March 19, 2015
Photo Gallery|NCAA Brackets: thru Session 2
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Five Ohio wrestlers have advanced to the second day of competition following Sessions one and two of the NCAA Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.
No. 11 Tywan Claxton (South Euclid, Ohio) opened competition for Ohio with a 6-4 decision in the first round. The redshirt junior followed the triumph with a 7-2 decision against Stanford's Garrett Schaner, solidifying his spot in the quarterfinals on Friday morning where he will take on Edinboro's No. 3 David Habat. With the wins, Claxton improves his overall record to 29-5.
No. 9 Cody Walters (Macedonia, Ohio) earned his first triumph of the tournament with a 5-3 overtime decision against Cornell's George Pickett before falling in a 7-4 decision to 8 Tyler Wilps of Pittsburgh. The redshirt junior will compete in the wrestlebacks tomorrow against Ohio State's Mark Martin.
At the 157-class, Spartak Chino (Wheaton, Ill.) upset The Citadel's No. 16 Aaron Walker with a 6-4 decision to advance to the second round, where he was pinned by No. 1 Isaiah Martinez of Illinois. The redshirt junior will compete tomorrow morning in the wrestlebacks against Brown's Justin Staudenmayer.
No. 16 Harrison Hightower (Strongsville, Ohio) suffered a 3-0 decision loss in the first round, but responded by pinning SIUE's Connor McMahon in 3:22 to earn his spot in tomorrow's competition. The redshirt senior will take on Nebraska's Austin Wilson in the wrestlebacks.
No. 14 Phil Wellington (Euclid, Ohio) suffered a 4-2 overtime loss in the first round, but bounced back in consolation competition with a 4-1 decision against the University of Northern Iowa's Basil Minto. The redshirt junior will take on Wyoming's No. 13 Shane Woods tomorrow morning.
Andrew Romanchik (Independence, Ohio) dropped his consolation bout and was eliminated from the tournament. The redshirt junior suffered 2-0 decision loss against No.7 Nathan Brown in his first round, followed by a 8-4 loss to No. 10 Lorenzo Thomas of Penn in the consolation round.
As a team, Ohio is 23rd of 69 teams.
The tournament continues tomorrow, with quarterfinals and wrestlebacks beginning at 11 a.m. ET. The evening session, semifinals and wrestlebacks, will follow at 8 p.m. ET. ESPNU will cover the quarterfinals, while the semifinals will air on ESPN in primetime.
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