Ferri and McNally's Run at Nationals Come to an End

Friday, March 19

St Louis, MO

11:00 AM

Kent State University

NCAA-Day Two

Photo by: Mark Lundy

Ferri and McNally's Run at Nationals Come to an End

3/19/2021 9:55:00 PM | Wrestling

St. LOUIS, MO- Kent State wrestlers Jake Ferri and Andrew McNally saw their respective runs come to an end at the NCAA Championships on Friday at the Enterprise Center in Saint Louis.

Ferri met Eric Barnett of Wisconsin in the early session on Friday. Barnett was able to get an early takedown and built-up riding time before being rewarded a four-point near fall at the end of the period. After a scoreless second period, Ferri was able to get a takedown to make it a 6-2 contest. Barnett responded with an escape and a late takedown of his own. Ferri wrestled hard, but Barnett earned the victory and Ferri ends the season at 14-4 overall.

McNally started the day with a quarterfinal match with third-seeded Carter Starocci of Penn State. Starocci got a takedown just under a minute into the match and was the lone score of the opening period. The lead was built to 5-0 for the Nittany Lion in the second after an escape and his second takedown of the match. McNally would battle back in the third period. Starocci received a stalling warning and McNally got an escape to make it 5-1. He'd follow that up with a takedown of his own but ran out of time. Starocci advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-3 victory.

In the nightcap, McNally faced Jackson Turley of Rutgers. The Scarlet Knight got a riding time advantage early and was credited with a takedown. McNally worked an escape to cut the deficit to 2-1 after the first period. In the second, the wrestlers traded reversals and left McNally still trailing by a point on the scoreboard and the bonus riding time point. The Uniontown, Ohio native went to work in the third, eliminating Turley's riding time advantage. Turley did get an escape to go up 5-3, but a takedown by McNally tied the score. McNally and the Golden Flashes caught a tough break with under 10 seconds left in the third. McNally was called for clasping, a penalty that calls for an immediate point to be awarded to the opposition. The officials reviewed the call and Kent State challenged as well, but to no avail. On the restart, McNally surrendered the immediate escape and went for the last-second takedown. Turley avoided the shot and McNally came up on the wrong end of the 7-5 decision. He closes the tournament at 2-2 overall and 12-3 on the season.