CLEVELAND, Ohio — Appalachian State senior wrestler
Forrest Przybysz has advanced to the second day of the NCAA Championships at Quicken Loans Arena, which drew lively crowds exceeding 18,600 to each session Thursday.
Seeded 12th at 174 pounds, Przybysz won his first match with a 7-2 decision against Wisconsin's Ryan Christensen before falling into the consolation bracket Thursday night with a loss by technical fall to fifth-seeded Myles Amine of Michigan. Przybysz (25-8) will face Utah Valley's Kimball Bastian (20-10) on Friday.
App State junior
Randall Diabe dropped his opener at 197 pounds to Kent State's Kyle Conel before taking an early lead, executing a late takedown and claiming an 8-4 decision against 11th-seeded Corey Griego of Oregon State. Diabe wrestled a third time Thursday night and lost by technical fall against Northern Iowa's Jacob Holschlag to finish the season 20-9.
It's the second NCAA appearance for Przybysz. Diabe, fellow junior
Irvin Enriquez (141 pounds) and redshirt freshman
Alan Clothier (184 pounds) were all making their NCAA debuts.
Enriquez (17-13) lost by a 9-6 decision against Navy's Nicholas Gil in the opening round and was beaten by technical fall against Lock Haven's Kyle Shoop, the national leader in that category.
Clothier (28-11) was tied entering the third period of a 10-6 loss to Minnesota's Brandon Krone in their first match, and Clothier was also tied beginning the third period of his 8-5 loss to Wyoming's Chaz Polson.
Przybysz was scoreless after one period against Christensen in the opening round, and the App State standout took a 2-1 edge into the final period. He moved ahead 3-1 on an escape and gained separation on a takedown with 1:05 remaining.
"Forrest wrestled really well, scored a lot of points and scored three takedowns in the second and third periods," App State head coach
JohnMark Bentley said. "For him, it really opened it up and got the ball rolling for our team. The guys that wrestled before him, we competed hard, we just didn't do enough in those matches to get our hands raised."
