Thursday, March 15
Cleveland, Ohio
All Day
Princeton University
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NCAA Day 1
Photo by: Austin Mariasy
Kolodzik Upsets 6th Seed To Reach NCAA Quarterfinals, Joins Brucki In All-American Chase Friday
March 15, 2018 | Wrestling
NCAA RECAPS: Session I
MORE LINKS: Weekend Preview l Video: Schleifer Makes Princeton History l Princeton Takes 3rd at EIWAs
Matthew Kolodzik said he was in a good frame of mind entering the second NCAA Championships of his already-remarkable Princeton career. He went out and proved it Thursday, winning two matches at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland to advance to his second straight national quarterfinal.
While Kolodzik held his seed in 2017 when he reached the 141-pound quarterfinal as a freshman, the 11th seed knocked off the #6 Justin Oliver of Central Michigan 3-2 in the 2018 Round of 16 to reach this quarterfinal. The critical moment of his second-round match came early in the third period, when he reversed Oliver to grab a 2-1 lead. A solid ride in the second period built up more than 30 seconds of ride time, and he extended that in the third to grab the extra point he would need in a hard-fought 3-2 win.
Hear from Kolodzik and see highlights of his Day 1, including the Oliver reversal, by clicking the play link above.
The victory avenged a 6-1 loss to Oliver in the Midlands semifinal, and it is Kolodzik's 15th win in 16 matches since the start of 2018. The 2017 All-American will try to knock off another high seed, as he will face third-seeded Grant Leeth of Missouri in Friday's quarterfinal, which will air live on ESPNU, as well as WatchESPN. You can follow @tigerwrestling to get links to all Princeton matches throughout Friday's 11 am session.
He will join freshman teammate Patrick Brucki in Friday's third session. Brucki was Princeton's second wrestler in the Round of 16, but he wasn't able to pull off the major upset against top-seeded Kollin Moore of Ohio State. Brucki didn't back down, but an early ankle takedown, followed by another takedown later in the opening period, put Moore in control. The Ohio State standout closed with a 14-4 major decision; Moore now has the only two major decisions that Brucki has allowed this season.
The Princeton leader in wins (28), Brucki will face the winner of the Jake Smith (West Virginia)/Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan) match later in Session 3.
You can read more about the first-round wins for both Kolodzik and Brucki here.
Junior Mike D'Angelo had one of the oddest days of anybody in the tournament, as all three of his matches ended by fall. After getting his arms caught in a loss by fall late in the opening round, D'Angelo pinned Tyler Marinelli of Gardner Webb after dominating the entire consolation pigtail match. That set up an EIWA showdown against Drexel's Garrett Hammond, a match that ended in a stunning headlock fall for Hammond in the first period. It was certainly not the way D'Angelo wanted his season to end, but it was a terrific year for the junior co-captain, who had 23 wins, went 3-0 against the Ivies, and reached his first EIWA final.
Senior Jonathan Schleifer battled hard in his first consolation match to extend his historic Tiger career. Trailing Missouri's Connor Flynn 2-1 in the third with riding time against him, he scored a takedown and eliminated the ride time by one second to force sudden-victory. The pair locked into a scramble for more than 15 seconds, but Flynn was able to get control on top for the 5-3 win.
The takedown ends a memorable career for Schleifer, who won 82 matches and became the first Princeton wrestler to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors (2015), reach a Midlands final (2015), reach two Midlands finals (2017), and qualify for four NCAA Championships (2015-2018). His leadership will be felt for years on this young, talented roster, as you can hear from both Kolodzik and Brucki in this video.
Matthew Kolodzik
1st Round: #11 Matthew Kolodzik dec. Taylor Ortiz (Clarion) 8-2
2nd Round: Kolodzik dec. #6 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) 3-2
Quarterfinal: Kolodzik vs. #3 Grant Leeth (Missouri)
Mike D'Angelo
1st Round: Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) WBF #16 Mike D'Angelo 5:53
Consolation Pigtail: D'Angelo WBF Tyler Marinelli (Gardner Webb) 3:55
Consolation 1: Garrett Hammond (Drexel) WBF D'Angelo 1:37
Jonathan Schleifer
1st Round: #3 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) mdec. Jonathan Schleifer 15-4
Consolation 1: Connor Flynn (Missouri) dec. Schleifer 5-3, sv-1
Patrick Brucki
1st Round: Patrick Brucki dec. #16 Christian Brunner (Purdue) 8-6
2nd Round: #1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) mdec. Brucki 14-4
Consolation 2: vs. winner of Jake Smith (West Virginia)/Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan)
MORE LINKS: Weekend Preview l Video: Schleifer Makes Princeton History l Princeton Takes 3rd at EIWAs
Matthew Kolodzik said he was in a good frame of mind entering the second NCAA Championships of his already-remarkable Princeton career. He went out and proved it Thursday, winning two matches at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland to advance to his second straight national quarterfinal.
While Kolodzik held his seed in 2017 when he reached the 141-pound quarterfinal as a freshman, the 11th seed knocked off the #6 Justin Oliver of Central Michigan 3-2 in the 2018 Round of 16 to reach this quarterfinal. The critical moment of his second-round match came early in the third period, when he reversed Oliver to grab a 2-1 lead. A solid ride in the second period built up more than 30 seconds of ride time, and he extended that in the third to grab the extra point he would need in a hard-fought 3-2 win.
Hear from Kolodzik and see highlights of his Day 1, including the Oliver reversal, by clicking the play link above.
The victory avenged a 6-1 loss to Oliver in the Midlands semifinal, and it is Kolodzik's 15th win in 16 matches since the start of 2018. The 2017 All-American will try to knock off another high seed, as he will face third-seeded Grant Leeth of Missouri in Friday's quarterfinal, which will air live on ESPNU, as well as WatchESPN. You can follow @tigerwrestling to get links to all Princeton matches throughout Friday's 11 am session.
He will join freshman teammate Patrick Brucki in Friday's third session. Brucki was Princeton's second wrestler in the Round of 16, but he wasn't able to pull off the major upset against top-seeded Kollin Moore of Ohio State. Brucki didn't back down, but an early ankle takedown, followed by another takedown later in the opening period, put Moore in control. The Ohio State standout closed with a 14-4 major decision; Moore now has the only two major decisions that Brucki has allowed this season.
The Princeton leader in wins (28), Brucki will face the winner of the Jake Smith (West Virginia)/Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan) match later in Session 3.
You can read more about the first-round wins for both Kolodzik and Brucki here.
Junior Mike D'Angelo had one of the oddest days of anybody in the tournament, as all three of his matches ended by fall. After getting his arms caught in a loss by fall late in the opening round, D'Angelo pinned Tyler Marinelli of Gardner Webb after dominating the entire consolation pigtail match. That set up an EIWA showdown against Drexel's Garrett Hammond, a match that ended in a stunning headlock fall for Hammond in the first period. It was certainly not the way D'Angelo wanted his season to end, but it was a terrific year for the junior co-captain, who had 23 wins, went 3-0 against the Ivies, and reached his first EIWA final.
Senior Jonathan Schleifer battled hard in his first consolation match to extend his historic Tiger career. Trailing Missouri's Connor Flynn 2-1 in the third with riding time against him, he scored a takedown and eliminated the ride time by one second to force sudden-victory. The pair locked into a scramble for more than 15 seconds, but Flynn was able to get control on top for the 5-3 win.
The takedown ends a memorable career for Schleifer, who won 82 matches and became the first Princeton wrestler to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors (2015), reach a Midlands final (2015), reach two Midlands finals (2017), and qualify for four NCAA Championships (2015-2018). His leadership will be felt for years on this young, talented roster, as you can hear from both Kolodzik and Brucki in this video.
Matthew Kolodzik
1st Round: #11 Matthew Kolodzik dec. Taylor Ortiz (Clarion) 8-2
2nd Round: Kolodzik dec. #6 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) 3-2
Quarterfinal: Kolodzik vs. #3 Grant Leeth (Missouri)
Mike D'Angelo
1st Round: Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) WBF #16 Mike D'Angelo 5:53
Consolation Pigtail: D'Angelo WBF Tyler Marinelli (Gardner Webb) 3:55
Consolation 1: Garrett Hammond (Drexel) WBF D'Angelo 1:37
Jonathan Schleifer
1st Round: #3 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) mdec. Jonathan Schleifer 15-4
Consolation 1: Connor Flynn (Missouri) dec. Schleifer 5-3, sv-1
Patrick Brucki
1st Round: Patrick Brucki dec. #16 Christian Brunner (Purdue) 8-6
2nd Round: #1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) mdec. Brucki 14-4
Consolation 2: vs. winner of Jake Smith (West Virginia)/Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan)
Players Mentioned
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