KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Seventh seeded
Lennox Wolak earned two wins Thursday to earn a spot in the 174 quarterfinals Friday at the 2024 NCAA Championships. No. 31
Kai Owen (141) and No. 13
Aaron Ayzerov (184) advanced to the second day of the championships and will compete in consolation Friday.
Wolak got his run started Thursday with a 10-1 major decision win over Cornell's No. 26 Benny Baker. The win set up a rematch with Penn's Nick Incontrera after Wolak posted a 16-6 major decision against Incontrera in the semifinals before claiming the EIWA Championship.
10
th-seeded Incontrera held a 2-0 advantage at the halfway point of the second period. Wolak used a takedown to take the lead with 1:20 remaining in the second period. Wolak added another point with an escape in the third period to hold on for the 4-2 win over Incontrera. Wolak will face the No. 2 seed Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) in the quarterfinal match Friday.
Owen was the first Lion to compete Thursday as he lost via tech fall to Iowa's No. 3 Real Woods. Owen bounced back with a 10-9 decision win over Malyke Hines (Lehigh) in his first consolation match. Owen will continue his fight through the consolation bracket against No. 20 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) on Friday.
Ayzerov joined Wolak in earning a first-round win Thursday. Ayzerov cruised to take a 10-0 major decision against Binghamton's No. 20 Jacob Nolan at 184. Ayzerov came up short in his bid to advance to the quarterfinals with a 5-2 decision loss against No. 4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State). Ayzerov will compete in his first consolation match Friday against Chris Foca (Cornell).
No. 28
Jack Wehmeyer was eliminated Thursday with two losses. Wehmeyer started the day with a 6-0 decision loss to Cornell's No. 5 Jacob Cardenas. Wehmeyer then fell in the first consolation match to the No. 21 seed Mac Stout (Pitt).
DAY 1 RESULTS
141 - Kai Owen
Champ. Round 1 - Real Woods (Iowa) won by tech fall over
Kai Owen (Columbia), TF-1.5 4:36 (15-0)
Cons. Round 1 -
Kai Owen (Columbia) won by decision over Malyke Hines (Lehigh), Dec 10-9
174 - Lennox Wolak
Champ. Round 1 -
Lennox Wolak (Columbia) won by major decision over Benny Baker (Cornell), MD 10-1
Champ. Round 2 -
Lennox Wolak (Columbia) won by decision over Nick Incontrera (Pennsylvania), Dec 4-2
184 - Aaron Ayzerov
Champ. Round 1 -
Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) won by major decision over Jacob Nolan (Binghamton), MD 10-0
Champ. Round 2 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) won by decision over
Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia), Dec 5-2
197 – Jack Wehmeyer
Champ. Round 1 - Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) won by decision over
Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia), Dec 6-0
Cons. Round 1 - Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) won by major decision over
Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia), MD 12-4
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, March 22
Session 3 - 12 p.m. ET
Championship Quarterfinals & Consolation
Session 4 -8 p.m. ET
Semifinals & Blood Round
Saturday, March 23
Session 5 - 11 a.m. ET
Medal Round
Session 6 - 7 p.m. ET
Championship Matches
FOLLOWING THE ACTION
Each session of the 2024 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships will air nationally through ESPN networks. The morning sessions (1, 3, 5) can be seen entirely on ESPNU. The evening sessions (2, 4, 6) will be televised on ESPN each night. ESPN+ will also have coverage throughout the tournament with streams of individual mats to follow along with the Lions.
Updates will also be provided through the Columbia Wrestling Twitter account (@CULionsWR). Fans can follow the action online through live results at
www.TrackWrestling.com.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Wrestling by following the Lions on X (@CULionsWR), Instagram (@culionswr) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
