EVANSTON, Ill. – Five from No. 11 Rutgers wrestling – No. 3 seed Dean Peterson (125), No. 5 seed Dylan Shawver (133), No. 6 seed Joseph Olivieri (141), No. 6 seed Andrew Clark (149) and No. 7 seed Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184) – locked up spots at the national tournament after the first day of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Saturday in Evanston, Illinois.
 
Peterson and Shawver advanced to their respective conference semifinal bouts before falling to the backside of the bracket. The Cartagena-Walsh, Clark, Olivieri, Peterson and Shawver all secured top eight conference finishes ahead of tomorrow's third session, which begins at 1 p.m. ET from Welsh-Ryan Arena.
 
Cartagena-Walsh and No. 6 seed Yaraslau Slavikouski (HWT) were both forced to forfeit the remainder of their matches at the tournament due to injuries. Ranked No. 8 in the final coaches' ranking, No. 10 in the RPI and No. 7 by Intermat, Slavikouski looks to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships when they are handed out next week.
 
With nine allocations at 165 and 10 at 197 pounds, No. 10 seed Anthony White (165) and No. 13 seed PJ Casale (197) will wrestle tomorrow for chances to secure an automatic bid to the national tournament. No. 6 seed Jackson Turley (174) and No. 10 seed Conner Harer (157) will also compete in ninth-place brackets, as their weight classes feature eight allocations.

Through two sessions, Rutgers sits in ninth place in the team race with 46 points.
 
Peterson opened the championships with back-to-back wins to face No. 2 seed Caleb Smith (Nebraska) in the 125-pound semifinal. Tied 1-1 in sudden victory, Smith caught Peterson in a potentially dangerous situation, which forced Peterson to use injury time and moved Smith to the bottom position with 38 seconds on a restart. Smith took advantage of the position with a reversal for a 3-1 win.
 
Shawver, the reigning Big Ten Champion, faced No. 1 seed Drake Ayala (Iowa) in his 133-pound semifinal bout. Shawver hung tough with Ayala before the Hawkeye advanced with an 8-2 decision. Prior to Saturday night, Shawver picked up two wins during the morning session, including a 3-1 decision over No. 4 seed Braeden Davis (Penn State) in the quarterfinals.
 
Clark and Olivieri both won two matches in Saturday night's wrestlebacks to secure their spots at the national tournament. Olivieri defeated No. 12 seed Dario Lemus (Maryland) by 4-2 decision before pinning No. 8 seed Henry Porter (Indiana) in the first period to advance to the consolation semifinals. Clark recorded back-to-back decisions, including a 4-0 win over No. 9 seed Dylan Gilcher (Michigan) to move to the consolation semifinals.
 
Cartagena-Walsh earned a win over No. 8 seed Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) after the Buckeye landed an illegal move in the first period that resulted in injury. Because of the illegal move, Cartagena-Walsh was awarded the win on DQ before bowing out of the remainder of the tournament.
 
Session I Recap
No. 3 seed Dean Peterson (125) and No. 5 seed Dylan Shawver (133) each earned spots in their respective Big Ten Championships semifinal bouts after Session I of the conference tournament on Saturday in Evanston, Illinois. Nine starters for No. 11 Rutgers wrestling will compete during tonight's second session, which begins at 6 p.m. ET on Big Ten Plus.
 
Tonight's semifinals will air at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network. Peterson faces No. 2 seed Caleb Smith (Nebraska), while Shawver wrestles No. 1 seed Drake Ayala (Iowa) for a chance to advance to his second consecutive Big Ten title match. With their two wins during the morning session, Peterson and Shawver secured automatic bids to the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships, held March 20-22 in Philadelphia.
 
No. 6 seed Joseph Olivieri (141), No. 6 seed Andrew Clark (149), No. 6 seed Yaraslau Slavikouski (HWT), No. 7 seed Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184) and No. 10 seed Anthony White (165) all won their opening-round matches before losing in the quarterfinals. No. 6 seed Jackson Turley (174) and No. 10 seed Conner Harer (157) are also alive on the backside of the bracket, while No. 13 seed PJ Casale (197) bowed out of his first Big Ten Championships despite wrestling tough in both loses.
 
Peterson muscled a 6-3 decision over No. 14 seed Tyler Garvin (Maryland) in the opening round to secure a rematch with No. 6 Jacob Moran (Indiana) in the quarterfinals. After a scoreless first period, Peterson landed takedowns in the second and third periods en route to an 8-0 major decision. The bonus-point victory secured Peterson's second consecutive appearance in the Big Ten semifinals after he defeated then-No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) in the quarterfinals of last year's championships.
 
After a 10-0 major decision against No. 12 seed Massey Odiotti (Northwestern), Shawver faced No. 4 seed Braeden Davis in the quarterfinals. Davis earned an escape point in the third after back-to-back scoreless periods for an 1-0 lead on Shawver, who lost to Davis in January by 2-1 decision at Jersey Mike's Arena. Shawver took control of the remainder of the match, working shots until he landed his match-sealing takedown with 10 seconds to go for a 3-1 final. The win moved Shawver to his second consecutive Big Ten semifinal, as the reigning 133-pound Big Ten Champion looks to defend his title.
 
The opening round featured several notable results, including an overtime win from White over No. 7 seed Tyler Lillard (Indiana). Lillard held a 3-2 lead with 18 seconds left in Tiebreaker two before White worked a reversal for a 4-3 decision. The win was White's first over Lillard, who defeated the Scarlet Knight in two previous meetings this season.
 
Cartagena-Walsh, Clark, Olivieri and Slavikouski all earned wins over lower seeds in the opening round, with Clark picking up a 13-2 major decision over No. 11 seed Isaac Ruble (Purdue). After an opening-round win over No. 11 seed Harley Andrews (Nebraska), Slavikouski forced No. 3 seed Joshua Heindselman (Michigan) into overtime before losing 2-1 in sudden victory.
 
125: (3) Dean Peterson (2-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(14) Tyler Garvin (Maryland)	W-D, 6-3
Quarterfinals	(6) Jacob Moran (Indiana)	W-MD, 8-0
Semifinals	(2) Caleb Smith (Nebraska)	L-SV1, 3-1
Conso. Semis.	(8) Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin)	Sunday, 1 p.m.

 
133: (5) Dylan Shawver (2-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(12) Massey Odiotti (Northwestern)	W-MD, 10-0
Quarterfinals	(4) Braeden Davis (Penn State)	W-D, 3-1
Semifinals	(1) Drake Ayala (Iowa)	L-D, 8-2
Conso. Semis	(9) Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State)	Sunday, 1 p.m.

 
141: (6) Joseph Olivieri (3-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(11) Cullan Schriever (Iowa)	W-D, 4-2
Quarterfinals	(3) Brock Hardy (Nebraska)	L-MD, 11-1
Conso. Rd. 2	(12) Dario Lemus (Maryland)	W-D, 4-2
Conso. Quarters.	(8) Henry Porter (Indiana)	W-Fall (2:31)
Conso. Semis.	(1) Beau Bartlett (Penn State)	Sunday, 1 p.m.

 
149: (6) Andrew Clark (3-1)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(11) Isaac Ruble (Purdue)	W-MD, 13-2
Quarterfinals	(3) Ridge Lovett (Nebraska)	L-MD, 13-2
Conso. Rd. 2	(13) Joey Buttler (Indiana)	W-D, 8-1
Conso. Quarters.	(9) Dylan Gilcher (Michigan)	W-D, 4-0
Conso. Semis.	(1) Shayne Van Ness (Penn State)	Sunday, 1 p.m.

 
157: (10) Conner Harer (0-2)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(7) Trevor Chumbley (Indiana)	L-D, 7-0
Conso. Rd. 1	Bye
Conso. Rd. 2	(1) Ethan Miller (Maryland)	L-D, 5-2
9th-Place Semi.	(11) Jason Kraisser (Illinois)	Sunday, 1 p.m.

 
165: (10) Anthony White (1-2)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(7) Tyler Lillard (Indiana)	W-TB2, 4-3
Quarterfinals	(2) Mike Caliendo (Iowa)	L-TF, 20-4 (4:49)
Conso. Rd. 2	(8) Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern)	L-D, 5-1
9th-Place Semi.	(11) Stoney Buell (Purdue)	Sunday, 1 p.m.

 
174: (6) Jackson Turley (1-2)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(11) Joseph Walker (Michigan)	L-D, 10-4
Conso. Rd. 1	(14) Aiden Vandenbush (N'Western)	W-D, 8-4
Conso. Rd. 2	(12) Branson John (Maryland)	L-D, 6-4
9th-Place Semi.	(13) Ceasar Garza (Michigan State)	Sunday, 1 p.m.

 
184: (7) Shane Cartagena-Walsh (2-2)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(10) Jaden Bullock (Michigan)	W-D, 8-5
Quarterfinals	(2) Max McEnelly (Minnesota)	L-TF, 22-6 (6:48)
Conso. Rd. 2	(8) Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State)	W-DQ
Conso. Quarters.	(3) Silas Allred (Nebraska)	L-MFF

 
197: (13) PJ Casale (1-2)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(4) Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota)	L-D, 8-6
Conso. Rd. 1	(12) Chase Mielnik (Maryland)	L-Fall (4:58)
9th-Place Quart.	(12) Chase Mielnik (Maryland)	W-TF, 16-0 (5:30)
9th-Place Semi.	(8) Gabe Sollars (Indiana)	Sunday, 1 p.m.

 
HWT: (6) Yaraslau Slavikouski (1-2)

Round	Opponent	Result
Round 1	(11) Harley Andrews (Nebraska)	W-D, 6-4
Quarterfinals	(3) Joshua Heindselman (Michigan)	L-SV1, 2-1
Conso. Rd. 2	(12) Max Vanadia (Michigan State)	L-MFF