Hayes Advances To NCAA Championships Quarterfinals
Brackets | Friday Morning Session ESPN Web Stream – WatchESPN
March 15, 2018
CLEVELAND – Redshirt freshman Louie Hayes (Orland Park, Ill.) paced Virginia at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, posting a pair of wins to advance to the quarterfinals. The event is being held at the Quicken Loans Center.
Hayes, the No. 12 seed at 125 pounds, defeated Paul Bianchi of North Dakota State in his opening bout before upsetting fifth-seeded Sean Fausz of NC State in his second-round matchup. He will now face No. 4 seed Nick Suriano of Rutgers in the quarterfinals on Friday morning.
The first Friday session begins at 11 a.m. EDT and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Also wrestling on Friday morning are redshirt senior Andrew Atkinson (Lynchburg, Va.), redshirt sophomore Sam Krivus (Greensburg, Pa.) and sophomore Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas). Redshirt junior Will Schany (Blair, Neb.) and redshirt sophomore Tyler Love (Clifton, Va.) dropped both of their matches and were eliminated from the event on Thursday.
Virginia is tied for 18th in the team standings with 8.5 points. Ohio State paces the field with 36 points, while Penn State (28.5), Iowa (27), Michigan (23) and NC State (20) round out the top five.
“I said last week that we would see some of our best wrestling this week and you have for the most part,” said Virginia head coach Steve Garland. “Right off the bat this morning, Jack (Mueller) and Louie (Hayes) were the best they’ve looked. Louie carried that over into tonight with a big, big win over Fausz. Elation doesn’t begin to cover our feeling. Even in losses today we saw some great wrestling. Will Schany looked the best I’ve seen him today and gave a seeded wrestler everything he could hand, then lost a heartbreaker here in the wrestlebacks. Sam (Krivus) just got his first win to advance to tomorrow, and Andrew (Atkinson) got his first win ever. You could see the weight come off his back tonight.”
Hayes turned in a dominant performance in his first match of the day with a 14-1 major decision over Paul Bianchi of North Dakota State. His second match was a rematch of this year’s ACC Championship finals against fifth-seeded Fausz of NC State. Fausz won the first meeting 4-0 two weeks ago.
The Friday night match started out the same way with Fausz building a 3-0 lead. Hayes turned it on in the third period, getting a takedown and back points as time expired. The match stood at 4-4 at the end of regulation, as the riding time point pulled Fausz into the tie with Hayes. Extra time belonged to Hayes, however, as the Cavalier got a takedown and four back points in sudden victory to advance to the quarterfinals with the 10-4 decision.
Atkinson split matches on the day at 165 pounds, dropping a major decision to No. 16 seed Jonathon Chavez of Cornell in his opening bout. He responded in his evening bout, pinning Zac Carson of Eastern Michigan to stay alive and advance to Friday morning’s matches in the consolation bracket. The win over Carson is the first at the NCAA Championships for Atkinson, who is a four-time qualifier for Virginia. Atkinson will face No. 15 seed Anthony Valencia of Arizona State on Friday morning.
Krivus dropped his opening match of the day at 149 pounds in a 3-1 decision to sixth-seeded Justin Oliver of Central Michigan. He advanced in the wrestlebacks on Thursday night, taking a 3-2 decision over Taylor Ortz of Clarion, with riding time providing the deciding point. He will face Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech on Friday morning.
Mueller, the No. 10 seed at 133 pounds, faced a pair of rematches in his two matches on day one. He faced Sean Nickell of CSU Bakersfield in his opening match and seventh-seeded Austin DeSanto of Drexel in his second-round match. Mueller had faced Nickell once before this season, while he was facing Drexel for the fourth time. He won the previous three meetings against DeSanto, two by shutout, and won the first meeting with Nickell in a shutout.
Mueller was again dominant in his match with Nickell, taking his NCAA opener with a 17-1 tech fall. Drexel’s DeSanto took the Friday night meeting, posting a 16-8 major decision over Mueller in the second-round matchup. Mueller will face Charles Tucker of Cornell in Friday morning’s session.
Schany dropped a pair of matches by decision in his first appearances at the NCAA Championships. The redshirt junior dropped a tight 5-3 contest to No. 7 seed Taylor Lujan of Northern Iowa in his opening bout. A takedown as time expired in his second match of the day ended his stay at the NCAA Championships as Ben Harvey of Army took the 7-5 decision.
Love dropped both of his matches on Thursday in his first NCAA Championships appearance. Love faced No. 12 seed Youssif Hemida of Maryland in his first match, dropping a 9-1 major decision. He then faced off against Antonio Pelusi of Franklin & Marshall in the wrestlebacks, dropping a 3-1 decision in overtime to end his stay at the event.
125
No. 12 seed Louie Hayes
Hayes major dec. Paul Bianchi (NDSU), 14-1
Hayes dec. No. 5 seed Sean Fausz (NC State), 10-4
Hayes vs. No. 2 seed Nick Suriano (Rutgers) on Friday
133
No. 10 seed Jack Mueller
Mueller tech fall Sean Nickell (CSU-Bakersfield), 17-1
No. 7 seed Austin DeSanto (Drexel) major dec. Mueller, 16-8
Mueller vs. Charles Tucker (Cornell) on Friday
149
Sam Krivus
No. 6 seed Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) dec. Krivus, 3-1
Krivus dec. Taylor Ortz (Clarion), 3-2
Krivus vs. Ryan Blees (Va. Tech) on Friday
165
Andrew Atkinson
No. 16 seed Jonathon Chavez (Cornell) major dec. Atkinson, 14-3
Atkinson pinned Zac Carson (E. Michigan), 6:53
Atkinson vs. No. 15 seed Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) on Friday
174
Will Schany
No. 7 seed Taylor Lujan (N. Iowa) dec. Schany, 5-3
Ben Harvey (Army) dec. Schany, 7-5
HWT
Tyler Love
No. 12 seed Youssif Hemida (Maryland) major dec. Love, 9-1
Antonio Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall) dec. Love, 3-1