Northwestern University Athletics
Conan Jennings Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals
3/16/2017 9:28:00 PM | Wrestling
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Redshirt-sophomore Conan Jennings put forth a remarkable effort on the first day of the NCAA Championships, pulling two major upsets and doing so convincingly to advance to the quarterfinals in front of more than 18,000 fans at the Scottrade Center.
"Conan does a great job of just taking it one match a time," head coach Matt Storniolo said. "He knows where he is good, and he knows where he doesn't want to be. He is a fighting fool, and when you work that hard, good things happen."
Jennings started his day with a 4-0 shutout of No. 11 seed Jared Johnson from Chattanooga in the first round. He then picked up a huge win in the Round of 16, dominating No. 6 Austin Schafer of Oklahoma State to the tune of an 8-0 major decision.
"I had been losing to these guys by one or two points all year, and it has been killing me," Jennings said. "I am just not going to let it happen anymore. I am going to go out there and give it my all every match and leave nothing behind."
The heavyweight from Centerville, Ohio, will wrestle No. 3 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinal round tomorrow morning, which will be televised live on ESPNU.
Junior 184-pounder Mitch Sliga also advanced to Day 2 by going 1-1 on Thursday. Sliga had a tough opener, taking on No. 2 Bo Nickal of Penn State, and he dropped that match by 15-0 tech fall. But he bounced back and beat Jason Grimes of American 7-2 in the wrestleback round to stay alive. Sliga will wrestle No. 16 Jordan Ellingwood of Central Michigan in the second round of wrestlebacks tomorrow morning.
Both Johnny Sebastian and Jacob Berkowitz saw their time at the NCAA championships come to an end on Thursday.
Session III starts at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
Results
Round of 32
165: #5 Chad Walsh (Rider) maj. dec. Johnny Sebastian (NU), 8-0
184: #2 Bo Nickal (Penn State) Tech Fall Mitch Sliga (NU), 15-0 (3:20)
197: #12 Frank Mattiace (Penn) dec. Jacob Berkowitz (NU), 3-2
285: Conan Jennings (NU) dec. #11 Jared Johnson (Chattanooga), 4-0
Round of 16
285: Conan Jennings (NU) maj. dec. #6 Austin Schafer (OKST), 8-0
Wrestlebacks
165: Cole Walter (Lehigh) dec. Johnny Sebastian (NU), 8-4
184: Mitch Sliga (NU) dec. Jason Grimes (AMER), 7-2
197: Christian Brunner (PUR) dec. Jacob Berkowitz (NU), 10-4
"Conan does a great job of just taking it one match a time," head coach Matt Storniolo said. "He knows where he is good, and he knows where he doesn't want to be. He is a fighting fool, and when you work that hard, good things happen."
Jennings started his day with a 4-0 shutout of No. 11 seed Jared Johnson from Chattanooga in the first round. He then picked up a huge win in the Round of 16, dominating No. 6 Austin Schafer of Oklahoma State to the tune of an 8-0 major decision.
"I had been losing to these guys by one or two points all year, and it has been killing me," Jennings said. "I am just not going to let it happen anymore. I am going to go out there and give it my all every match and leave nothing behind."
The heavyweight from Centerville, Ohio, will wrestle No. 3 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinal round tomorrow morning, which will be televised live on ESPNU.
Junior 184-pounder Mitch Sliga also advanced to Day 2 by going 1-1 on Thursday. Sliga had a tough opener, taking on No. 2 Bo Nickal of Penn State, and he dropped that match by 15-0 tech fall. But he bounced back and beat Jason Grimes of American 7-2 in the wrestleback round to stay alive. Sliga will wrestle No. 16 Jordan Ellingwood of Central Michigan in the second round of wrestlebacks tomorrow morning.
Both Johnny Sebastian and Jacob Berkowitz saw their time at the NCAA championships come to an end on Thursday.
Session III starts at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
Results
Round of 32
165: #5 Chad Walsh (Rider) maj. dec. Johnny Sebastian (NU), 8-0
184: #2 Bo Nickal (Penn State) Tech Fall Mitch Sliga (NU), 15-0 (3:20)
197: #12 Frank Mattiace (Penn) dec. Jacob Berkowitz (NU), 3-2
285: Conan Jennings (NU) dec. #11 Jared Johnson (Chattanooga), 4-0
Round of 16
285: Conan Jennings (NU) maj. dec. #6 Austin Schafer (OKST), 8-0
Wrestlebacks
165: Cole Walter (Lehigh) dec. Johnny Sebastian (NU), 8-4
184: Mitch Sliga (NU) dec. Jason Grimes (AMER), 7-2
197: Christian Brunner (PUR) dec. Jacob Berkowitz (NU), 10-4
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