Thursday, March 15
Cleveland, Ohio (Quicken Loans Arena)
11:00 a.m.
West Virginia University
at
NCAA Championships
A Trio of Mountaineers Remain in Contention for Third
March 15, 2018 10:36 PM | Wrestling
CLEVELAND, Ohio – After two sessions of wrestling, all three West Virginia University grapplers are alive in the consolation bracket of the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships held at Quicken Loans Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday.
No. 13 Zeke Moisey, a redshirt junior, won a 10-7 decision in his first-round match up against Virginia Tech's Kyle Norstrem to advance to the championship second round at 125 pounds. However, a Thursday evening loss to No. 4 seed Nick Suriano of Rutgers pushed him into Friday morning's wrestle-backs, where he will face Big 12 foe Conner Brown of South Dakota State. Redshirt freshman Matthew Schmitt (133) and redshirt senior Jacob A. Smith (197) each dropped their first-round bouts, but bounced back with wins in the first round of wrestle-backs. Schmitt will face Anthony Tutolo of Kent, and Smith is slated to meet Patrick Brucki of Princeton Friday morning.
The second and third round of wrestle-backs (Session III) will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, followed by the fourth round of wrestle-backs (Session IV) at 8 p.m. ET that evening. Medal rounds (Session V) will take place at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the championship finals (Session VI) set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday night.
Coverage is available on ESPNU, ESPN2 and ESPN. Live stats for all matches are available on TrackWrestling. Mat-by-mat matches also will be shown on ESPN3.
"We showed a lot of fight in this round," said fourth-year coach Sammie Henson. "Both Schmitt and Jake had huge wins in their wrestle-backs. You have to commit to riding tough and grinding it out in this tournament. Our men are fighting and leaving it all on the mat. We need to keep it going one match at a time and be ready to come out and attack in tomorrow morning's session."
Moisey, a former NCAA finalist at 125 pounds, held on to win a 10-7 decision over Norstrem in the first round of the championship bracket. The Northampton, Pennsylvania, native used a pair of takedowns in the first to take the 4-2 lead after one. Norstrem started the second in the defensive position, quickly earning an escape to bring him within one on the scoreboard. Moisey then added another takedown before Norstrem tacked on a penalty point to make the score 6-4 at the end of the second. Moisey notched an escape in the final frame and later collected his fourth takedown, tacking on the point for riding time, to win the 10-7 decision over Norstrem.
Moisey then dropped his second match of the day, falling to Suriano in 2 minutes, 57 seconds in the round of 16, to move into Friday morning's consolation bracket. Moisey and Brown previously met back in Mid-February, with Moisey earning the 8-3 decision in Morgantown.
Schmitt dropped a 15-2 major decision to No. 1 seed Seth Gross of South Dakota State in the first round of the 133-pound bracket. The Platte City, Missouri, native then bounced back to win a major decision of his own over Duke's Josh Finesilver in his first consolation bout. Schmitt scored 14 points in the first and never looked back, as he took a commanding 14-3 lead into the second period. He then added a reversal, as he continued to hold a 10-point advantage entering the final frame. Finesilver scored a reversal of his own in the third, but it wasn't nearly enough, as Schmitt tacked on another takedown and the point for riding time in scoring the 19-8 major decision. He will face Tutolo in his second wrestle-back bout on Friday morning. The two grapplers have not met this season.
Smith also moved on to the 197-pound wrestle-backs after dropping a hard-fought 3-0 decision to No. 2 seed Ben Darmstadt. Following two scoreless periods, Darmstadt chose to start the final frame on bottom. It didn't take long for Darmstadt to score a reversal from there, as he claimed the riding time point and the 3-0 decision. Despite the loss, Smith rebounded with a win in the consolation bracket, pinning Central Michigan's Jordan Atienza in 2:54 for his first win by fall this season. Smith will go head-to-head with Brucki for the second time this season in Friday morning's wrestle-backs, as Brucki picked up the 7-4 decision at the Midlands Championships back in December.
Of note, wrestlers in the consolation brackets remain in contention for third place and All-America honors.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Championship Round 1
125: No. 13 Zeke Moisey (WVU) dec. Kyle Norstrem (Virginia Tech), 10-7
133: No. 1 Seth Gross (SDSU) major dec. Matthew Schmitt (WVU), 15-2
197: No. 2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) dec. Jacob A. Smith (WVU), 3-0
Championship Round of 16
125: No. 4 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) wins by fall No. 13 Zeke Moisey (WVU), F 2:57
Consolation Round 1
133: Matthew Schmitt (WVU) major dec. Josh Finesilver (Duke), 19-8
197: Jacob A. Smith (WVU) wins by fall Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan), F 2:54
No. 13 Zeke Moisey, a redshirt junior, won a 10-7 decision in his first-round match up against Virginia Tech's Kyle Norstrem to advance to the championship second round at 125 pounds. However, a Thursday evening loss to No. 4 seed Nick Suriano of Rutgers pushed him into Friday morning's wrestle-backs, where he will face Big 12 foe Conner Brown of South Dakota State. Redshirt freshman Matthew Schmitt (133) and redshirt senior Jacob A. Smith (197) each dropped their first-round bouts, but bounced back with wins in the first round of wrestle-backs. Schmitt will face Anthony Tutolo of Kent, and Smith is slated to meet Patrick Brucki of Princeton Friday morning.
The second and third round of wrestle-backs (Session III) will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, followed by the fourth round of wrestle-backs (Session IV) at 8 p.m. ET that evening. Medal rounds (Session V) will take place at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the championship finals (Session VI) set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday night.
Coverage is available on ESPNU, ESPN2 and ESPN. Live stats for all matches are available on TrackWrestling. Mat-by-mat matches also will be shown on ESPN3.
"We showed a lot of fight in this round," said fourth-year coach Sammie Henson. "Both Schmitt and Jake had huge wins in their wrestle-backs. You have to commit to riding tough and grinding it out in this tournament. Our men are fighting and leaving it all on the mat. We need to keep it going one match at a time and be ready to come out and attack in tomorrow morning's session."
Moisey, a former NCAA finalist at 125 pounds, held on to win a 10-7 decision over Norstrem in the first round of the championship bracket. The Northampton, Pennsylvania, native used a pair of takedowns in the first to take the 4-2 lead after one. Norstrem started the second in the defensive position, quickly earning an escape to bring him within one on the scoreboard. Moisey then added another takedown before Norstrem tacked on a penalty point to make the score 6-4 at the end of the second. Moisey notched an escape in the final frame and later collected his fourth takedown, tacking on the point for riding time, to win the 10-7 decision over Norstrem.
Moisey then dropped his second match of the day, falling to Suriano in 2 minutes, 57 seconds in the round of 16, to move into Friday morning's consolation bracket. Moisey and Brown previously met back in Mid-February, with Moisey earning the 8-3 decision in Morgantown.
Schmitt dropped a 15-2 major decision to No. 1 seed Seth Gross of South Dakota State in the first round of the 133-pound bracket. The Platte City, Missouri, native then bounced back to win a major decision of his own over Duke's Josh Finesilver in his first consolation bout. Schmitt scored 14 points in the first and never looked back, as he took a commanding 14-3 lead into the second period. He then added a reversal, as he continued to hold a 10-point advantage entering the final frame. Finesilver scored a reversal of his own in the third, but it wasn't nearly enough, as Schmitt tacked on another takedown and the point for riding time in scoring the 19-8 major decision. He will face Tutolo in his second wrestle-back bout on Friday morning. The two grapplers have not met this season.
Smith also moved on to the 197-pound wrestle-backs after dropping a hard-fought 3-0 decision to No. 2 seed Ben Darmstadt. Following two scoreless periods, Darmstadt chose to start the final frame on bottom. It didn't take long for Darmstadt to score a reversal from there, as he claimed the riding time point and the 3-0 decision. Despite the loss, Smith rebounded with a win in the consolation bracket, pinning Central Michigan's Jordan Atienza in 2:54 for his first win by fall this season. Smith will go head-to-head with Brucki for the second time this season in Friday morning's wrestle-backs, as Brucki picked up the 7-4 decision at the Midlands Championships back in December.
Of note, wrestlers in the consolation brackets remain in contention for third place and All-America honors.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Championship Round 1
125: No. 13 Zeke Moisey (WVU) dec. Kyle Norstrem (Virginia Tech), 10-7
133: No. 1 Seth Gross (SDSU) major dec. Matthew Schmitt (WVU), 15-2
197: No. 2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) dec. Jacob A. Smith (WVU), 3-0
Championship Round of 16
125: No. 4 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) wins by fall No. 13 Zeke Moisey (WVU), F 2:57
Consolation Round 1
133: Matthew Schmitt (WVU) major dec. Josh Finesilver (Duke), 19-8
197: Jacob A. Smith (WVU) wins by fall Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan), F 2:54
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