CLEVELAND – Gable Porter split action on Thursday (March 19) at the NCAA Championships to advance to day two of the event and will continue his quest for a podium finish and All-America honors at Rocket Arena on Friday.
Porter was one of three wrestlers competing for Virginia in the event. Colton Washleski (157) and Brenan Morgan also wrestled for the Cavaliers, but saw their time at the NCAA Championships come to an end as both went 0-2 on the day.
Porter dropped his opening-round match against No. 6 seed Vince Cornella of Cornell, but rallied in the third period of his consolation match to advance to Friday’s action at the tournament.
Wrestling for Friday’s action begins at 12 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPNU and streamed at ESPN.com.
NOTING THE HOOS
- Gable Porter rallied back through wrestlebacks, defeating No. 22 seed Lorenzo Frezza of Columbia in Thursday night’s consolation bracket with a 5-4 come-from-behind decision over the Lion to move to day two.
- Porter needs to win three more matches on Friday to lock up a place on the podium and All-America honors.
- Colton Washleski faced No. 27 seed Dylan Evans of Pitt for the third time this season after the wrestlers split their previous two meetings. Washleski won the meeting in the ACC Championships earlier this month advance to the third-place match.
- Brenan Morgan faced No. 2 seed Isaac Trumble in the opening round, marking his third time facing the Wolfpack wrestler this season – including a semifinal matchup at the ACC Championships.
FROM HEAD COACH STEVE GARLAND
“Gable is still going, so our entire focus now is getting him on the podium. The dream is still alive for him. It was an honor to coach Colton Washleski this year. He was such a blessing to this team and I’m going to miss him. It was a hard way to see him go out, but he wrestled his heart out and gave us everything he had out there. Brenan Morgan has a bright future ahead. Obviously, this time it didn’t go the way he planned, but he’s only a redshirt freshman and has a long career ahead of him.”
141
No. 27 seed Gable Porter
R1: No. 6 seed Vince Cornella (Cornell) major dec. Porter, 8-0
Conso. R1: Porter dec. No. 22 seed Lorenzo Frezza (Columbia), 5-4
Conso. R2: Porter vs. No. 21 Tyler Wells (Oklahoma) on Friday morning
157
No. 22 seed Colton Washleski
R1: No. 11 seed Ty Watters (West Virginia) pinned Washleski, 2:30
Conso. R1: No. 27 seed Dylan Evans dec. Washleski, 4-2