Big First Session for Wrestlers at Nationals

Things could not have started much better for the Williamson wrestling team at the 2024 National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships.  All five Williamson national qualifiers won their opening round match, with three of the five then winning a second match to advance to this evening's Round of 16 action. 

Freshman Liam Kernan, seeded 18^th, jumped all over his first opponent, Mike Mancini from the University of Massachusetts.  He was up 11-0 in the second period when he pinned his opponent to move onto the second round. He then received a walkover, as his opponent was unable to participate, thereby moving him into the Round of 16

Senior Chase Whartnaby at 141 lbs. and seeded 25^th, dominated his opponent, Matthew Tavaras from Northeastern University, and won via a third period technical fall, 18-2.  He then lost via pin in the second round to #8 seeded Bruno Ales from Apprentice to move into the consolation bracket tonight.

Alexander Gamble-Williams at 149 lbs. was absolutely dominating in his first two matches, winning both via technical fall.  The first was a 22-7 decision over Victor Rodriguez from the University of Massachusetts, and the second was a 22-5 decision over Carlos Sebedra from Washington State University.

Talon Pisarchuk, seeded second at 174 lbs. made short work of both his opponents, pinning both Matthew Pozner from the University of Massachusetts and Alexander Newkirk from Florida A & M University in the first period.

Heavyweight Harry Asencio pinned Macalab Turner from Sacramento State University in the first period, before getting pinned himself in the first period by #8 seed Thad Huff from Bellarmine University in the next round.

Amazingly, with just five competitors, Williamson is in 11^th place overall in the team standings out of 88 teams.

Action resumes later tonight.