University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
NCAA Championships
Wilps Repeats As All-American
3/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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Results
ST. LOUIS - With a thrilling 3-2 victory in the quarterfinals, redshirt senior Tyler Wilps upset top-seed Robert Kokesh to advance to Friday night's 174-pound semifinals and lock up All-American status for the second straight season.
Wilps is the 76th All-American in school history and becomes just the 18th Pitt wrestler in program history to receive All-American accolades multiple times, joining a list of grapplers that includes older brother Matt Wilps.
Redshirt senior Max Thomusseit was unable to secure an All-American award at this time, suffering a loss to Lehigh's Nathaniel Brown in the quarterfinals and will continue his search to become an All-American during the wrestlebacks tonight.
Three other Pitt wrestlers were eliminated during the consolation rounds on Friday morning.
In the team standings, Pitt moved up to 19th from 24th with 16.0 points and is tied with conference mate Virginia Tech. Ohio State remains first in the team competition with 64.5 points, followed by Iowa (47.5) and Missouri (45.0) for second and third, respectively.
It was the third time Wilps has gone head-to-head with Kokesh of Nebraska. Previously Wilps had lost to Kokesh at last year's NCAA Championships 2-1 in a tiebreaker and in 2011, getting pinned. Entering Friday's match, Kokesh sported a 36-0 record - the best mark in all of Division I wrestling. He was the first and only number one seed to lose in the tournament through the first three sessions.
Wilps' semifinals opponent is Oklahoma State's Kyle Crutchmer, the 12th seed. The pair met at this year's Southern Scuffle, with Wilps outlasting Crutchmer in sudden victory to earn a win in by injury forfeit.
Against Kokesh, Wilps struck first with a takedown with 35 seconds remaining in the opening period. Kokesh was able to escape eight seconds later giving Wilps a 2-1 lead heading into the second. It took Wilps nearly 50 seconds to escape from Kokesh in the second, but that gave him a 3-1 lead with one period remaining. Wilps let Kokesh escape early in the third, bringing the score to 3-2. Needing to avoid a takedown, Wilps fought off a number of attacks from Kokesh in the final minute and held strong to clinch the upset.
The roles were reversed for Thomusseit, who was facing his opponent, seventh-seed Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh), for the third time this year. After winning each of the first two bouts by two points, Thomusseit suffered only his second loss of the season, falling to Brown 7-4.
Thomusseit (26-2) was taken down only 30 seconds into the match, allowing Brown to pick up valuable riding time. After more than a minute, Thomusseit was able to escape, but Brown scored another takedown and rode out the final 30 seconds, setting the score at 4-1 with the addition of 1:50 total ride time. Starting the second on bottom, it took Thomusseit about 1:15 to break away from Brown's hold. When Thomusseit finally got loose, he scored on a reversal, but an escape for Brown made it 5-3 in favor of Brown. Trailing by two in the final period, Thomusseit allowed Brown to escape immediately, but only received one point on a penalty in the final minute and couldn't complete the comeback.
Thomusseit will now work his way through the wrestlebacks in need to a win tonight to join Wilps as an All-American this year. His opponent will be the sixth-seed Hayden Zillmer (North Dakota St.).
Redshirt freshman Ryan Solomon advanced to the consolation round two after receiving a win by forfeit over the 14th seed Joe Stolfi (Bucknell) when Stolfi was unable to compete.
In the third consolation round, Solomon's run ended with a 5-3 decision at the hands of 11th-seed Devin Mellon of Missouri. They were tied 0-0 after one and Mellon went ahead in the second with an escape and takedown. Solomon was able to break free following the takedown and again at the beginning of the third period to pull within 3-2. However, with 15 seconds left, Solomon was wrapped up again by Mellon after making his move to thwart any last-ditch effort by the Pitt grappler.
Sophomore Mikey Racciato (22-10) was eliminated from the wrestlebacks as his opponent, 15th seed Bryant Clagon (Rider) turned an even match into a 16-3 major decision by outscoring Racciato 14-1 in the final two-minute period. It was Racciato's first bonus point loss of the year.
A takedown in the first gave Clagon a 2-0 lead, but Racciato tied the score with an escape in each of the first two periods. Clagon escaped to start the third and with a slim 3-2 lead and only one minute remaining, Clagon separated himself from Racciato with a takedown followed by three nearfall calls for a total of six more points. After another escape by Racciato, Clagon scored one final takedown and three more nearfall points for the end result.
Redshirt (13-12) senior Troy Reaghard also saw his run and career come to a close with a 12-4 major decision loss to Missouri's Mike England. After a scoreless first, Reaghard fell behind 9-3 with one period remaining. England scored first on an escape and takedown, but Reaghard tied it when he received a penalty point then scored a reversal, making it 3-3. However, with 15 seconds left, England escaped, recorded a takedown and added three nearfall points. In the final period, England tacked on another takedown and riding time to offset Reaghard's escape for the final score of 12-4.
Dom Forys (125 pounds): 0-2
First Round: No. 3 Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) fall Dom Forys (Pitt), 6:36
Consolation Round 1: No. 14 Joshua Rodriguez (North Dakota St.) dec. Dom Forys (Pitt), 9-4
Mikey Racciato (149 pounds): 1-2
First Round: Brandon Nelson (Purdue) dec. No. 16 Mikey Racciato (Pitt), 10-6
Consolation Round 1: No. 16 Mikey Racciato (Pitt) dec. Christian Barber (UNC), 3-2
Consolation Round 2: No. 15 Bryant Clagon (Rider) m. dec. No. 16 Mikey Racciato, 16-3
Troy Reaghard (165 pounds) 1-2
First Round: No. 12 Dylan Palacio (Cornell) m. dec. Troy Reaghard (Pitt), 14-4
Consolation Round 1: Troy Reaghard (Pitt) dec. Garrett Sutton (Michigan), 3-1 SV
Consolation Round 2: Mike England (Missouri) m. dec. Troy Reaghard (Pitt), 12-4
Tyler Wilps (174 pounds) 3-0
First Round: No. 8 Tyler Wilps (Pitt) dec. Matt Reed (Oklahoma), 7-4
Second Round: No. 8 Tyler Wilps (Pitt) dec. Cody Walters (Ohio), 8-3
Quarterfinals: No. 8 Tyler Wilps (Pitt) dec. No. 1 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska), 3-2
Max Thomusseit (184 pounds), 2-1
First Round: No. 2 Max Thomusseit (Pitt) m. dec. Bubba Scheffel (West Virginia), 14-4
Second Round: No. 2 Max Thomusseit (Pitt) dec. Richard Robertson (Wisconsin), 11-4
Quarterfinals: No. 7 Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) dec. Max Thomusseit (Pitt), 7-4
Ryan Solomon (285 pounds) 2-2
First Round: No. 13 Tyler Deuel (Binghamton) dec. Ryan Solomon (Pitt), 8-3
Consolation Round 1: Ryan Solomon (Pitt) dec. Jared Johnson (Chattanooga), 6-4
Consolation Round 2: Ryan Solomon (Pitt) WBF No. 14 Joe Stolfi (Bucknell)
Consolation Round 3: No. 11 Devin Mellon (Missouri) dec. Ryan Solomon, 5-3
Players Mentioned
