Reigning national champ David Carr upset in second round; Smith, Perrine, Smucker fall out

Brad Bournival, Akron Beacon Journal
·4 min read
Iowa State's David Carr, right, wrestles Oregon State's Hunter Willits at 157 pounds during the second session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.
Iowa State's David Carr, right, wrestles Oregon State's Hunter Willits at 157 pounds during the second session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.

The area won’t have a national champion after reigning Iowa State king David Carr (Perry) had his 55-match winning streak ended by Oregon State’s Hunter Willits on Thursday.

It happened at the NCAA Division I national championships when the No. 17 Willits beat Carr 2-1 in three overtimes at 157 pounds.

“You just have to stay cool, stay calm and go 100 percent,” Willits told ESPN after upsetting the top seed. “The matches here are won on top and bottom. Obviously, he’s the No. 1 kid in the country. He’s tough on top, tough on his feet, tough on bottom. You can’t let that get to your head. You have to be tough in every position and just hope for the best.”

Iowa State's David Carr warms up during a practice session before the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.
Iowa State's David Carr warms up during a practice session before the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.

Carr scored first with an escape in the second period but gave up an escape in the third to take things into overtime.

He had a few chances in overtime, but Willits avoided the takedowns to take it to 30-30s.

Willits rode Carr out when he was on top and then escaped with one second left to advance after choosing down to start the third period.

“Honestly, you have to pinch yourself to see if this real,” Willits said. “Finally, my hard work is paying off. It’s the only thing I can hope for. It’s a tough one. It was exhausting.”

Willits moves on to face three-time national qualifier Will Lewit of Michigan in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Carr will have four-time state champion Wyatt Sheets of Oklahoma State in the second round of consolation.

Ohio State's Sammy Sasso holds the leg of Indiana's Graham Rooks at 149 pounds during the last regular season match of the season inside the Covelli Center at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio on February 13, 2022. Sasso def. Rooks, D 3-1.
Ohio State's Sammy Sasso holds the leg of Indiana's Graham Rooks at 149 pounds during the last regular season match of the season inside the Covelli Center at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio on February 13, 2022. Sasso def. Rooks, D 3-1.

Four quarters for the Buckeyes

Sammy Sasso (149) knocked off Penn State’s Beau Bartlett 6-4 in the second round to reach the quarterfinals for Ohio State.

He wasn’t the only Buckeye to reach the quarters. Carson Kharchla (165), Kaleb Romero (184) and Gavin Hoffman (197) pushed through to the round of eight.

The No. 4 Sasso will get fifth-seeded Kyle Parco of Arizona State in the quarters, and Kharchla faces Junior World champion and two seed Keegan O’Toole of Missouri.

The seventh-seeded Romero faces returning champ and No. 2 seed Aaron Brooks of Penn State. Hoffman faces returning All-American and 13th seed Jake Woodley of Oklahoma.

Lovett too much for Heil

Campbell’s Josh Heil (Brunswick) won’t exit as a national champion, but All-American status is still available after the five-time national qualifier and seventh seed was upset 4-1 by No. 10 Ridge Lovett (149) of Nebraska in the second round.

Heil was reversed in the second period and put on his back to go behind by four.

He did pick up the escape in the third period but couldn’t find enough to win against the three-time national qualifier.

Lovett moves on to face No. 2 seed and two-time All-American Tariq Wilson in the quarterfinals.

Heil will face two-time NCAA qualifier P.J. Ogunsanya of Army coming back.

Smucker, Perrine, Smith eliminated

Cleveland State’s Riley Smucker (Smithville) fell out of competition on the first day after the redshirt freshman lost back-to-back matches at 165.

The 24th-seed never couldn’t get it going against ninth-seeded Peyton Hall of West Virginia in 10-5 defeat. He didn’t find the going any easier in a 7-0 loss to Binghamton’s Brevin Cassella.

Like Smucker, Ohio University’s Sal Perrine (Nordonia) found the going rough.

Big 12 Conference champion and sixth-seeded Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State beat Perrine in the opening round by an 8-2 margin.

Perrine faced three-time national qualifier and No. 11 seed Peyton Mocco coming back and lost 15-6.

The 174-pound true freshman was taken down three times and gave up four back points.

Graduate student and 2019 All-American Patrick Brucki of Michigan scored a late first period takedown in an 8-3 win over Cleveland State’s Ben Smith (North Canton Hoover) to push the two-time national qualifier and 29th seed to the consolation bracket.

Brucki showed why he was the fourth seed with takedowns in each of the three periods.

Smith faced 20th-seeded Jacob Koser of Navy in the consolation bracket.

He was no match for the two-time national qualifier and 2020 alternate and lost 12-0 to bow out.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Reigning national champ David Carr upset in second round