McCoy Earns Semifinal Berth To Lead Hoos On Day One At Midlands

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Justin McCoy punched his ticket to the semifinals on Friday (Dec. 29) to lead a trio of Cavaliers who advance to the second day of action at the 59th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern.

McCoy will be joined by Marlon Yarbrough and Nick Sanko in action on Saturday at NOW Arena. Wrestling begins at 12 p.m. ET and will be streamed on B1G+ for a subscription.

HOW IT HAPPENED
McCoy (174) posted a 4-0 record on the day, capping Friday’s action with a win over No. 19 Brody Conley of West Virginia in the quarterfinals to advance to the Saturday morning semifinal.

Marlon Yarbrough (133) advanced to the quarterfinals, picking up back-to-back wins to start the day before dropping an 8-7 decision in a hard-fought battle with Dylan Ragusin of Michigan. He will continue on in Saturday’s wrestlebacks along with Nick Sanko (157).

Sanko went 4-1 on the day, rattling off four straight wins after dropping his opening match of the day, and advances to the third session on Saturday with a chance to finish on the podium.

Also advancing to Friday night’s session were Erik Roggie (149) and Ryan Catka (285) who went went 2-2 on the day.

NOTES ON THE DAY

• Justin McCoy advances to the second day of action for the second straight season and is looking to improve upon his fifth-place finish from last season’s Midlands Championships.
• Erik Roggie posted a win over the No. 13 ranked wrestler with a decision over Quinn Kinner of Rider.
• Michael Gioffre (149) and Dylan Cedeno (157) both had their tournament end due to injury in the first session
• Three Cavaliers had to withdraw prior to the start of the tournament due to illness: Kyle Montaperto (125), Griffin Gammell (184) and Krystian Kinsey (197)

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“Today was about as crazy of a day as it gets. I can’t recall a session in my 24 years of coaching where that many crazy things happened to our guys. I’m hurting for the guys who are banged up, but we need to stand firm as a team. We need to find ways where they can help and I mean everyone. I’m really thankful for the way Justin McCoy wrestled today, and of course Marlon Yarbrough. Nick Sanko has come back hard and rattled off a bunch of wins to make the blood round and Erik Roggie knocked off the 13th-ranked wrestler. That’s what I’m talking about and that’s what we need to see moving forward.”

VIRGINIA INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
133:
Gable Porter*
R32: No. 31 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) dec. Porter, 7-5
Conso. R32-2: Porter dec. Brandon Wittenburg (George Mason), 8-6 (sv-1)
Conso. R16-1: Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) dec. Porter, 8-5
*Competing unattached

No. 20 Marlon Yarbrough
R32: Yarbrough major dec. Jameson Garcia (Harvard), 13-4
R16: Yarbrough dec. Marcel Lopez (SIUE), 6-3
QF: Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec. Yarbrough, 8-7
Conso. R8-2: Yarbrough vs. Jake Manley (Cleveland State) on Saturday morning 

141:
Kyren Butler
R64: Butler dec. Jacob Brya (N. Illinois), 7-2
R32: Butler pinned Brady Hoshino (Cal Baptist), 6:34
R16: No. 25 Danny Pucino (Illinois) tech fall Butler, 25-1 (6:46)
Conso. R16-2: Bradley Rosen (North Central College) dec. Butler, 7-6

No. 20 Jack Gioffre
R64: Gioffre dec. Eric Almarinez (SIUE), 4-0
R32: Gioffre dec. Michael Jaffe (Harvard), 7-4
R16: Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) pinned Gioffre, 3:40
Conso. R16-2: Tyler Vazquez (Princeton) pinned Gioffre, 0:29 

149:
No. 33 Michael Gioffre
R64: Caine Tyus (SIUE) dec. Gioffre, 3-2 (TB-1)
Conso. R32: Gioffre dec. Mykey Ramos (Arizona State), 12-11
Conso. R16-1: Gioffre medical forfeit Christopher Coates (unattached)

Erik Roggie
R32: Kannon Webster (Illinois) major dec. Roggie, 12-2
Conso. R16-1: Roggie major dec. Tommy Curran (N. Illinois), 11-2
Conso. R16-2: Roggie dec. No. 13 Quinn Kinner (Rider), 8-6
Conso. R8-1: Ryan Moore (Thomas More) dec. Roggie, 4-1 

157:
No. 31 Dylan Cedeno
R64: Cedeno major dec. Ricky Roberto (Arizona State), 10-0
R32: Kailan Keith (Thomas More) over Cedeno by injury default

Nick Sanko
R64: Lucas Revano (Penn) tech fall Sanko, 17-2
Conso. R32: Sanko dec. Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (George Mason), 8-3
Conso. R16-1: Sanko major dec. Zack Mattin (Michigan), 12-4
Conso. R16-2: Sanko dec. Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia), 8-5
Conso. R8-1: Sanko dec. Isaac Ruble (Purdue), 12-5
Conso. R8-2: Sanko vs. No. 16 Chase Saldate (Michigan State) on Saturday morning 

174:
No.7 Justin McCoy
R64: McCoy dec. Michael Squires (Princeton), 9-2
R32: McCoy dec. Ceasar Garza (Michigan State), 8-7
R16: McCoy major dec. Hayden Pummel (N. Illinois), 11-3
QF: McCoy dec. No. 19 Brody Conley (West Virginia), 11-6
SF: McCoy vs. No. 13 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard) on Saturday morning

HWT:
Ryan Catka
R32: John Stout (Penn) dec. Catka, 6-5
Conso. R16-1: Catka major dec.. Bryan Caves (Central Michigan), 16-4
Conso. R16-2: Catka tech fall Robby Bates (North Central College), 22-6
Conso. R8-1: Sebastian Garibaldi (Princeton) dec. Catka, 8-4