DETROIT – No. 3 seed Sebastian Rivera (141) and No. 14 seed Greg Bulsak (197) advanced in their respective championship brackets for No. 14 Rutgers wrestling after Session I of the 2022 NCAA Championships on Thursday in Detroit. All seven Scarlet Knights are still alive heading into the night session, which begins at 7 p.m. ET at Little Caesars Arena.
 
No. 33 Connor O'Neill (174) added a pin in his championship pigtail to give RU three wins and six team points during the morning session.
 
Rutgers Team Score Through Session I: 6.0 (T/16th)
Session I Attendance: 17,207
 
O'Neill started the tournament with a bang in his pigtail with No. 32 seed Dom Solis (Maryland). Scrambling throughout the first period, O'Neill caught Solis with a single leg and finished a cradle for the first period fall to advance. O'Neill, who lost to Solis twice this season before his pin, gave RU three team points with his huge bonus-point victory.
 
Rivera cruised in his 12-3 major decision over No. 30 seed Jacob Butler (Oklahoma). Rivera collected three takedowns in the opening three minutes and added takedowns in each of his next two periods along with three-plus minutes of riding time to advance. It was his 25th win of the season and his 24th by bonus.
 
Bulsak faced No. 19 seed Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) and landed a takedown in the first period, followed with an escape and penalty point in the second and closed with a takedown in the third for a 7-0 decision. The win was the 100th of his collegiate career after he collected 77 at Clarion from 2016-21.
 
RU had several tight losses during the first round of the tournament. No. 23 seed Dylan Shawver (125) dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 10 seed Mike DeAugustino (Northwestern). No. 22 seed Joseph Olivieri (133) landed a takedown early for a 2-1 lead on No. 11 seed Devan Turner (Oregon State) in the first period, but Turner was able to earn the win after two two-point tilts from top in the second period en route to a 10-4 decision.
 
No. 12 seed Michael VanBrill (149) held a late lead in the third period against No. 21 seed Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State). Robinson was able to land a last second takedown with two back points for the 7-5 final. No. 20 seed John Poznanski (184) hit a reversal on No. 13 seed Kyle Cochran (Maryland) in the first period to tied the match at 2-2, but was unable to hold off Cochran in a 7-3 loss.
 
125: (23) Dylan Shawver (0-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(10) Mike DeAugustino (Northwestern)	L-D, 3-1
Conso. Round 1	(26) Kysen Terukina (Iowa State)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

 
133: (22) Joseph Olivieri (0-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(11) Devan Turner (Oregon State)	L-D, 10-4
Conso. Round 1	(27) Malyke Hines (Lehigh)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

 
141: (3) Sebastian Rivera (1-0)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(30) Jacob Butler (Oklahoma)	W-MD, 12-3
Round 2	(19) Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

 
149: (12) Michael VanBrill (0-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(21) Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State)	L-D, 7-5
Conso. Round 1	(28) Kody Komara (Kent State)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

 
174: (33) Connor O'Neill (1-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Championship Pigtail	(32) Dom Solis (Maryland)	W-Fall (2:15)
Round 1	(1) Carter Starocci (Penn State)	L-Fall (6:38)
Conso. Round 1	(17) Nick Incontrera (UPenn)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

 
184: (20) John Poznanski (0-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(13) Kyle Cochran (Maryland)	L-7-3
Conso. Round 1	(29) Christopher Weiler (Wisconsin)	Tonight, 7 p.m.

 
197: (14) Greg Bulsak (1-0)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(19) Jacob Cardenas (Cornell)	W-D, 7-0
Round 2	(3) Eric Shultz (Nebraska)	Tonight, 7 p.m.