Kent State University
NCAA
McCracken Earns Win, Highlighting NCAA Championships
3/17/2022 10:47:00 PM | Wrestling
DETROIT, MI- Colin McCracken won his first match of the day, highlighting the Golden Flashes run at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Colin McCracken knocked off Northwestern's Jack Jessen in the 184-pound prelims on Thursday afternoon, rallying to claim a 7-5 victory and move on to face top-seeded Myles Amine of Michigan.
Jessen grabbed the lead through two periods, using a pair of takedowns to lead 4-3 after McCracken registered a trio of escapes. Jessen started the third period with an escape of his own to lead 5-3. Undeterred, McCracken stormed back in the final 30 seconds of regulation. He tied the match with a takedown with 17 seconds remaining and earned a two-point near fall with just seconds remaining on the clock to grab the 7-5 win. McCracken dropped his match to the top-seeded Amine and took on 17-seed Jeremiah Kent out of Missouri in the wrestle back. Unfortunately for McCracken, he got caught on a first-period takedown that led to a fall.
Komara dropped his first match of the day to fifth-ranked Kyle Parco of Arizona State. Komara battled throughout, earning a trio of escapes in the match with the reigning All-American. Parco, a transfer from Fresno State, proved too much and moved on to face a familiar foe to Komara in Marcus Robinson of Cleveland State. Komara drew the 12-seed Mike Van Brill of Rutgers in the wrestle backs. The Freedom, Pennsylvania native hung tough with the Scarlet Knight wrestler. Van Brill got a second-period escape for the first point of the match and got a takedown late in the period. That was it for the scoring, Komara couldn't secure a third-period escape from the down position and Van Brill got the riding time bonus and the 4-0 victory.
Van Brill and Kent's victories eliminated Komara and McCracken from the tournament. The Championship continues on Friday with the quarterfinal round.
Players Mentioned
