CLEVELAND - Paul Fox and Nathan Traxler upset seeded opponents as four Cardinal wrestlers earned opening round wins at the NCAA Championships, Thursday, in front of more than 18,000 fans at Quicken Loans Arena.
Traxler made his NCAA Championships debut with a dominating 9-3 decision over No. 11 seed Corey Griego (Oregon State). Griego scored the first takedown, but it was all Traxler on offense after that. Traxler improves to 18-10 overall and will take on No. 6 seed William Miklus of Missouri in Session II.
It was deja vu for returning All-American Fox as he knocked-off North Dakota State's Clayton Ream in the opening round of the tournament for the second straight season. Fox, who finished seventh at last year's championships, posted a hard-fought 4-2 decision over 11th-seeded Ream at 157 pounds. It is the first top-10 win of the season for Fox as Ream came in at No. 9 in the latest InterMat rankings. Fox now stands at 21-7 overall and will face No. 6 seed Michael Kemerer of Iowa in the evening session Thursday.
No. 7 seed Nathan Butler shut out Cornell's Jeramy Sweany, 15-0, to pick up the technical fall in 5:56 at heavyweight. The four-time NCAA qualifier for the Cardinal, led 10-0 after a strong first period. He is now 25-7 on the season. Next up for Butler, No. 10 seed Jordan Wood (Lehigh).
Fifth-year senior Keaton Subjeck, the No. 9 seed at 174 pounds, found himself trailing 4-2 after two periods to Indiana's Devin Skatzka. Subjeck went to work in the third, quickly earning an escape to cut it to 4-3. The El Dorado Hills, California native scored the winning takedown and was awarded two near fall points late in the third period. He finished on top with 1:08 of riding time for the 8-4 decision. Subjeck leads the team with a 27-7 overall record. He has No. 8 seed Jadaen Bernstein of Navy in the next round.
Wrestling in his first NCAA Tournament, redshirt junior Mason Pengilly gave No. 3 seed Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) all he could handle at 133 pounds. Pletcher came out on top, 2-1, but Pengilly made it tough for the sophomore after several scrambles came up scoreless. Pengilly will take on Rutger's Scott Delvecchio in the consolation bracket.
Sophomore Gabriel Townsell also dropped his first match of the tournament after being pinned in 2:19 by No. 2 seed Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State at 125 pounds. Townsell falls into the consolation bracket and will face Oklahoma's Christian Moody Thursday evening.
All six Cardinal will wrestle again Thursday night. Session II begins at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN.
Gabriel Townsell, 125 pounds | 0-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to (2) Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) | F2:19 |
Mason Pengilly, 133 pounds | 0-1
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| lost to (3) Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) | 2-1 |
Paul Fox, 157 pounds | 1-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. (11) Clayton Ream (NDSU) | 4-2 |
(9) Keaton Subjeck, 174 pounds | 1-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. Devin Skatzka (Indiana) | 8-4 |
Nathan Traxler, 197 pounds | 1-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| dec. (11) Corey Griego (Oregon State) | 9-3 |
(7) Nathan Butler, 285 pounds | 1-0
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| tech. fall Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) | 15-0 (5:56) |