2021 NCAA Div. I Championship Notes – 174 pounds

The following are notes about the 174-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 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) major dec. #8 Daniel Bullard (NC State), 13-4 — The Hawkeye exploded with six takedowns — three in the first period — to earn his third straight bonus point victory of the 2021 NCAAs.
• #12 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) dec. #4 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska), 4-2 — Truax clinched his second straight upset of a Big Ten wrestler when he first gave up a takedown to the Husker before rallying by riding Labriola for much of the secondn period that led to a stalling point and riding time point.
• #3 Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec. #6 Andrew McNally (Kent State), 6-3 — The Nittany Lion scored a takedown in each of the first two periods and built up enough riding time to offset a takedown that McNally scored with eight seconds left.
• #2 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) dec. #7 Kaleb Romero (Ohio State), 6-0 — In the battle of Romeros — no relation, the Wolverine iced the victory when he scored his second takedown with 15 seconds left in the bout.

• There will be a quarterfinal battle between two men with the surname Romero (no relation). Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero advanced with a 5-1 victory over Missouri’s Peyton Mocco after scoring two takedowns, the first coming with 10 seconds left in the first. Utah Valley’s No. 2 seed Demetrius Romero dominated Oklahoma State’s Dustin Plott, 11-5 as he tallied two takedowns in both the first and third periods.
• Cal Poly’s Bernie Truax scored the bout’s only takedown 19 seconds into sudden victory to stun Michigan All-American Logan Massa.
• In another bout decided in sudden victory, Kent State’s Andrew McNally defeated Campbell’s Austin Murphy, 6-4 by scoring a takedown with 25 seconds left in that extra frame.
• NC State’s Daniel Bullard advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4 victory over Indiana’s Donnell Washington, but not before the Hoosier scored a takedown and put the Wolfpack wrestler on his back with 38 seconds left.