ST. LOUIS, March 19 – North Carolina State freshman Kevin Jack of Danbury upset two seeded wrestlers to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I tournament Thursday at 141 pounds. He erased a two-point deficit in one match and a three-point deficit in the second match.
Jack beat senior Josh Dziewa, the No. 5 seed from Iowa, in the first round, 6-3. In the second round, Jack upset Joseph Ward, the No. 12 seed from North Carolina, 6-5. Jack (29-8) moves on to Friday’s quarterfinal where he will face No. 4 Devin Carter (31-3) of Virginia Tech.
Two other Connecticut wrestlers in the tournament lost their opening round bouts. Northwestern’s Dominick Malone (133) of Granby was pinned in the first round by No. 13 Cody Brewer of Oklahoma in 3:28. At 184 pounds, Binghamton’s Jack McKeever of Brookfield dropped a 4-0 decision to Wyoming’s Ben Stroh in the preliminary round.
Jack gave up an early takedown to Dziewa and trailed 3-1 in the second period. But Jack got a takedown with 19 seconds left in the period to tie the bout at 3-3. In the third period, Jack got a reversal with 1:42 remaining to take his first lead of the match, 5-3. He rode out Dziewa in a 6-3 victory.
In the second round, Ward got a quick takedown and a two-point near fall to take a 4-0 lead. Jack cut into the lead with a reversal but Ward got an escape to extend his lead to 5-2 after two periods. In the third period, Jack escaped to cut the lead to two, 5-3. He got a takedown with 21 seconds remaining to tie the match at 5-5 and his advantage in riding time (2:34) gave Jack a 6-5 victory.
Jack had lost to Ward earlier this month at the ACC championships in Pittsburgh, 6-1. With the win, Jack ties the school record for most wins (29) by a freshman at North Carolina State.
Up next for Jack is the quarterfinals on Friday morning against Carter. The semifinals will be Friday evening. Every match of the NCAA tournament is being broadcast on ESPN3. The quarterfinals will be on ESPNU with the semifinals on ESPN.
2015 NCAA Division I national championships
At St. Louis
Brackets
NCAA Div. I wrestling
2015 NCAA Tournament results
Kevin Jack (141),
North Carolina State
Def. (5) Josh Dziewa, Iowa, 6-3
2R: Def. (12) Joseph Ward, North Carolina, 6-5
Dominick Malone (133), Northwestern
Lost (13) Cody Brewer, Oklahoma, pin 3:28
Def. Ian Nickell, Cal-Bakersfield, 11-0
Lost (14) Rossi Bruno, Michigan, pin 1:26
Jack McKeever (184)
Binghamton
Lost Ben Stroh, Wyoming, 4-0
Lost Brett Pfarr, Minnesota, 11-4
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