With session one of the NCAA Tournament in the books, three of the six Spartans that made the trip to St. Louis have kept their championship dreams alive.
No. 10-seeded senior 157-pounder Anthony Jones Jr. advanced to the next round of the tournament after he recorded a 5-2 decision over Oklahoma State’s Albert Wright in the second round with the help of a third period escape and takedown.
Senior 174-pounder Curran Jacobs also took care of business to move on to round three, notching a 5-3 decision over Bloomsburg’s Mike Dessino. Jacobs will face a tough matchup in the third round against No. 2 seed Chris Perry of Oklahoma State.
In his first tournament appearance, junior heavyweight Steve Andrus upset No. 9 seed Levi Cooper of Arizona with a 4-2 sudden victory decision. It was a big win for Andrus, who will prepare to face off against The Citadel’s Andrew Delany in the next round.
Junior 149-pounder Dan Osterman dropped the first match of the day, a 6-2 decision to American’s Kevin Tao to find himself in the consolation bracket. Senior 165-pounder David Cheza also stumbled in his first match, falling to Chatenooga’s Brandon Wright in a 5-2 decision.
Rounding out the Spartans who will wrestle in the consolation bracket is 184-pound senior Ian Hinton, who dropped a 9-0 major decision to No. 12 Jonathan Fausey of Virginia in the first round.
Action will resume at 7:30 p.m. tonight, and will be available to watch online at ESPN3.com.
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