Dragons Compete In Opening Day of NCAA Tournament

Thursday, March 17

Detroit, MI

All Day

Drexel University

NCAA Championships

Dragons Compete In Opening Day of NCAA Tournament

3/17/2022 10:36:00 PM | Wrestling

O'Malley Advances to Day Two of Competition

DETROIT, Mich. – Mickey O'Malley and Evan Barczak represented the Dragons in the opening rounds of the 2022 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. After wrestling to a 1-1 record, O'Malley advances to day two to compete in the second consolation round.

This years competition marked Barczak's second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Tournament and O'Malley's third straight appearance. The veteran wrestlers competed in the opening two sessions on Thursday in front of 34,000+ fans from all over the country.

Barczak battled back from a first-round loss to find a spot in the consolation bracket but had his season ended in the first consolation round in a tight 3-1 sudden victory decision. The grad student closed out the year with a career-high 22-11 record.

Despite being upset in the first round by a familiar face in Nijenhuis from Purdue, O'Malley secured a victory in the first consolation round against Joel Devine (Iowa St.), allowing him an opportunity to compete in the second day of competition. O'Malley will face the loser of #2 Mehki Lewis (Vermont) vs. #10 Clay Lautt (UNC) in the second consolation round tomorrow morning.

Scoring Breakdown
No. 30 Evan Barczak / 165lbs / 2nd NCAA Tournament Appearance
First Round | Alex Marinelli (Iowa) def. Barczak, 7-2 Decision
Barczak (#30) faced a strong opponent in top-seeded Alex Marinelli (#3) in the opening round. Marinelli secured the early takedown points, but Barczak answered back with an escape point to close the gap to two. Despite battling for an escape point to open the second, Marinelli pushed forward to a five-point lead with riding time, taking a 7-2 decision from Barczak.

Consolation Prelim. | Barczak def. David Ferrante (Northwestern), Fall 3:26
Barczak fired on all cylinders in his second match of the day, taking an early lead over Ferrante with a six-point near fall effort. Barczak's immediate push opened the door for his second pin of the year at the 3:26 mark, sending him to the first round of conslation.

Consolation Rd. 1 | Joshua Ogunsanya (Columbia) def. Barczak, 3-1 SV Decision
Barzak and Ogunsanya battled to a stalemate, each only securing a single escape point through three periods. Ogunsanya was the first to find two takedown points, taking home a 3-1 sudden victory decision and giving Barczak his second loss of the tournament.

No. 8 Mickey O'Malley / 174lbs / 3rd NCAA Tournament Appearance
First Round | Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) def. O'Malley, 6-4 SV Decision
O'Malley and Nijenhuis met for the second time this season, this time on the national stage. The redshirt-junior got out to a hot start with a takedown in the opening minute. O'Malley extended his lead with an escape point in the second, but Nijenhuis answered back with a two-point takedown, tying the match at three. The two added an additional point to extend the match to sudden victory. Nijenhuis found success in the extra seconds, taking home a 6-4 decision.

Consolation Rd. 1 | O'Malley def. Joel Devine (Iowa St.), 3-1 Decision
O'Malley and Devine held each other scoreless through the first three minutes but a second period takedown by O'Malley gave him enough momentum to secure a victory. Devine found an escape point in the second but couldn't rally enough to complete the upset, giving O'Malley his 23^rd win of the year and a pass to day two.