Penn State leads the way after the first two sessions of matches
Day one of the 2017 NCAA wrestling championships is over and the mats in St. Louis were packed with action from start to finish. There were a number of interesting upsets that rocked the brackets, while setting the stage for some compelling bouts in day two of the tournament.
Jake Residori defeating All-American Kyle Crutchmer was not only was a big win for Residori, it’s also a victory that will impact the team rankings as well. Clayton Ream was the highest-ranked fighter to drop a match in day one when he fell to Paul Fox of Stanford, 8 to 4. Fox is a redshirt freshman who had to win a wildcard match to even get into the tournament. Keep an eye out on this prospect as he continues to push through the tournament.
Many of the favorites did their job to advance in the tournament on day one. Olympic medalist J’den Cox moved onto the next round when he pinned Jeric Kasunic and defeated Steban Cervantes by major decision. Kyle Snyder defeated both Jake Gunning and Garrett Ryan by technical fall to keep the momentum going towards another NCAA title.
The team race to the title continues to heat up as well. Penn State was leading the way early but there’s still a lot of room available for another team to move up to find themselves in the hunt for a team title. The Nittany Lions are the favorites to walk out of the event with a team title, and rolling through the first two rounds helped that argument, as a strong performance in day two would help cement a team title.
Session Three kicks off on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by Session Four at 7 p.m. This year the NCAA Championships is a featured option on the main ESPN platform instead of being pushed back to other mediums within the network. FloWrestling is also an option for live coverage through their paid membership options.