A 2008 Olympian, Mocco was favored to win over Tervel Dlagnev, who had to fight his way through the challenge tournament just to face the former Cowboy NCAA champion. Dlagnev won the first match of the series by a 0-1, 1-0, 2-0 score, but Mocco came back to win the second match, 0-3, 3-0, 2-2. The deciding bout went to Dlagnev, 3-1, 1-1.
Blanc was a third-place finisher in the challenge tournament after suffering a 1-0, 0-1, 1-0 upset defeat at the hands of former Arizona State Sun Devil and current West Virginia assistant coach Danny Felix in his first bout. Once in the consolation bracket, Blanc regrouped to beat Minnesota’s Zach Sanders by a 1-0, 1-0 score before crushing Utah Valley’s Ben Kjar in the third-place bout by a convincing 3-0, 4-0 score. Blanc wrestled high school standout and Ohio State signee Logan Stieber for true third and handed the youngster a 1-0, 2-0 defeat in that bout. Blanc’s third-place finish was a surprise to many, as he was the highest-seeded wrestler in the 55 kilogram challenge tournament.
As for Pendleton, the former Cowboy NCAA champion had a productive showing for someone who has been largely out of competitive wrestling this year. He started his run with a 7-0, 7-0 technical fall win over former Edinboro wrestler and current Oregon State staffer Alex Clemsen in the first round, then came back to beat former Iowa State Cyclone David Bertolino by a comfortable 6-3, 1-0 margin. Eventual champion Bryce Hasseman knocked Pendleton from the championship bracket in the semifinals with a 0-4, 1-1, 2-0 defeat. Pendleton’s day came to a close with a 1-0, 4-1 loss to Eric Luedke.
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