Aiello, Mueller Earn Top-10 Seeds As NCAA Wrestling Championships Brackets Are Released
2020 NCAA Wrestling Championship Brackets
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The full brackets and seeds were announced for the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Wednesday (March 11) and Virginia redshirt junior Jay Aiello (Chantilly, Va.) and senior Jack Mueller (Dallas, Texas) are both top-10 seeds in their respective weight classes.
This is the second season that the NCAA has seeded every wrestler at each weight class rather than just releasing the top 16 seeds for each weight class. The 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the NCAA announced that all winter championships would be conducted without fan attendance and that only essential staff and limited family attendance due to COVID-19.
Mueller is the No. 4 seed at 125 pounds after going 13-1 this season and posted a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships this past weekend. He claimed the 125-pound title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and stormed through the season with four pins, three technical falls and three major decisions in his 13 victories. A year ago, Mueller finished as runner up at the NCAA Championships with a 21-1 record on the season. He will face No. 29 seed Edwin Thomsen of Nebraska in his opening match.
Aiello is the No. 7 seed at 197 pounds after posting a 27-4 record this season and claiming the ACC Championship for his weight class this past weekend. He was the first ACC Champion at 197 pounds for the Cavaliers since the 2009 season (Brent Jones) and only the third at that weight class in program history. He took a runner-up finish at the Midlands Championships and placed eighth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and Aiello holds a 4-2 record against nationally-ranked opponents, including a win over second-ranked Jacob Warner of Iowa at the Midlands. He will face 26th-seeded Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming in his opening match – a rematch of his opening-round match at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Hayes is making his second appearance at the NCAA Championships after wrestling in the event at 125 pounds in 2018. He is the No. 20 seed at 133 pounds this season after finishing third at the ACC Championships and receiving an automatic bid. He posted a 21-11 record this season. He will face 13th-seeded Tim Rooney of Kent State in his first match. That will be a rematch of their meeting at the Virginia Duals.
McCoy is making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships and is seeded No. 27 at 157 pounds. McCoy advanced to the third-place match at the ACC Championships to lock up his automatic bid. McCoy has wins over three nationally-ranked wrestlers this season on the way to an 18-13 record this season. He will face sixth-seeded Kendall Coleman of Purdue in his first match, which is a rematch of a regular-season meeting between the two at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Coy is making his second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships and is seeded No. 32 at 165 pounds. After missing most of the season due to injury, he knocked off top-seeded Kennedy Monday of North Carolina to advance to the third-place match at the ACC Championships and secure one of the league’s automatic bids. He will face the No. 33 seed, Tyler Meisinger of Michigan, in his first match. Their match will be the pigtail match for the bracket with the winner facing top-seeded Tyler Marinelli of Iowa next.
Miller is making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships after posting a 19-7 record on the season and securing one of the automatic bids for the league. In his 19 wins this season, he has posted 10 pins, two tech falls and a major decision. He is seeded 23rd in the bracket and will face 10th-seeded Yaraslau Slavikouski of Harvard in his first match. The two met earlier this year in the Keystone Classic.
VIRGINIA OPENING-ROUND MATCHUPS
125: No. 4 seed Jack Mueller vs. No. 29 seed Edwin Thomsen (Nebraska)
133: No. 20 seed Louie Hayes vs. No. 13 seed Tim Rooney (Kent State)
157: No. 27 seed Justin McCoy vs. No. 6 seed Kendall Coleman (Purdue)
165: No. 32 seed Cam Coy vs. No. 33 seed Tyler Meisinger (Michigan)
197: No. 7 seed Jay Aiello vs. No. 26 seed Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming)
HWT: No. 23 seed Quinn Miller vs. No. 10 seed Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard)