Barczak Wins 165-Pound Bracket at Appalachian Open

Saturday, January 25

Boone, N.C.

All Day

Drexel University

Appalachian Open

Photo by: Greg Carroccio/Sideline Photos

Barczak Wins 165-Pound Bracket at Appalachian Open

1/25/2020 5:22:00 PM | Wrestling

BOONE, N.C. – Evan Barczak won four times on Saturday en route to the 165-pound title at the Appalachian Open. Competing unattached, Barczak followed up on a first-place finish at 157 pounds at the same event last year.

The bracket's No. 2 seed, Barczak received a bye into the round of 16, where he pinned Bryce Sellers of Gardner-Webb in just 2:25. He then collected a 12-4 major decision over Virginia's Nick Sansone.

Barczak's final two matches were significantly tighter than his first two as the junior from Central Valley, N.Y. racked up back-to-back winning takedowns in the final minute.

In the semifinals, Barczak dispatched third-seeded Sawyer Davidson with a 3-1 decision. Barczak took a 1-0 lead into the third period but could not ride out Davidson to seal the win. Davidson escaped early in the period to tie the bout, but Barczak scored the winning takedown with 48 seconds to go and kept his opponent on the mat to book a place in the finals.

The championship bout pitted the bracket's top two seeds against one another and delivered the drama befitting a gold-medal match. Barczak scored the first points of the match with a reversal at the 1:28 mark of the second period. Appalachian State's Will Formato escaped with 39 seconds remaining in that period then tied the bout with a second escape just 14 seconds into the third. With sudden victory beckoning, Barczak took Formato down with two seconds remaining to win the match and the 165-pound bracket.

Evan Barczak – 165
Rd. of 32: (2) Evan Barczak (Unattached-Drexel) BYE
Rd. of 16: (2) Evan Barczak (Unattached-Drexel) pin Bryce Sellers (Gardner-Webb), 2:25
QFs: (2) Evan Barczak (Unattached-Drexel) major dec. Nick Sansone (Unattached-Virginia), 12-4
SFs: (2) Evan Barczak (Unattached-Drexel) dec. (3) Sawyer Davidson (North Carolina), 3-1
1^st Place: (2) Evan Barczak (Unattached-Drexel) dec. (1) Will Formato (Appalachian State), 4-2

Derek Rose – 285
Rd. of 16: TJ Boyd (Fairmont State) pin (4) Derek Rose (Unattached-Drexel), 6:13
Cons Rd. of 8 #1: William Baldwin (Unattached-Old Dominion) dec. (4) Derek Rose (Unattached-Drexel), 3-1