7-3
Conso 1st Rd. – No. 13 Daniel Mitchell (American) dec. Nye, 7-6
2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Schedule of Events – All Times Eastern
Friday (March 21)
Third Session – 11 a.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Quarterfinals & Wrestleback Second and Third Rounds
Fourth Session – 8 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
Semifinals & Wrestleback Fourth and Fifth Rounds
Saturday (March 22)
Fifth Session – 11 a.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Wrestleback Semifinals & Third, Fifth and Seventh-Place Rounds
Sixth Session – 8 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
Championships Finals