NCAA 2023 Wrestling Tournament: New Jersey in contention at 165 pounds

The 165-pound weight class in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Tournament at BOK Center in Tulsa, OK., is must-see theater and New Jersey wrestlers will be right in the middle of the drama Friday when the quarterfinals and semifinal bouts are wrestled.

The quarterfinals are at noon and will be on ESPN U. The semifinals are at 8 p.m. and will be on ESPN.

Stanford's Shane Griffith, a three-time NJSIAA champion at Bergen Catholic, will wrestle a blockbuster quarterfinal against No. 1 seed David Carr of Iowa State. It is a matchup of 2021 national champions. Griffith won his at 165 and Carr won his at 157. Griffith was the runner-up at 165 to Missouri's Keegan O'Toole last year.

Griffith has defeated the No. 1 seed in each of the last two national tournaments. He came from the No. 8 seed in 2021 and the No. 5 seed last year.

Princeton's Quincy Monday, the No. 5 seed and the runner-up at 157 last season, could be waiting for the Griffith-Monday winner. He will wrestle No. 29 seed Chase Fish of Michigan State in the quarterfinal. Fish defeated No. 4 seed Julian Ramirez of Cornell in the first round of the tournament. Ramirez had two wins over Monday this season.

Griffith advanced with a 10-0 major decision over No. 25 seed Bubba Wilson of Nebraska in the pre-quarterfinal Thursday night. Griffith took control of the bout with a takedown and four back points off a cradle in the final minute of the first period. Wilson had defeated No. 8 seed Matthew Olguin of Oregon State in the first round. Olguin defeated Griffith twice during the season.

Monday defeated Northern Illinois' Izzak Olejnik 4-1 in the pre-quarterfinal. A takedown in the second period gave Monday control of the bout.

Griffith and Monday are two of eight wrestlers with New Jersey ties who advanced to the quarterfinals.

He is one of two quarterfinalists from Princeton. Returning national runner-up Pat Glory is the other at 125.

Ventresca does it again.

Virginia Tech redshirt freshman Eddie Ventresca has come from the No. 27 seed to the quarterfinal after he defeated No. 11 seed and two-time top five finisher Patrick McKee of Minesota 3-2 on a takedown in the final minute.

Ventresca, the 2019 NJSIAA 120-pound champion when he was at Pope John, then rode McKee out. If McKee had escaped, he would have forced sudden victory because he had the riding time point.

Earlier in the day, Ventresca defeated No. 6 seed Stevo Poulin of Northern Colorado 4-2 in sudden victory.

Ventresca will meet No. 3 seed and Big Ten Conference runner-up Liam Cronin of Nebraska in the quarterfinal.

Van Ness has got the mojo going.

Penn State redshirt freshman Shayne Van Ness, a former Blair Academy and a Somerville native, has come from being on the verge of being in the wrestlebacks to the quarterfinal.

Van Ness, the No. 12 seed, defeated No. 5 seed and Big 12 Conference champion Paniro Johnson of Iowa State 14-8 in the pre-quarterfinal. Johnson had defeated Van Ness 3-2 on Dec. 20.

A takedown in the final minute of the first period followed by four back points in which Van Ness almost had Johnson pinned enabled Van Ness to take control of the bout.

Earlier in the day, Van Ness trailed Maryland's Ethen Miller 8-0 after the first period and 9-1 early in the third before he staged a furious rally and pinned Miller with 34 seconds remaining.

Van Ness will wrestle No. 20 seed Graham Rooks of Indiana in the quarterfinal. He majored Rooks twice earlier this season.

New Jersey also has a major presence at 174

Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis and Cornell's Chris Foca both advanced to the quarterfinal at 174 pounds.

Lewis, the 2019 165-pound champion and the runner-up to Penn State's two-time champion Carter Starocci last year, has survived two tough bouts.

A two-time NJSIAA champion at Bound Brook, Lewis defeated Northwestern's Troy Fisher 5-4 in the pre-quarterfinal on the riding time point. He held on for a 2-1 win over Rutgers' Jackson Turley in the first round.

Lewis, the No. 3 seed, will wrestle No. 11 seed Nelson Brands of Iowa in the quarterfinal. Brands is the nephew of Iowa head coach Tom Brands.

Foca, the NJSIAA 182-pound champion at Bergen Catholic in 2019, defeated South Dakota State's Cade DeVos in the pre-quarterfinal. He pinned in his first-round bout.

The No. 4 seed, Foca will wrestle No. 5 seed Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinal.

Glory has been dominant

Princeton's Pat Glory, the No. 2 seed at 12, behind Iowa's three-time national champion Spencer Lee, has recorded two dominant wins to advance to the quarterfinal for a third time.

Glory, the runner-up to Michigan's Nick Suriano last year, majored Cornell's Brett Ungar 10-0 for his third win of the season over Ungar.

A two-time NJSIAA champion and four-time state finalist at Delbarton, Glory will wrestle No. 10 seed Brandon Courtney of Arizona State. Courtney was the runner-up to Lee in 2021 and was sixth last season.

Laird wins late.

Rider's Ethan Laird, the No. 4 seed in a wide-open 197-pound bracket, advanced to the quarterfinal with a 3-1 win over No. 13 seed Younger Bastida of Iowa State on a late takedown in the pre-quarterfinal.

Laird will wrestle No. 12 seeed Zac Braunagel of Illinois in the quarterfinal. Braunagel knocked off No. 5 seed Michael Beard of Lehigh in the pre-quarterfinal.

The defending champion Max Dean of Penn State was defeated by Silas Allred of Nebraska in the pre-quarterfinal. It was Allred's second win over Dean in 11 days.

Rough day for Rutgers

The seeds indicated Rutgers could have a tough time, and it certainly rang true on Thursday.

The Scarlet Knights went just 1-6 in the first round and finished the day 4-11. Just three of their seven wrestlers are still alive in the wrestlebacks.

Freshman 184-pounder Brian Soldano, who advanced to the pre-quarterfinal, with a dramatic pin of Michigan State's Layne Malczewski, was majored 12-4 by No. 2 seed Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State.

Soldano, redshirt freshman Dean Peterson (125) and graduate student Joe Heilmann will all wrestleback bouts Friday. They will each have to win three wrestleback bouts Friday in order to medal.

From round 1

Soldano with some mat magic

Brian Soldano brightened up what had been a rough opening round for the Rutgers University wrestling team at the NCAA Tournament Thursday afternoon at BOK Arena in Tulsa, OK.

Soldano, a freshman 184-pounder, pinned Michigan State's Layne Malczewski with 1:20 left in the first period to give the Scarlet Knights their first win of the round.

Rutgers had been 0-5 before Soldano hit the mat, with two one-point defeats and a two-point defeat. The Scarlet Knights finished the round 1-6.

Soldano's performance was symbolic of a wild opening round for wrestlers with New Jersey ties. New Jersey wrestlers recorded upsets, were victims of upsets and benefitted from upsets.

The No. 18 seed, Soldano was trailing Malczewski 4-0 after Malczewski had a takedown and two back points off a wild scramble, when Soldano did his customary roll through and reversed Malczewski to his back for the pin.

The win avenged a defeat by major decision to Malczewski for Soldano, a three-time NJSIAA champion at High Point.

Soldano will wrestle No. 2 seed Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State Thursday night in the pre-quarterfinal. Hidlay was the runner-up at 184 to Penn State's Aaron Brooks in 2021 and fifth at 184 last season.

The pre-quarterfinals will be at 7 p.m. and be broadcast live on ESPN.

Rutgers' other six wrestlers will be in wrestleback bouts tonight.

Rutgers' Turley takes Mekhi Lewis to the wire

Rutgers junior 174-pounder Jackson Turley did not wrestle like a No. 30 seed in his 2-1 defeat to No. 3 seed Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech.

Turley, who has an up and down season, but was eighth at 174 in 2021, had a chance for the winning takedown in a wild scramble in the final 30 seconds. He also forced a stalling call on Lewis in the third period.

A second period reversal was the difference for Lewis, the 2019 165-pound champion, runner-up at 174 to Penn State's two-time champion Carter Starocci last year and a two-time state champion at Bound Brook.

Lewis will wrestle No. 19 seed Troy Fisher of Northwestern in the pre-quarterfinal.

Shayne Van Ness with a remarkable win

Shayne Van Ness looked down and out in his first-round bout against Maryland's Ethen Miller until he was not.

A redshirt freshman 149-pounder at Penn State, Van Ness pinned Maryland's Ethen Miller with 34 seconds left to cap a wild third period comeback.

Van Ness, a former Blair Academy star and a Somerville native, was trailing 12-8 when he took Miller down and then put him to his back.

Miller led 8-0 after the first period and 9-1 early in the third period after he recorded a takedown and six back points in the first period.

Van Ness closed the gap with three takedowns and a stalling point before the final takedown and pin.

The No. 12 seed, Van Ness had defeated Miller by technical fall during a dual-meet on Feb. 12.

Van Ness will wrestle No. 5 seed Paniro Johnson of Iowa State in the pre-quarterfinal.

Ventresca causes stir

An unheralded wrestler with New Jersey ties made a big stir in the opening round.

Ventresca, upended No. 6 seed Stevo Poulin of Northern Colorado 4-2 in sudden victory period No. 1 to advance to the pre-quarterfinal.

Ventresca, the 2019 NJSIAA 120-pound champion at Pope John, will wrestle No. 11 seed and two-time NCAA top five finisher Patrick McKee of Minnesota in the pre-quarterfinal.

Did paths open for Quincy Monday and Shane Griffith?

Princeton's Quincy Monday and Stanford's Shane Griffith, two of the major contenders in the loaded 165-pound weight class, may wind up benefitting from upsets Thursday in other parts of their brackets.

Monday, the No. 5 seed and the runner-up at 157 last season, had a potential quarterfinal obstacle removed when No. 4 seed Julian Ramirez of Cornell was defeated 8-4 by No. 29 seed Caleb Fish of Michigan State.

Ramirez, a former Blair Academy wrestler, had two wins over Monday this season. Monday advanced with a 12-4 major decision over Minnesota's Andrew Sparks and will wrestle No. 12 seed Izzik Ojenik in the pre-quarterfinal.

Griffith, the 2021 165-pound champion and runner-up last season, will wrestle No. 25 seed Bubba Wilson of Nebraska in the pre-quarterfinal after Wilson defeated No. 8 seed Matthew Olguin 3-1 in sudden victory on a takedown off a wild scramble.

Olguin had defeated Griffith twice this season. Griffith, a three-time state champion at Bergen Catholic, advanced with a 1-0 win over Gardner Webb's Rodrick Mosley.

Monday and Griffith are in the same semifinal bracket, should both get that far.

Griffith is one of three past national champions at the weight. The others are No. 1 seed David Carr of Iowa State, who won at 157 in 2021, and Missouri's Keegan O'Toole, who won at 165 last season with a 6-5 win over Griffith.

Drexel with 2 big upsets

Two Drexel wrestlers with New Jersey ties pulled off big upsets in the first round.

Graduate student 184-pound Brian Bonino, the No. 25 seed at 184 pounds, defeated No. 8 seed Matt Finesilver of Michigan 3-2.

Bonino, a former Paramus High School, wrestler, spent four years at Columbia, before transferring to Drexel before last season.

He will wrestle No. 9 seed Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota in the pre-quarterfinal.

Dragons' redshirt senior 174-pounder Mickey O'Malley, defeated No. 10 seed Rocky Jordan of Tennessee Chattanooga 8-7.

The No. 23 seed, O'Malley, built a 6-0 lead over Jordan, who was a two-time NCAA qualifier for Ohio State before he transferred, and then held on.

O'Malley, the 2018 NJSIAA 170-pound champion for Hasbrouck Heights, will wrestle No. 7 seed Peyton Mocco of Missouri in the pre-quarterfinal.

An intriguing all-New Jersey matchup on tap Thursday night

A pre-quarterfinal matchup of former NJSIAA champions will take place at 125 pounds as No. 2 seed Pat Glory of Princeton will wrestle No. 15 seed Brett Ungar of Cornell.

Glory, the runner-up at Michigan's Nick Suriano at 125 last year, pinned in 32 seconds in his first bout. Glory won two state championships and was in four state finals at Delbarton from 2014-18.

Ungar defeated the University of Pennsylvania's Ryan Miller, a former Blair Academy wrestler, 6-1. Ungar won the 106-pound NJSIAA championship in 2019 at Hunterdon Central.

Glory has two wins over Ungar this season - a 10-2 major decision in a dual-meet on Feb. 4 and a 2-0 win in the EIWA final on March 5.

Cannon upended.

Northwestern's Chris Cannon, the No. 12 seed at 133 pounds, was defeated 6-5 by CSU-Bakersfield's Chance Rich.

Rich, seeded 21st, had a takedown and four back points in the second period to build a 6-1 lead.

Cannon, a Oceanport native who wrestled at Blair Academy, rode Rich the entire third period and got two stalling points and the riding time point, but it was not enough, Cannon finished seventh at 133 the last two seasons.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NCAA 2023 Wrestling Tournament: New Jersey a presence at 165 pounds