DETROIT — Jonathan Millner improved to 3-1 at the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships with two victories Friday at Little Caesars Arena.
When wrestling resumes at 8 p.m. on Friday, Millner and the seven other 149-pound competitors in consolation "blood round" matches will be fourth in line, with that weight class following the four "blood round" matches on outer mats for the 125, 133 and 141 weight classes. Entering the Friday night session, there are 12 wrestlers left in each bracket, with the final eight becoming All-Americans.
Millner (23-2) will face eighth-seeded Max Murin of Iowa with an All-America honor at stake, as the four losers of the Friday night consolation matches will be eliminated. Their match likely will begin close to or after 8:30 p.m. Murin (15-4) won his first two matches Thursday before losing to top-seeded Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell in a Friday quarterfinal.
After going 1-1 on Thursday, Millner won 5-1 against 12th-seeded Mike Van Brill from Rutgers and 4-0 against 20th-seeded Colin Realbuto of Northern Iowa.
Millner used a second-period rideout, a quick reversal in the third and a key takedown with 19 seconds left to beat Van Brill. In the next match, Millner recorded another second-period rideout, a third-period escape and a takedown in the closing seconds.
App State advanced three wrestlers to Round of 16 bouts for the first time in 30 years and had an impressive four wrestlers move on to Day 2.
Caleb Smith,
Thomas Flitz and
Will Formato all went 1-2 in Detroit, with Smith opening the event by beating the 2021 third-place finisher at 125 pounds and Flitz turning a 5-2 deficit into a 9-6 decision in his opening match at 174. Formato advanced via a medical forfeit at 165, and
Codi Russell qualified for the NCAAs at 133.
Flitz qualified for the NCAAs for the third straight year, won his first SoCon title and used that third-period comeback to post an NCAA win that gave him 84 career victories.
Russell, another graduate student, was a five-time SoCon finalist, four-time NCAA qualifier and three-time SoCon champ who finished his App State career with a 94-47 record.
Formato reached the NCAA Championships for the second straight year and closed the season with a 23-9 record.
In his first season in App State's lineup, Smith went 24-8 and beat a returning All-American who followed that loss with two major decisions and a 7-0 decision to reach the blood round at 125.
DAY 1 RECAP
Just like in 1992, when App State wrestlers Donnell Rawls, Adrian Hines and Melvin Crosby all reached the Round of 16, three Mountaineers won their first-round matches.
A returning All-American, the sixth-seeded Millner went 1-1 on Thursday with a 3-0 shutout of Oregon State's Cory Crooks and a 16-11 loss to 11th-seeded Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech.
Smith, a first-year starter making his first NCAA appearance, had a 1-1 record against a pair of returning All-Americans. He delivered one of the first headline-worthy results of the event with an 8-5 decision against eighth-seeded Minnesota standout Patrick McKee, who placed third at the 2021 NCAAs. Smith then dropped a 6-2 decision against Virginia Tech's Sam Latona, who finished sixth at the 2021 NCAAs.
In Smith's victory, he used an early takedown and a reversal late in the first period to establish a 4-3 lead. He led 6-4 late in the third period and sealed the victory on a takedown with 17 seconds remaining.
Flitz trailed 5-2 in the third period of his opening match, but he turned a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 lead on a takedown of Cornell's Chris Foca with 13 seconds left and added two near-fall points for a 9-6 victory. Third-seeded Logan Massa of Michigan won 15-5 against Flitz in the next round.
Formato lost an 8-3 decision against 13th-seeded Julian Ramirez of Cornell before advancing to Friday due to a medical forfeit from Chattanooga's Drew Nicholson.
Russell lost 4-0 against 12th-seeded Micky Phillippi of Pitt and had the final four takedowns, including three in the third period, of a 12-9 loss to Air Force's Sidney Flores.
Millner used a second-period escape and a takedown with 33 seconds remaining in the third period to shut out Crooks in their opening match at 149. Andonian jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first period and built the advantage to 14-4 in the second period. Millner cut into his deficit, and Andonian was called for stalling four times — a fifth leads to a disqualification — before advancing to a quarterfinal berth.
