ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 22 Rutgers wrestling punched seven through to the national tournament after Sunday action at the 2023 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. No. 6 seed
Boone McDermott (HWT), No. 7 seed
Joe Heilmann (133), No. 8 seed
Dean Peterson (125), No. 8 seed
Brian Soldano (184), No. 10 seed
Tony White (149), No. 10 seed
Jackson Turley (174) and No. 13 seed
Andrew Clark (157) all earned automatic bids to the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships, held March 16-18 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
With four automatic bids already locked up after Saturday's rounds, Clark, Turley, and White all outwrestled their seeds to secure their spots at nationals. It marks the second consecutive season seven Scarlet Knights will make the trip to the NCAA Championships and the ninth consecutive season RU has five or more national qualifiers under head coach
Scott Goodale.
In total, Rutgers produced 12 wins over ranked foes by Intermat, including two top-10 victories from Turley against No. 10 Donnell Washington (Indiana) and Soldano over No 10 Abe Assad (Iowa).
"We had an awesome rally and came out on top in so many close matches, "Goodale said. "This is such a hard tournament, and to get as many guys through as we did shows the heart this team has. It is about battling; I am fired up how the guys responded today."
Rutgers finished with five Big Ten placewinners – Soldano (sixth), Peterson (seventh), Turley (seventh), Heilmann (eighth) and McDermott (eighth) – for the second consecutive season. Soldano became just the fourth true freshman in program history to place at the Big Ten Championships since Rutgers joined in 2014-15. The Scarlet Knights finished 11th with 32 team points.
Needing a win in his seventh-place bout against No. 6 seed Donnell Washington (Indiana) to advance to nationals, Turley delivered with a gritty performance against the Hoosier. Turley reversed Washington in the first period and landed a takedown in the second to tie the match 4-4 through the first five minutes. Turley then outscored Washington, 4-0, which included a huge takedown with 47 seconds to go to clinch the 8-4 win.
Also needing a victory, Clark faced No. 7 seed Michael Carr (Illinois) and wrestled tough in a must-win situation. With Carr up 6-5 in the third period, Clark escaped out of the restart and took down Carr with 1:19 to go in the match to clinch the victory Carr, who entered the weekend ranked No. 13 by Intermat.
With nine allocations at 149 pounds, White needed to win back-to-back bouts on Sunday to qualify for his first NCAA Championships. White forced sudden victory against No. 11 seed Dayne Morton (Nebraska) and landed a takedown for the overtime win. In his ninth-place match, White fended off No. 12 seed Jake Harrier (Illinois) with a 5-3 decision to complete his undefeated day.
Along with Turley, Peterson also won his seventh place bout in a rematch with No. 9 seed Jack Medley (Michigan). After losing to the Wolverine to open the championships, Peterson scored in all three periods for a 7-1 decision against Medley to place in the first Big Ten Championships of his career. Heilmann lost his seventh-place bout to No. 8 seed Brody Teske (Iowa), while McDermott medical forfeited to eighth.
125: (8) Dean Peterson (Seventh Place, 2-2)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(9) Jack Medley (Michigan) |
L-MD, 9-0 |
| Conso Rd. 1 |
Bye |
|
| Conso Rd. 2 |
(7) Braxton Brown (Maryland) |
W-D, 8-3 |
| Conso Quarterfinals |
(3) Matt Ramos (Purdue) |
L-Fall (4:22) |
| 7th-Place Match |
(9) Jack Medley (Michigan) |
W-D, 7-1 |
133: (7) Joe Heilmann (Eighth Place, 2-3)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(10) Taylor LaMont (Wisconsin) |
W-D, 5-2 |
| Quarterfinals |
(2) Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) |
L-D, 4-0 |
| Conso Rd. 2 |
(9) RayVon Foley (Michigan State) |
W-D, 5-2 |
| Conso Quarterfinals |
(3) Lucas Byrd (Illinois) |
L-MD, 8-0 |
| 7th-Place Match |
(8) Brody Teske (Iowa) |
L-D, 8-4 |
141: (7) Joseph Olivieri (1-3)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(10) Cole Mattin (Michigan) |
L-D, 5-3 |
| Conso Rd. 1 |
Bye |
|
| Conso Rd. 2 |
(8) Parker Filius (Purdue) |
L-D, 9-5 |
| 9th-Place Semifinal |
(13) Cayden Rooks (Indiana) |
W-D, 2-1 |
| 9th-Place Match |
(14) Kal Miller (Maryland) |
L-D, 3-2 |
149: (10) Tony White (2-2)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(7) Graham Rooks (Indiana) |
L-D, 4-1 |
| Conso Rd. 1 |
Bye |
|
| Conso Rd. 2 |
(9) Chance Lamer (Michigan) |
L-D, 6-3 |
| 9th-Place Semifinal |
(11) Dayne Morton (Nebraska) |
W-SV1, 4-2 |
| 9th-Place Match |
(12) Jake Harrier (Illinois) |
W-D, 5-3 |
157: (13) Andrew Clark (4-2)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(4) Chase Saldate (Michigan State) |
L-D, 5-2 |
| Conso Rd. 1 |
(12) Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) |
W-D, 4-1 |
| Conso Rd. 2 |
(6) Will Lewan (Michigan) |
L-SV1, 3-1 |
| 9th-Place Quarterfinal |
(14) Michael North (Maryland) |
W-D, 4-0 |
| 9th-Place Semifinal |
(7) Michael Carr (Illinois) |
W-D, 9-6 |
| 9th-Place Match |
(9) Garrett Model (Wisconsin) |
W-MFF |
165: (12) Robert Kanniard (1-3)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(5) Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) |
L-TF, 20-5 (6:14) |
| Conso Rd. 1 |
(13) Stoney Buell (Purdue) |
L-D, 8-5 |
| 9th-Place Quarterfinal |
(13) Stoney Buell (Purdue) |
W-D, 12-8 |
| 9th-Place Semifinal |
(9) Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) |
L-D, 10-5 |
174: (10) Jackson Turley (Seventh Place, 2-2)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(7) Nelson Brands (Iowa) |
L-D, 1-0 |
| Conso Rd. 1 |
Bye |
|
| Conso Rd. 2 |
(8) Troy Fisher (Northwestern) |
W-MFF |
| Conso Quarterfinal |
(5) Edmond Ruth (Illinois) |
L-TB1, 4-3 |
| 7th-Place Match |
(6) Donnell Washington (Indiana) |
W-D, 8-4 |
184: (8) Brian Soldano (Sixth Place, 3-3)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(9) Dylan Connell (Illinois) |
W-SV1, 4-2 |
| Quarterfinals |
(1) Aaron Brooks (Penn State) |
L-TF, 18-2 (6:57) |
| Conso Rd. 2 |
(10) Tyler Dow (Wisconsin) |
W-TB1, 12-9 |
| Conso Quarterfinal |
(5) Abe Assad (Iowa) |
W-Fall (0:53) |
| Consolation Semifinal |
(3) Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) |
L-D, 3-0 |
| 5th-Place Match |
(7) Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) |
L-Fall (1:08) |
197: (11) Billy Janzer (2-3)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(6) Jaxon Smith (Maryland) |
L-D, 8-3 |
| Conso Rd. 1 |
(14) Hayden Filipovich (Purdue) |
W-D, 8-2 |
| Conso Rd. 2 |
(4) Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) |
L-D, 4-1 |
| 9th-Place Quarterfinal |
(14) Hayden Filipovich (Purdue) |
W-D, 4-1 |
| 9th-Place Semifinal |
(10) Nick Willham (Indiana) |
L-D, 3-0 |
HWT: (6) Boone McDermott (Eighth Place, 2-2)
| Round |
Opponent |
Result |
| Round 1 |
(11) Garrett Joles (Minnesota) |
W-D, 6-3 |
| Quarterfinals |
(3) Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) |
L-Fall (2:54) |
| Conso Rd 2 |
(12) Ryan Vasbinder (Michigan State) |
W-D, 4-0 |
| Conso Quarterfinals |
(7) Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) |
L-Inj. (3:16) |
| 7th-Place Match |
(10) Hayden Copass (Purdue) |
L-MFF |
