McNally Goes 1-1 in Opening Day at NCAA Championships
3/21/2019 3:13:00 PM | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH - Kent State's Andrew McNally earned a second day of competition at the 2019 NCAA Championships with a Thursday night victory in the consolation bracket. McNally blanked Bob Coleman of Oregon State 6-0. Teammate Tim Rooney dropped a pair of matches Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.Â
In front of 18,000 fans, McNally remained in control throughout three periods in his evening matchup. With 30 seconds remaining in the first, the sophomore 184-pounder blasted forward with a clean double leg takedown and held Coleman down for the rest of the period. McNally then held Coleman down for all two minutes of the third period. Up 2-0 to start the third, McNally escaped and converted another shot, this time a single leg. Â
"He wrestled his type of match," Andrassy said of McNally's win. "When you get taken down and held down for the rest of the period, it's hard to come back from that. He's just got to keep it rolling."
McNally lost a 9-3 decision Lock Haven's Cory Hazel is his opener.  McNally's high crotch shot in the first period led to an opening takedown. Hazel scored a takedown of his own in the first. McNally nearly scored a reversal late in the first before going out-of-bounds. The next key moment in the match came in second when McNally stood from the bottom position and attempted a roll, but was caught on his back for a two-count.
Friday morning, McNally will take on Shakur Rasheed, the No. 2 seed from Penn State.
Rooney, a junior 133-pounder dropped his opening match against No. 5 seed Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) 12-3. In the third period, Rooney the No. 28 seed, countered a shot by throwing Pletcher to his back for a brief moment, but could not establish control.
In his second match, Rooney came up short against No. 21 seed Cam Sykora of North Dakota State. Sykora's 12-3 victory ended Rooney's season. Rooney scored the opening takedown and led 2-1, while choosing bottom to start the second period. Sykora took over from there, tilting Rooney on three separate occasions. Â
"Tim fought really hard," Andrassy said. "Just being here gave him a lot of confidence. I think this will really help him going into next year. In that second match, his guy was really good on top and we didn't know that, but you've got to be able to get away."
Friday's action begins at 11 a.m. and can be seen on ESPNU. Action of all mats can also be seen live on ESPN3.
Players Mentioned
