Rooks Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals, All Four Hoosiers Alive After Day One

Thursday, March 16

Tulsa, Okla.

12:00 PM & 7 PM

Indiana University

NCAA Championships

Rooks Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals, All Four Hoosiers Alive After Day One

3/16/2023 11:56:00 PM | Wrestling

Day One Results (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. ––––– Session II capped off a successful first day of the NCAA Championships for Indiana Wrestling as resdshirt senior Graham Rooks moved on to the quarterfinals and all four Hoosiers remain alive in the tournament.

In Session II, Rooks won his Round of 16 match while Derek Gilcher and Jacob Bullock won their opening consolation round bouts. Washington lost his Round of 16 match but is still alive in the bracket as that was only his first loss of the tournament.

MATCH RECAPS

The Round of 16 featured another close bout for Rooks, who was the No. 20 seed taking on No. 4 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech). Despite being the underdog, Rooks set the tone for the entire match.

He scored on an early takedown a little over a minute into the first period to start in the lead. Henson escaped to make it 2-1 and escaped again at the start of the second period to even the score.

Entering the third, Rooks escaped, shot and scored on another takedown to seal the match. That was enough to pick up a 5-4 decision victory and advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in his career.

After dropping his first match of the day, No. 18 Derek Gilcher bounced back in a strong way in his first consolation match against No. 31 Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven).

Gilcher opened the match with two first period takedowns to catapult him to a 4-1 lead after one period. Eyler's second period takedown would be the last points he scored for the match and Gilcher cemented his win with an escape and a riding time point to make it a 6-3 decision.

With Gilcher's win, he stays alive in the tournament and moves on in the wrestlebacks.

No. 23 Jacob Bullock got back on track in his consolation match, too. The senior heavyweight had a rematch with No. 26 Cory Day of Binghamton who Bullock had pinned at the Garden State Grapple back in December.

In the first period, Day struck first with an early takedown but Bullock immediately flipped position and tied the score with a reversal.

Bullock would score on four more takedowns and add the riding time point while only allowing escapes in a 11-5 decision victory.

No. 17 DJ Washington dropped his Round of 16 match in Session II in a 4-0 decision to No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State).

Washington will wrestle again tomorrow morning in the second round of the consolation bracket during Session III.

The NCAA Championships will continue on Friday with Session III beginning at 12 PM (ET) and Session IV starting at 8 PM (ET).

INDIANA RESULTS

149 – No. 20 Graham Rooks:
-Round 1: No. 20 Graham Rooks (IU) def. No. 13 Kellyn March (NDSU): Dec. 4-3
-R16: No. 20 Graham Rooks (IU) def. No. 4 Caleb Henson (VT): Dec. 5-4

157 – No. 18 Derek Gilcher:
-Round 1: No. 15 Jacob Wright (Wyoming) def. No. 18 Derek Gilcher (IU): Dec. 3-2
-Cons. R1: No. 18 Derek Gilcher (IU) def. No. 31 Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven): Dec. 6-3

174 – No. 17 DJ Washington:
-Round 1: No. 17 DJ Washington (IU) def. No. 16 Sam Wolf (Air Force): TF, 17-2 (4:17)
-Round 16: No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) def. No. 17 DJ Washington (IU): Dec. 4-0

285 – No. 23 Jacob Bullock:
-Round 1: No. 10 Zach Elam (Mizzou) def. No. 23 Jacob Bullock (IU): Dec. 4-1
-Cons. R1: No. 23 Jacob Bullock (IU) def. No. 26 Cory Day (Binghamton): Dec. 11-5

UP NEXT
-149 Quarterfinal: No. 20 Graham Rooks (IU) vs. No. 12 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State)
-157 Cons. Round 2: No. 18 Derek Gilcher (IU) vs. No. 17 Jarrett Jacques (Mizzou)
-174 Cons. Round 2: No. 17 DJ Washington (IU) vs. No. 18 Tate Picklo (Oklahoma)
-285 Cons. Round 2: No. 23 Jacob Bullock (IU) vs. No. 8 Sam Schuyler (Iowa State)

TEAM STANDINGS UPDATE (THROUGH SESSION II)

1. Penn State (26.0)
2. Iowa (21.5)
3. Missouri (17.5)
T-4. Minnesota (16.5)
T-4. North Carolina State (16.5)

T-31. Indiana (5.5)