Two Five-Seeds Go Down in Session One at the 2024 NCAA DI Championships

The first session of the 2024 NCAA DI National Championships is in the books.  As is usual the case early in the national tournament, there were plenty of unexpected moments and upsets. After a quick round of pig-tail matches, the upsets began. Harvard’s #28 Diego Sotelo had the honor of knocking off the first top-five wrestler in the tournament as he edged Big 12 champion, #5 Jore Volk of Wyoming. 

Volk wasn’t the only #5 to lose in session one. At 174 lbs, Harvard was on the wrong side of the result. #28 Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) knocked off #5 Phil Conigliaro. In the 125 lb weight class it was Harvard pulling the upset. Simma started with a tilt in the second period and didn’t look back in a 7-0 victory. 

The 141 lb bracket had it’s share of shenanigans as both #6 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) and #10 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) fell. Since they are next to each other in the brackets, they’ll square off in the consolations tonight. In the championship bracket, #23 Danny Fongaro (Indiana) and #27 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) will meet with a berth in the quarterfinals on the line. Vombaur was seventh in the Big Ten, while Fongaro was ninth. 

Though they trailed for most of the first session, top-ranked Penn State did pour it on during the late and leads Nebraska by a point and a half. 

Even with a lead, Penn State wasn’t immune to the upset bug. Virginia’s Marlon Yarbrough scored early and often in a 13-5 major decision victory over #10 Aaron Nagao at 133 lbs. Penn State freshman Tyler Kasak was seeded seventh and had a tough draw with 2021 All-American Jaden Abas (Stanford). A second period takedown proved to be the difference for Abas in a 4-2 victory. 

Penn State went 8-2, while Nebraska was 8-1. 
 

Team Scores after Session One

1. Penn State  15.5

2. Nebraska  14

3. Michigan  13.5

4. Iowa State  13

5. Ohio State  12.5

6. Virginia Tech  11.5

7. Cornell  11

7. NC State  11

9. Iowa  10.5

10. Oklahoma State 10