PITTSBURGH – No. 1 seed Anthony Ashnault (149), No. 3 seed Nick Suriano (133) and No. 16 seed John Van Brill (157) all secured major decisions to advance to Thursday night's second round as Rutgers wrestling closed out Session I of the 2019 NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh.
 
Session II begins tonight at 7 p.m. ET and will broadcast live on ESPN, with ESPN3 streaming all championship and consolation bouts at the PPG Center. Three other Scarlet Knights – No. 21 seed Nicholas Gravina (184), No. 29 seed Joseph Grello (174) and No. 33 seed Peter Lipari – will compete in tonight's wrestlebacks.

After Session I, Rutgers is 13th with 7.0 team points.
 
Session II Championship Matchups (7 p.m., ESPN/ESPN3)
133: (3) Nick Suriano vs. (14) Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech)
149: (1) Anthony Ashnault vs. (16) Davion Jefferies (Oklahoma)
157: (16) John Van Brill vs. (1) Jason Nolf (Penn State)
 
Session II Consolation Matchups (7 p.m., ESPN3)
141: (33) Peter Lipari vs. (17) Ian Parker (Iowa State)
174: (29) Joseph Grello vs. (13) Brit Wilson (Northern Ill.)
184: (21) Nicholas Gravina vs. (28) Noah Stewart (Army)
 
Ashnault cruised in his bout with No. 33 seed Malik Amine (Michigan), as he landed a takedown in the first 10 seconds of the match, followed with a two-point near fall and closed out the opening period with a single-leg for a 6-1 lead. The three-time All-American rode Amine out in the second period and finished the match with a takedown and the riding-time point in the third for a 10-2 major.
 
Suriano also dominated in his opening-round match against No. 30 seed Dylan Duncan (Illinois). Last year's national runner up landed three takedowns in the first period and had two takedowns and a two-point near fall for a commanding 11-2 lead after two periods. Suriano would fend off Duncan down the stretch, tacking on the riding-time point for his 12-3 major decision.
 
In a rematch from this season's Cliff Keen Invitational, Van Brill trailed No. 17 seed BC LaPrade (Virginia Tech), 2-1, after the first period before he went to work on top in period two. Van Brill worked a two-point tilt to regain the lead, and pulled away with a four-point near fall with 25 seconds left in the period for a 7-1 advantage. Van Brill finished the bout with an escape, a LaPrade penalty and riding time for the 10-2 major.
 
Lipari wrestled well in the first session, which began with a championship pigtail bout against No. 32 seed Christopher Sandoval (Northern Colorado). Trailing 5-4 to Sandoval in the third period, Lipari escaped with 1:12 to go and took down Sandoval with just six seconds left in the match for the 7-5 decision. Lipari advanced to face No. 1 seed Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) and wrestled well against the reigning NCAA Champion, hitting a reversal in the second period to lose just 10-5.
 
Grello and Gravina both dropped their opening-round matches to higher seeds. Grello trailed No. 4 seed Myles Amine (Michigan) by just one after two periods, and wrestled his foe tight in the 8-3 loss. Gravina nearly took the late lead in the third period on No. 12 seed Cash Wilcke (Iowa) on a potential takedown with 50 seconds to go, but he was never rewarded two as Wilcke earned the 3-2 win.
 
133: (3) Nick Suriano (1-0, 2 Team Points)

Rd. 1	(30) Dylan Duncan (Illinois)	W-MD, 12-3
Rd. 2	(14) Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

141: (33) Peter Lipari (1-1, 1 Team Point)

Pig Tail	(32) Christopher Sandoval (UNCO)	W-D, 7-5
Rd. 1	(1) Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell)	L-D, 10-5
C. Rd. 1	(17) Ian Parker (Iowa State)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

149: (1) Anthony Ashnault (1-0, 2 Team Points)

Rd. 1	(33) Malik Amine (Michigan)	W-MD, 10-2
Rd. 2	(16) Davion Jefferies (Oklahoma)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

157: (16) John Van Brill (1-0, 2 Team Points)

Rd. 1	(17) BC LaPrade (Virginia Tech)	W-MD, 10-2
Rd. 2	(1) Jason Nolf (Penn State)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

174: (29) Joseph Grello (0-1)

Rd. 1	(4) Myles Amine (Michigan)	L-D, 8-3
C. Rd. 1	(13) Brit Wilson (Northern Ill.)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

184: (21) Nicholas Gravina (0-1)

Rd. 1	(12) Cash Wilcke (Iowa)	L-D, 3-2
C. Rd. 1	(28) Noah Stewart (Army)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

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