Indiana Leaves Big Tens with Six NCAA Qualifiers

Sunday, March 10

College Park, Md.

12 PM & 4:30 PM

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships

Indiana Leaves Big Tens with Six NCAA Qualifiers

3/10/2024 11:26:00 PM | Wrestling

COLLEGE PARK, Md. –––– Indiana Wrestling enjoyed a highly successful session III and IV on the second and final day of the 2024 Big Ten Championships at the XFINITY Center.

The Hoosiers entered the day with two wrestlers who had already earned their automatic bids to the 2024 NCAA Championships, they left the building with six.

The six automatic qualifiers marks the most the program has had in one season since 2010, which was head coach Angel Escobedo's senior year at Indiana.

Brayton Lee (157) and Graham Rooks (149) previously clinched bids on Saturday. On Sunday, Dan Fongaro (141), Tyler Lillard (165), Cayden Rooks (133) and Nick Willham (285) all clinched their spot to nationals.

Fongaro was the first of the day to earn his bid. He faced off against No. 11 seed Kal Miller (Maryland). Trailing 4-2 in the third period, Fongaro scored on a takedown in the final minute to go up 5-4, but Miller escaped to send it to overtime.

Fongaro continued pushing forward in overtime and scored in sudden victory to win, 8-5. With the win, Fongaro solidified his first career NCAA berth.

Lillard faced off against No. 8 Bryce Hepner (Ohio State) in a rematch from yesterday in the 11^th place bracket to determine NCAA qualification. While up 7-6 in the third period, but truly being a 7-7 score due to Hepner securing riding time, Lillard reversed Hepner to earn a 9-7 decision win and get his first career NCAA bid.

Cayden Rooks and Nick Willham each needed a win in their seventh place matches to guarantee a bid as both weight classes only had seven automatic qualifications available.

While tied 1-1, Rooks took down Purdue's Dustin Norris in the third period and rode him out for the remainder of the match to pull a 5-1 win by decision and claim his bid.

The NCAA berth was the second of his career and first since 2021.

Willham and Maryland's No. 5 seed Seth Nevills (Maryland) were knotted up at 1-1 through regulation. Willham secured a takedown in Sudden Victory to win it 4-1 and punch his ticket to NCAAs.

Willham was at the 2023 NCAA Championships, but as an alternate at 197 lbs., so today's win marks Willham's first career NCAA berth.

After claiming six bids through Session III, Lee competed in Session IV during the fifth place match at 157 lbs. He scored on a third period takedown to defeat No. 8 seed Joey Blaze, 3-2.

With Lee, both Rooks brothers and Willham, Indiana put four wrestlers on the podium, the program's most at a Big Ten Championships since 2014.

Prior to competing at the NCAAs, Indiana will wait to see if they land any at-large selections for the championships. The full list of qualifiers for the tournament will be announced on Tuesday.

In the team scoring, Indiana finished in 12^th with 33.0 points. The 33 points mark the most scored at Big Tens since 2012 when Indiana scored 41 points.

UP NEXT
Indiana will next compete in the NCAA Championships from March 21-23 in Kansas City, Mo.

FULL TEAM RESULTS

Penn State (170.5)
Michigan (123.5)
Nebraska (118.0)
Iowa (110.5)
Ohio State (89.0)
Rutgers (87.5)
Minnesota (74.0)
Wisconsin (46.5)
Purdue (41.5)
Maryland (39.0)
Illinois (34.0)
Indiana (33.0)
Michigan State (23.5)
Northwestern (14.5)

FULL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

125 – No. 14 Blaine Frazier:
-Round 1: No. 3 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) def. No. 14 Blaine Frazier (IU): Fall (1:31)
-Consi R1: No. 14 Blaine Frazier (IU) def. No. 11 Justin Cardani (Illinois): Dec. 6-0
-Consi R2: No. 5 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) def. No. 14 Blaine Frazier (IU): Dec. 8-2
-9^th Place R1: No. 14 Blaine Frazier (IU) def. No. 11 Justin Cardani (ILL): Dec. 5-0
-9^th Place Semi: No. 8 Brendan McCrone (OSU) def. No. 14 Blaine Frazier: MD, 15-6

133 – No. 10 Cayden Rooks:
-Round 1: No. 7 Braxton Brown (Maryland) def. No. 10 Cayden Rooks (IU): Dec. 6-5
-Consi R1: No. 10 Cayden Rooks (IU) advanced on bye.
-Consi R2: No. 10 Cayden Rooks (IU) def. No. 8 Tyler Wells (Minnesota): MFF
-Consi R3: No. 4 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) def. No. 10 Cayden Rooks (IU): Dec. 11-6
-7^th Place: No. 10 Cayden Rooks (IU) def. No. 11 Dustin Norris (Purdue): Dec. 5-1

Cayden Rooks finished in 7^th place in the 133 Bracket

141 – No. 9 Dan Fongaro:
-Round 1: No. 8 Jordan Hamdan (MSU) def. No. 9 Dan Fongaro (IU): Dec. 4-2
-Consi R1: No. 9 Dan Fongaro (IU) advanced on bye.
-Consi R2: No. 7 Mitch Moore (Rutgers) def. No. 9 Dan Fongaro (IU): Dec. 10-4
-11^th Place R1: No. 9 Dan Fongaro (IU) advanced on bye.
-11^th Place Semi: No. 9 Dan Fongaro (IU) def. No. 11 Kal Miller (UMD): SV-1, 8-5
-11^th Place Final: No. 9 Dan Fongaro (IU) def. No. 12 Greyson Clark (PUR): MFF

Dan Fongaro finished in 9^th place in the 141 Bracket

149 – No. 8 Graham Rooks:
-Round 1: No. 8 Graham Rooks (IU) def. No. 9 Drew Roberts (MINN): SV-1, 7-4
-Quarterfinal: No. 1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) def. No. 8 Graham Rooks (IU): Fall (3:56)
-Cons. R2: No. 8 Graham Rooks (IU) def. No. 10 Michael Cetta (Rutgers): Dec. 16-10
-Cons. R3: No. 5 Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) def. No. 8 Graham Rooks (IU): SV-1, 7-1
-7^th Place: No. 8 Graham Rooks (IU) def. No. 7 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin): Dec. 5-4

Graham Rooks finished in 7^th place in the 149 Bracket

157 – No. 3 Brayton Lee:
-Round 1: No. 3 Brayton Lee (IU) def. No. 14 Logan Swaw (ILL): TF, 21-5 (4:21)
-Quarterfinal: No. 3 Brayton Lee (IU) def. No. 6 Chase Saldate (MSU): Dec. 6-5
-Semifinal: No. 7 Will Lewan (MICH) def. No. 3 Brayton Lee (IU): SV-1, 4-1
-Consi Semi: No. 5 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) def. No. 3 Brayton Lee (IU): Dec. 2-1
-5^th Place: No. 3 Brayton Lee (IU) def. No. 8 Joey Blaze (Purdue): Dec. 3-2

Brayton Lee finished in 5^th place in the 157 Bracket

165 – No. 9 Tyler Lillard:
-Round 1: No. 9 Tyler Lillard (IU) def. No. 8 Bryce Hepner (OSU): Fall (6:56)
-Quarterfinal: No. 1 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) def. No. 9 Tyler Lillard (IU): TF, 17-2 (5:48)
-Cons. R2: No. 7 Stoney Buell (Purdue) def. No. 9 Tyler Lillard (IU): Dec. 2-1
-11^th Place R1: No. 9 Tyler Lillard (IU) def. No. 14 AJ Rodrigues (Maryland): MD, 18-7
-11^th Place Semi: No. 9 Tyler Lillard (IU) def. No. 8 Bryce Hepner (OSU): Dec. 9-7
-9^th Place: No. 9 Tyler Lillard (IU) def. No. 12 Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern): Dec. 8-5

Tyler Lillard finished in 9^th Place in the 165 Bracket

174 – No. 8 DJ Washington:
-Round 1: No. 9 Andrew Sparks (MINN) def. No. 8 DJ Washington (IU): Dec. 10-5
-Consi R1: No. 8 DJ Washington (IU) advanced on bye.
-Cons. R2: No. 7 Max Maylor (Wisconsin) def. No. 8 DJ Washington (IU): MD, 8-0
-9^th Place R1: No. 8 DJ Washington (IU) advanced on bye.
-9^th Place Semi: No. 13 DJ Shannon (MSU) def. No. 8 DJ Washington (IU): Inj. Default

184 – No. 10 Roman Rogotzke:
-Round 1: No. 10 Roman Rogotzke (IU) def. No. 7 Shane Liegel (Wisconsin): Dec. 2-0
-Quarterfinal: No. 2 Lenny Pinto (NEB) def. No. 10 Roman Rogotzke (IU): Dec. 14-7
-Cons. R2: No. 8 Brian Soldano (Rutgers) def. No. 10 Roman Rogotzke (IU): MD, 11-3
-9^th Place R1: No. 10 Roman Rogotzke advanced on bye.
-9^th Place Semi: No. 13 Aiden Riggins (Iowa) def. No. 10 Roman Rogotzke (IU): MD, 28-14

197 – No. 10 Gabe Sollars:
-Round 1: No. 7 John Poznanski (RUT) def. No. 10 Gabe Sollars (IU): Dec. 6-2
-Consi R1: No. 10 Gabe Sollars (IU) advanced on bye.
-Cons. R2: No. 8 Evan Bates (Northwestern) def. No. 10 Gabe Sollars (IU): Dec. 8-3

285 – No. 6 Nick Willham:
-Round 1: No. 6 Nick Willham (IU) def. No. 11 Jack Jessen (NU): Dec. 4-2
-Quarterfinal: No. 3 Lucas Davison (MICH) def. No. 6 Nick Willham (IU): Dec. 5-0
-Cons. R2: No. 6 Nick Willham (IU) def. No. 12 Gannon Rosenfeld (WIS): Dec. 11-4
-Cons. R3: No. 7 Bradley Hill (Iowa) def. No. 6 Nick Willham (IU): Dec. 4-2
-7^th Place: No. 6 Nick Willham (IU) def. No. 5 Seth Nevills (Maryland): SV-1, 4-1

Nick Willham finished in 7^th Place in the 285 Bracket