2021 NCAA Div. I Championship Notes – 157 pounds

The following are notes about the 157-pound weight class at the 2021 NCAA Division I

Championships that will take place March 18-20 in St. Louis.

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Head-to-head Matchups of WIN’s Top-10 Ranked Wrestlers

• #1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) dec. #8 Jared Franek (North Dakota State), 5-3 — The Wildcat fought off what would have been the biggest upset when he scored his only takedown on a low ankle with five seconds left for the victory. Before that, Franek was controlling the pace as the Bison score a takedown in each the first and second (0:35) periods and was in on a third good shot with 50 seconds left before a stalemate was called.
• #4 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider) won by injury default over #12 Brady Berge (Penn State), 2:39 — The lone takedown with 20 seconds left in the first period also ended the bout when the Nittany Lion was unable to continue.
• #3 David Carr (Iowa State) dec. #6 Brayton Lee (Minnesota), 4-2 sv — The Cyclone clinched the victory when he countered a shot and scored off a low double with 11 seconds left in sudden victory. The Gopher was controlling much of the match and was leading 1-0 with a riding time advantage before Carr scored a reversal with 11 seconds left in regulation.
• #2 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) pinned #23 Jacob Wright (Wyoming), 2:33 – The Wolfpack wrestler was lead 6-1 when he caught the Cowboy in another tilt that led to the fall.

• If Penn State — team champions of this event for eight of the past nine championships — wants to beat No. 1 Iowa, the Nittany Lions will need some upset of the Hawkeyes. That’s what they got when Brady Berge, seeded No. 12, knocked off the Hawkeye’s No. 5 Kaleb Young, 3-2.  Berge scored the bout’s only takedown 28 seconds into the first period, then took the lead for good on an escape six seconds into the final period.
• This was one of four matches at this weight that were decided by one point: North Dakota State’s Jared Franek edged Purdue’s Kendall Coleman, 4-3, on a takedown with 30 seconds left; Minnesota’s Brayton Lee beat Arizona State’s Jacorri Teemer, 4-3, as the Gopher scored the only takedown in the first period; and Wyoming’s Jacob Wright, a No. 23 seed, held off Central Michigan’s Johnny Lovett, 2-1 in a tiebreaker.
• Northwestern’s top-seed Ryan Deakin beat Stanford’s Requir van der Merwe, 4-2. After a scoreless first period, the Wildcat ended the second off an escape and takedown.