2023 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Notebook • 157 pounds

WIN Magazine will provide notes and quotes about the 157-pound wrestlers at the 2023 NCAA Division I Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

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Semifinals (March 17 – 7 p.m.)

#1 Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) dec. #5 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh), 4-3 — The 2021 NCAA champion led 1-0 entering the third period before the pair traded reversals, but a match-tying escape from the Mountain Hawk was not enough to overcome the 2:00 riding time advantage accumulated by the Tar Heel.

#2 Levi Haines (Penn State) dec. #3 Peyton Robb (Nebraska), 5-3 — After a scoreless first period with little action, the Nittany Lion true freshman scored takedowns in the second and third periods to defeat the returning All-American Husker in a rematch of the Big Ten final, which Haines also won. Robb nearly scored on two slide-by attempts where he was able to get behind Haines in the rear-standing position but was unable to force him to the mat for takedowns in either scenario.

Quarterfinals (March 17 – 11 a.m.)

#1 Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) major dec. #8 Will Lewan (Michigan), 10-2 — The 2021 NCAA champion scored four takedowns — two in the first and third periods — and added a 3:55 riding time advantage for the victory.

#5 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec. #4 Jared Franek (North Dakota State), 5-2. – The Mountain Hawk earned his first trip to the semifinals by dominating the second half of the bout, scoring a second period takedown and third period reversal before adding a riding time point.

#3 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) dec. #6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford), 6-4 – Robb scored two takedowns in the first period to lead 4-1 before an official challenge turned a four-point nearfall against the Husker — that appeared to give the Stanford freshman a 5-4 lead — into two-point nearfall midway through the second period as the Husker survived.

#2 Levi Haines (Penn State) pinned #7 Bryce Andonian (Va Tech), 6:12. — Andonian chin whipped the Nittany Lion freshman to his back in the early going for six points and was ever so close to securing a fall, but Haines poured it on in the second and third periods, hitting back-to-back skying double legs and threw a half nelson to finish off the returning All-American Hokie.

Second Round (March 16 – 6 p.m.)

• Top-seed Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) scored a first-period takedown and rode Missouri’s No. 17 Jarrett Jacques for 2:30 for the 4-1 victory.
• Michigan All-American Will Lewan, a No. 9 seed, scored a takedown in each period to beat NC State’s No. 8 Ed Scott, 7-5.
• Nebraska’s No. 3 Peyton Robb scored four takedowns and twice put Wisconsin’s No. 19 Garrett Model on his back for a 16-1 win, the Husker’s second straight technical fall of the tournament.
• Stanford’s true freshman No. 6 Daniel Cardenas scored a takedown in the first and second periods to win 6-1 over Northern Iowa’s No. 22 Derek Holschlag.
• Lehigh’s No. 5 Josh Humphrey remained undefeated on the year, scoring the bout’s only takedown with 56 seconds left to clinch a 3-0 shutout of Purdue’s No. 12 Kendall Coleman.
• A first-period takedown and four-point nearfall by Virginia Tech’s No. 7 Bryce Andonian led to a 10-3 victory over Oklahoma State’s No. 10 Kaden Gfeller.

First Round (March 16 – 11 a.m. CDT)

• Missouri’s four-time national qualifier Jarrett Jacques, seeded No. 17, held off No. 16 Anthony Artalona, a three-time NQ of Penn, 5-4. The Tiger scored a takedown in both the first and second periods.
• Wisconsin’s No. 19 seeded Garrett Model used a takedown and four-point nearfall in the final 19 seconds of the second period to beat Iowa’s No. 14 Cobe Sierbrecht, 10-5.
• Northern Iowa’s No. 22 seeded Derek Holschlag scored a first-period takedown, then swapped a pair of reversals with Michigan State’s No. 11 Chase Saldate and beat the Spartan 4-3, as 59 seconds of riding time for Saldate were a second short of sending the bout to overtime.
• Virginia Tech All-American overcame a reversal and two-point nearfall in the first period to edge Ohio’s Peyton Keller, 7-6.
• Oklahoma State’s Kaden Gfeller scored a takedown with two seconds left in the second sudden victory to beat George Mason’s Peter Pappas, 7-5

All-American Round (March 18 – 10 a.m.)

Finals (March 18 – 6 p.m.)