Missouri won the invitational with 157 points. Michigan finished second (109), while Penn (100.5) rounded out the Top 3.
As the No. 2 seed, Pucillo (Cuyahoga, Ohio/Hofstra) entered the second day of competition with a 3-0 record that included two major decisions and a fall. On day two, Pucillo recorded a win over Missouri's Raymond Jordan, 3-1, in the semifinals to advance to the finals where he beat Tyrel Todd of Michigan, 12-6. In the round of 32, Pucillo defeated Jake Devlin of Air Force, 11-3, while in the round of 16, Pucillo knocked off Levi Wofford of Nebraska, 12-0. In quarterfinals action, Pucillo dropped Justin Barent of Columbia in 1:38.
After losing his lone match of the invitational to Matt Pell of Missouri in the quarterfinals, Vondruska (Gr., Lakewood, Ohio/Hofstra), an eighth seed, answered with four consecutive wins, including a 2-1 overtime decision over Zachary Lee of Western State in the sixth wrestleback. Vondruska concluded the evening with a 3-2 decision against Zach Shanaman of Penn in the third-place match-up. On day one, Vondruska won a 7-5 decision against Taylor May (Nebraska-Kearney), 7-5, in the pigtails round before pinning Casey Barnum (Western Wyoming) in 4:04 in the round of 32. In the next sessions, Vondruska downed Brian Perry (Stanford), 2-0, before his quarterfinal match-up against Pell.
At 149 pounds, true freshman Lance Palmer (Lakewood, Ohio/St. Edwards) finished seventh after posting a 3-1 record on day one as a 10th seed. In the fifth wrestleback, Palmer pinned Brandon Doyle of Cal State-Bakersfield in 3:57, but went on to drop a close 4-3 decision to Jermaine Thompson of Eastern Michigan in the sixth wrestleback. Competing in the seventh-place match-up, Palmer was victorious over Drew DiPasquale of Virginia, 7-2. On the first day of competition, Palmer recorded three consecutive wins, including a technical fall over Chris Cartella of George Mason, 15-0, in the pigtails round and a 12-1 major decision over Jeff Ecklof of Pittsburgh in the round of 16, before losing a close 2-0 overtime decision to Jordan Leen of Cornell in the quarterfinals.
J Jaggers (So., Northfield, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel) and Corey Morrison (So., Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights) were eliminated in the fifth wrestleback at 141 and 285 pounds, respectively. Jaggers dropped an 8-6 overtime decision to Kyle Larson of Oregon State, while Morrison lost to Joe Sheffield of UNC-Greensboro, 1-0.
Nearly 50 Division I, II, NAIA and junior colleges and universities participated in the invitational, which was not an open tournament. Each institution was limited to one eligible wrestler per weight class.
The Buckeyes are back in action at 2 p.m. Dec. 17 when they host Tennessee-Chattanooga in St. John Arena.
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