Photo by: Austin Mariasy
Brucki Upsets Seeded Opponent, Joins Kolodzik In Second Round Of NCAA Championships
March 15, 2018 | Wrestling
LINKS: Weekend Preview l Video: Schleifer Makes Princeton History l Princeton Takes 3rd at EIWAs
Sophomore Matthew Kolodzik made Princeton history by becoming the program's first freshman All-American last year. Rookie Patrick Brucki is trying to match that feat this weekend, and both wrestlers posted impressive debuts in the first session of the 2018 NCAA Championships, held this weekend at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
All four Princeton qualifiers, including senior Jonathan Schleifer and junior Mike D'Angelo, will compete tonight during Session 2, which is scheduled to start at 7 pm and will be televised on ESPN. All mats will be streamed live on WatchESPN, and you can follow @tigerwrestling on Twitter to get live links for each Princeton match.
Kolodzik was in full control of his NCAA opener against unseeded Taylor Ortiz of Clarion. The returning All-American got in on an early waist shot to take Ortiz down in the first, and he rode out the period to build up more than 1:00 of ride time. A quick escape and then another takedown left the two-time EIWA champion in total control, and he would add one more in the final period for an 8-2 victory.
Kolodzik returns to the mat in Session 2 to take on sixth-seeded Justin Oliver of Central Michigan, a 3-1 winner in his opener. Kolodzik dropped a 6-1 decision to Oliver in the Midlands semifinal on Dec. 30; since that day, the Tiger sophomore has won 14 of 15 matches, including each of his last nine.
No Princeton wrestler came into NCAAs with more victories this season than Brucki, but few could have felt as good as upsetting 16th-seeded Christian Brunner of Purdue in the NCAA opener. The Tiger freshman showed poise from the start, going after Brunner from the start and getting two takedowns in the opening period for a 4-2 lead.
Matching escapes left Brucki up 5-3 in the third, and the Princeton freshman refused to play defense. He got a deep waist shot and took Brunner down at the edge of the mat, a move that was challenged but not overturned. Brunner added a late takedown to make the final seconds exciting, but Brucki held strong for the 8-6 win.
He advances to the second round, where he will face top-seeded Kollin Moore of Ohio State, the clear home favorite in the Cleveland arena. Moore, who had a tougher-than-anticipated 10-8 win in the opener, topped Brucki by major decision in a December dual between the two programs.
D'Angelo opened his 157-pound draw as the #16 seed and scored an early takedown against Pittsburgh's Taleb Rahmani, though Rahmani countered with an escape, and then another in the 2nd period, to even the score at 2-2 entering the third. D'Angelo reclaimed the lead with an escape, but Rahmani scrambled into a pinning position with full control of D'Angelo's arms for the win at 5:53.
D'Angelo will face Drexel's Garrett Hammond to open the consolation round, a rematch from the EIWA semifinal two weeks ago. D'Angelo was dominant in that match, an 11-3 major that sent the Princeton junior to his first EIWA final.
Schleifer made history as soon as he stepped on Mat 7 Thursday afternoon, as that officially made him a four-time NCAA Championships competitor. He looked for even more history against reigning NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph, but the Penn State standout was dominant in the opener. Schleifer fended off a couple early scrambles, but Joseph used a late takedown in the first to grab a 4-1 lead. It would go to 9-2 by the second, and Joseph finished the match with a 15-4 victory.
Schleifer will return tonight to face Missouri's Connor Flynn, who dropped a 5-2 decision to the #14 seed in the opener. The two wrestlers did not face each other this year.
RESULTS
Matthew Kolodzik
1st Round: #11 Matthew Kolodzik dec. Taylor Ortiz (Clarion) 8-2
2nd Round: #11 Matthew Kolodzik vs. #6 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan)
Mike D'Angelo
1st Round: Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) WBF #16 Mike D'Angelo 5:53
Consolation 1: #16 Mike D'Angelo vs. Garrett Hammond (Drexel)
Jonathan Schleifer
1st Round: #3 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) mdec. Jonathan Schleifer 15-4
Consolation 1: Jonathan Schleifer vs. Connor Flynn (Missouri)
Patrick Brucki
1st Round: Patrick Brucki dec. #16 Christian Brunner (Purdue) 8-6
2nd Round: Patrick Brucki vs. #1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State)
Sophomore Matthew Kolodzik made Princeton history by becoming the program's first freshman All-American last year. Rookie Patrick Brucki is trying to match that feat this weekend, and both wrestlers posted impressive debuts in the first session of the 2018 NCAA Championships, held this weekend at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
All four Princeton qualifiers, including senior Jonathan Schleifer and junior Mike D'Angelo, will compete tonight during Session 2, which is scheduled to start at 7 pm and will be televised on ESPN. All mats will be streamed live on WatchESPN, and you can follow @tigerwrestling on Twitter to get live links for each Princeton match.
Kolodzik was in full control of his NCAA opener against unseeded Taylor Ortiz of Clarion. The returning All-American got in on an early waist shot to take Ortiz down in the first, and he rode out the period to build up more than 1:00 of ride time. A quick escape and then another takedown left the two-time EIWA champion in total control, and he would add one more in the final period for an 8-2 victory.
Kolodzik returns to the mat in Session 2 to take on sixth-seeded Justin Oliver of Central Michigan, a 3-1 winner in his opener. Kolodzik dropped a 6-1 decision to Oliver in the Midlands semifinal on Dec. 30; since that day, the Tiger sophomore has won 14 of 15 matches, including each of his last nine.
No Princeton wrestler came into NCAAs with more victories this season than Brucki, but few could have felt as good as upsetting 16th-seeded Christian Brunner of Purdue in the NCAA opener. The Tiger freshman showed poise from the start, going after Brunner from the start and getting two takedowns in the opening period for a 4-2 lead.
Matching escapes left Brucki up 5-3 in the third, and the Princeton freshman refused to play defense. He got a deep waist shot and took Brunner down at the edge of the mat, a move that was challenged but not overturned. Brunner added a late takedown to make the final seconds exciting, but Brucki held strong for the 8-6 win.
He advances to the second round, where he will face top-seeded Kollin Moore of Ohio State, the clear home favorite in the Cleveland arena. Moore, who had a tougher-than-anticipated 10-8 win in the opener, topped Brucki by major decision in a December dual between the two programs.
D'Angelo opened his 157-pound draw as the #16 seed and scored an early takedown against Pittsburgh's Taleb Rahmani, though Rahmani countered with an escape, and then another in the 2nd period, to even the score at 2-2 entering the third. D'Angelo reclaimed the lead with an escape, but Rahmani scrambled into a pinning position with full control of D'Angelo's arms for the win at 5:53.
D'Angelo will face Drexel's Garrett Hammond to open the consolation round, a rematch from the EIWA semifinal two weeks ago. D'Angelo was dominant in that match, an 11-3 major that sent the Princeton junior to his first EIWA final.
Schleifer made history as soon as he stepped on Mat 7 Thursday afternoon, as that officially made him a four-time NCAA Championships competitor. He looked for even more history against reigning NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph, but the Penn State standout was dominant in the opener. Schleifer fended off a couple early scrambles, but Joseph used a late takedown in the first to grab a 4-1 lead. It would go to 9-2 by the second, and Joseph finished the match with a 15-4 victory.
Schleifer will return tonight to face Missouri's Connor Flynn, who dropped a 5-2 decision to the #14 seed in the opener. The two wrestlers did not face each other this year.
RESULTS
Matthew Kolodzik
1st Round: #11 Matthew Kolodzik dec. Taylor Ortiz (Clarion) 8-2
2nd Round: #11 Matthew Kolodzik vs. #6 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan)
Mike D'Angelo
1st Round: Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) WBF #16 Mike D'Angelo 5:53
Consolation 1: #16 Mike D'Angelo vs. Garrett Hammond (Drexel)
Jonathan Schleifer
1st Round: #3 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) mdec. Jonathan Schleifer 15-4
Consolation 1: Jonathan Schleifer vs. Connor Flynn (Missouri)
Patrick Brucki
1st Round: Patrick Brucki dec. #16 Christian Brunner (Purdue) 8-6
2nd Round: Patrick Brucki vs. #1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State)
Players Mentioned
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