Three Hoos Advance To Day Two At NCAA Championships

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Marlon Yarbrough knocked off 10th-seeded Aaron Nagao of Penn State at the NCAA Championships on Thursday (March 21) to lead a trio of Virginia wrestlers who advance to the second day of action at the T-Mobile Center.

Yarbrough will be joined on the mat by Nick Hamilton and Justin McCoy when wrestling resumes at 12 p.m. ET on Friday (March 22).

HOW IT HAPPENED
Marlon Yarbrough got the day started in a big way at 133 pounds, taking control early on the way to a 13-5 major decision over returning All-American and No. 10 seed Aaron Nagao of Penn State. He then battled his second top-10 opponent on the day in the evening session as No. 7 seed Nasir Bailey of Little Rock pulled away late for an 11-7 decision over Yarbrough. The junior will continue to wrestle on Friday in the consolation bracket.

At 174 pounds, Justin McCoy was the other Cavalier to advance in the championship side of the bracket. McCoy opened the day with a rematch of an earlier season match against No. 20 seed Brody Conley of West Virginia. He easily took the 8-4 decision to advance to the round of 16 where he faced off with fourth-seeded Shane Griffith of Michigan. A returning All-America and NCAA Champion, Griffith took the 5-1 decision over McCoy to send him to the consolation bracket for Friday.

Nick Hamilton opened the day going toe-to-toe with third-seeded Julian Ramirez of Cornell, dropping a 5-4 decision to Ramirez. He then came back in the night session, defeating No. 32 seed Jake Logan of Lehigh 4-1 in sudden victory before controlling the match in a 13-2 major decision over No. 19 seed Gunner Filipowicz of Army to close his day. He will continue to wrestle in the consolation brackets on Friday.

In his first NCAA appearance, Krystian Kinsey faced a pair of ACC foes. He dropped his opening match of the day to second-seeded Trent Hidlay of NC State to open the day. He saw his tournament run come to an end in the nightcap against No. 15 seed Max Shaw of North Carolina.

NOTES ON THE DAY

• Marlon Yarbrough faced a pair of top 10 seeds in his two matches with Aaron Nagao ranked No. 8 nationally and Nasir Bailey ranked No. 5 nationally.
• Three Cavaliers made their first appearance at an NCAA Championship as Justin McCoy is the only Virginia wrestler with NCAA Championship experience in the field.
• McCoy is the first five-time qualifier for the Cavaliers as he earned a berth in the NCAA Championships for the fifth consecutive season with this appearance.
• McCoy has a rematch of another regular-season matchup as he will face Gaven Sax (NDSU) on Friday.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“I’m really proud of our guys. They competed so hard today. Marlon Yarbrough was in a position to advance to the quarterfinals. He did all he could, but his opponent was really good and beat us late. Credit to him and his coaching staff. Nick Hamilton looked amazing today. He almost knocked off the third seeded wrestler and then comes back and wins two matches in the night session. He’s so tough. Justin McCoy just competed and ended his night against a national champion and wrestled his heart out. Krystian Kinsey just gave everything he had out there today. If everyone knew how far he’s come, they’d be as proud of him as I am today.”

VIRGINIA RESULTS
133
No. 23 seed Marlon Yarbrough
R32: Yarbrough major dec. No. 10 seed Aaron Nagao (Penn State), 13-5
R16: No. 7 seed Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) dec. Yarbrough, 11-7
Conso. R2: Yarbrough vs. No. 25 seed Braden Basile (Army) in Friday early session

165
No. 30 seed Nick Hamilton
R32: No. 3 seed Julian Ramirez (Cornell) dec. Hamilton, 5-4
Conso. Pigtail: Hamilton dec. No. 32 seed Jake Logan (Lehigh), 4-1 (sv-1)
Conso. R1: Hamilton major dec. No. 19 seed Gunner Filipowicz (Army), 13-2
Conso. R2: Hamilton vs. No. 20 seed Hunter Garvin (Stanford) in Friday early session

174
No. 13 seed Justin McCoy
R32: McCoy dec. No. 20 seed Brody Conley (West Virginia), 8-4
R16: No. 4 seed Shane Griffith (Michigan) dec McCoy, 5-1
Conso. R2: McCoy vs.NO. 14 seed  Gaven Sax (NDSU) in Friday early session

197
No. 31 seed Krystian Kinsey
R32: No. 2 seed Trent Hidlay (NC State) tech fall Kinsey, 19-4 (5:26)
Conso. R1: No. 15 seed Max Shaw (UNC) dec. Kinsey, 5-1