Kolodzik, D'Angelo Earn Seeds As NCAA Unveils Wrestling Championship Draws

Two-time EIWA champion and 2017 All-American Matthew Kolodzik earned the 11th seed at 149, while EIWA runner-up Mike D'Angelo earned the 16th seed at 157, as the brackets for the 2018 NCAA Championships were unveiled Wednesday night. Senior co-captain Jonathan Schleifer, making a historic fourth trip to the NCAA Championships, and freshman Patrick Brucki will join the seeded duo in Cleveland for the national championships, which begin Thursday, March 15 and will be televised/streamed throughout the weekend on the ESPN Platform.

See the NCAA Championship brackets here.

Kolodzik (24-5), who placed seventh at 141 to earn All-American honors as a freshman last year, claimed the 11th seed after defeating Binghamton's Frank Garcia last Sunday to win the EIWA title. Kolodzik, who has won 13 of his last 14 matches, will open his weekend against Clarion's Taylor Ortiz (26-10), a freshman who clinched the NCAA bid by making the EWL final. If seeds hold in the opening round, Kolodzik would face 2016 All-American and sixth-seeded Justin Oliver of Central Michigan (25-5).

D'Angelo, a junior captain making his second trip to the NCAA Championships, earned the 16th seed after going 22-8 on the season and reaching the final of the EIWA Championship. He will open up against Pittsburgh sophomore Taleb Rahmani (17-12), who will also be making his second trip to NCAAs. Rahmani received an at-large bid after finishing fourth at the ACC Championships, though he nearly pulled off a major upset during the weekend. Rahmani lost a 6-4 semifinal in sudden victory to N.C. State's Hayden Hidlay, who earned the #1 seed at the NCAA Championships.

D'Angelo will be looking to keep the rematch from happening, as the winner of his opening-round match will likely see Hidlay in the Round of 16.

Schleifer made history this season by becoming the first Princeton wrestler to ever qualify for four NCAA Championships. If he can win his opener, he'll make even more history. After clinching the spot with a 165-pound runner-up finish at the EIWA Championships, Schleifer (16-11) will face Penn State's Vincenzo Joseph (20-2), the reigning NCAA champion at 165 pounds.

Brucki (28-8) will try to match Kolodzik's 2017 feat and become Princeton's second freshman All-American, and he'll try to start that journey against 16th-seeded Christian Brunner of Purdue (23-9). Brunner, who is making his second trip to the NCAA Championships, qualified with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. These two did not meet during the regular-season dual between Princeton and Purdue, as Brunner was out of the lineup.

If Brucki can knock off his seeded opponent, he would likely see top-seeded Kollin Moore of Ohio State in the second session. Moore defeated Brucki by a 14-1 major decision in a December dual meet between the two programs.

ESPN will broadcast every match on every mat again this year on WatchESPN, in addition to linear coverage of all six sessions. Friday night is on ESPN, while Saturday night is on ESPN2. All other sessions are on ESPNU.

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