TULSA, Okla. – No. 18 seed
Brian Soldano (184) pinned in his opening-round matchup to highlight action for No. 22 Rutgers wrestling during Session I of the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday afternoon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Working from his back, Soldano reversed No. 15 seed Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) in the first period and pinned the Spartan to advance on the championship side of the bracket.
Soldano faces No. 2 seed Trent Hilday (NC State) tonight in the second round when wrestling begins at 7 p.m. ET at the BOK Center. No. 13 seed
Dean Peterson (125), No. 16 seed
Joe Heilmann (133), No. 31 seed
Tony White (149), No. 21 seed
Andrew Clark (157), No. 30 seed
Jackson Turley (174) and No. 24 seed
Boone McDermott (HWT) all wrestle Thursday night on the backside of the bracket after losing their opening-round matchups.
Session II Matchups
Peterson opened the session against No. 20 seed Jarrett Trombley (NC State) and trailed 3-1 after two periods. Beginning the final period on bottom, Peterson reversed Trombley with 1:44 on the clock to tie the bout. With Trombley owning 1:01 of RT, Peterson then looked to land a takedown with 30 seconds left in the match to earn a 5-4 decision, but his takedown was taken off the board, giving a 4-3 decision to Trombley.
Heilmann faced No. 17 seed Brayden Palmer (UT-Chattanooga) and landed a takedown in the second period to make it a 3-2 match in favor of Palmer. With a neutral start in the third, Palmer was able to hold off multiple shots and scrambles from Heilmann for the 4-2 decision.
Clark and White faced a pair of top-12 opponents in their opening-round matchups. White suffered a 10-2 major decision to No. 2 seed Sammy Sasso (Ohio State), while Clark wrestled tough in a 9-4 loss to No. 12 seed Kendall Coleman (Purdue).
Turley nearly pulled off the upset of the opening round against 2019 national champion No. 3 seed Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech). Trailing just 2-1 in the third period, Turley forced several scrambles and forced a stall call on Lewis, who was able to hold on for the 2-1 decision.
McDermott closed out the session with a tough 6-1 loss to No. 9 seed Lucas Davison (Northwestern).
125: (13) Dean Peterson (0-1)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(20) Jarrett Trombley (NC State) |
L-D, 4-3 |
| Conso. Round 1 |
(29) Nico Provo (Stanford) |
|
133: (16) Joe Heilmann (0-1)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(17) Brayden Palmer (UT-Chattanooga) |
L-D, 4-2 |
| Conso. Round 1 |
(33) Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) |
|
149: (31) Tony White (0-1)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(2) Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) |
L-MD, 10-2 |
| Conso. Round 1 |
(18) Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) |
|
157: (21) Andrew Clark (0-1)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(12) Kendall Coleman (Purdue) |
L-D, 9-4 |
| Conso. Round 1 |
(28) Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) |
|
174: (30) Jackson Turley (0-1)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(3) Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) |
L-D, 2-1 |
| Conso. Round 1 |
(14) Benjamin Pasiuk (Army) |
|
184: (18) Brian Soldano (1-0)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(15) Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) |
W-Fall (1:40) |
| Round 2 |
(2) Trent Hidlay (NC State) |
|
HWT: (24) Boone McDermott (0-1)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(9) Lucas Davison (Northwestern) |
L-D, 6-1 |
| Conso. Round 1 |
(25) Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) |
|
