Indiana Wrestles Through Session II of NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 21

Kansas City, Mo.

12 PM & 7 PM

Indiana University

NCAA Championships

Indiana Wrestles Through Session II of NCAA Championships

3/21/2024 11:50:00 PM | Wrestling

Results (PDF)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. –––– After two sessions of action at the NCAA Championships in the T-Mobile Center, Indiana has five of its six wrestlers still alive in the tournament.

Cayden Rooks (133), Dan Fongaro (141), Graham Rooks (149), Brayton Lee (157) and Tyler Lillard (165) are all still competing in the consolation brackets.

Every Indiana wrestler in the tournament won at least one match.

MATCH RECAPS

After dropping their opening matches, No. 32 Cayden Rooks and No. 17 Tyler Lillard each bounced back to stay alive in the tournament and advance in the wrestlebacks.

Rooks dominantly won his second preliminary round match, defeating No. 30 Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist) by major decision, 11-3.

Then, when facing No. 19 Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) in the first round of consolation action, Rooks had his best showing of the tournament through the first half of the match. The graduate student scored on four first period takedowns and was on his way to bonus-point victory prior to Farber injury defaulting.

Lillard, coming off a 5-0 loss in the opening round, found his stride in his consolation bout against Northern Iowa's No. 33 Jack Thomsen. Thomsen and Lillard were locked in at 1-1 before Lillard got Thomsen on his back and stuck him for a fall at the 7:43 mark.

Nick Willham found himself in a close battle with No. 16 Cory Day (Binghamton) in the first round of consolation action and nearly advanced, too. It was a 3-3 match after regulation, but Day scored on a takedown in Sudden Victory, 6-3.

After winning their opening matches and advancing, Fongaro, Graham Rooks and Lee fell in tough bouts in the Round of 16. Each will continue wrestling tomorrow in the consolation brackets.

Action will resume tomorrow at 12 p.m. eastern/11 a.m. central time.

Indiana's 10.5 points already surpasses last year's total of seven scored at the NCAA Championships.

FULL RESULTS

133 – No. 32 Cayden Rooks:
-Prelim R1: No. 33 Dyson Dunham (VMI) def. No. 32 Cayden Rooks (IU): Dec. 9-5
-Prelim R2: No. 32 Cayden Rooks (IU) def. No. 30 Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist): MD, 11-3
-Cons. R1: No. 32 Cayden Rooks (IU) def. No. 19 Julian Farber (Northern Iowa): Inj. Default

141 – No. 23 Dan Fongaro:
-Round 1: No. 23 Dan Fongaro (IU) def. No. 10 Tagen Jamison (OK State): Dec. 9-8
-Round of 16: No. 26 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) def. No. 23 Dan Fonagro (IU): Dec. 5-0

149 – No. 17 Graham Rooks:
-Round 1: No. 17 Graham Rooks (IU) def. No. 16 Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh): Dec. 12-5
-Round of 16: No. 1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) def. No. 17 Graham Rooks (IU): Dec. 11-4

157 – No. 11 Brayton Lee:
-Round 1: No. 11 Brayton Lee (IU) def. No. 22 DJ McGee (George Mason): SV-1, 4-1
-Round of 16: No. 6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) def. No. 11 Brayton Lee (IU): MD, 8-0

165 – No. 17 Tyler Lillard:
-Round 1: No. 16 Will Miller (App State) def. No. 17 Tyler Lillard (IU): Dec. 5-0
-Cons. R1: No. 17 Tyler Lillard (IU) def. No. 33 Jack Thomsen (UNI): Fall (7:43)

285 – No. 32 Nick Willham:
-Prelim R1: No. 32 Nick Willham (IU) def. No. 33 Jordan Greer (Ohio): Dec. 11-4
-Round 1: No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) def. No. 32 Nick Willham (IU): TF, 19-3 (5:17)
-Cons. R1: No. 16 Cory Day (Binghamton) def. No. 32 Nick Willham (IU): SV-1, 6-3

TEAM STANDINGS UPDATE (THROUGH SESSION II)

1. Penn State (34.5 points)
t-2. Iowa State (24.5 points)
t-2. Iowa (24.5 points)
t-4. Michigan (22.0 points)
t-4. NC State (22.0 points)

17. Indiana (10.5 points)