NCAA DI Wrestling Championship Brackets Updated Through Round 1

Through round one, most brackets are intact until the 174-pound bracket. Three of the top four wrestlers fell in the first round. Bo Nickal of Penn State is the only Top-Four wrestler still alive in the tournament at Madison Square Garden. Round one started at noon on Thursday, March 17, 2016. Session two, which will include round 2 of the championship brackets and the first round of wrestle backs, starts at 7 p.m. EST.

Nickal, a red-shirt freshman for the Nittany Lion held off his Harvard foe, Josef Johnson. Johnson, 18-15 record on the year, scored the first takedown of the match, bringing the No. 1 seed to the mat. Nickal wouldn’t forfeit another point to Johnson as he went on to win by major decision, 10-2.

The No. 2 seed, Brian Realbuto of Cornell, suffered an early loss to Iowa State’s Lelund Weatherspoon by decision, 7-4. Realbuto was the 2015 NCAA DI Wrestling Championship runner-up at 157-pounds. Down by one, Realbuto hoped to get back into the bout, until Weatherspoon scored a late takedown, extending his lead to three.

Mizzou’s No.3 seed at 174, Blaise Butler struggled to get going against Oklahoma’s Matt Reed. Reed racked up the points in the match, scoring back points on his way to a 16-9 victory. Reed knocked off the No. 3 seed and will battle against the 14th seed from Appalachian State, Nick Kee.

Ethan Ramos out of University of North Carolina, seeded fourth, fell to Jadeen BernStein of Navy. Bernstein managed to score 13 points against the Tarheels wrestler. The Midshipmen won a decision victory 13-8 and will battle Wolf from Lehigh, whom also earned an upset victory over Iowa’s No. 13 Meyer.

Click the link below to see the updated brackets.

Session1-Brackets

 

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Kyle Carroll
Kyle Carroll is a Long Island, N.Y. native and avid MMA and amateur wrestling fan. He has been a part of the wrestling community for nearly 20 years. Carroll has six years of experience coaching high school wrestling. His father coached high school wrestling over 35 years, passing on his strong knowledge. Carroll has been reporting MMA news since January 2011. The former wrestler’s coverage includes the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials, 2013 & 2016 NCAA D1 Wrestling Championship, and numerous MMA events (Bellator MMA, King of the Cage, North American Fighting Championship, and Glory).