Northwestern University Athletics

Five Wildcats Advance to Semifinals at Big Ten Championships
3/7/2020 2:42:00 PM | Wrestling
Updated 2020 Big Ten Championship Brackets
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Northwestern impressed in the first session at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, advancing six wrestlers to the quarterfinals and five to tonight's semifinals, tied for the third-most of any school in the conference.
Ryan Deakin, Sebastian Rivera, Lucas Davison, Michael DeAugustino and Shayne Oster will all be back in action later tonight wrestling for a spot in tomorrow's finals.
The No. 1 seed Deakin received a first round bye at 157 lbs before matching up against No. 9 seed Michael VanBrill (Rutgers). Deakin wasted no time jumping out to an early lead and cruised to a 9-1 major decision, improving to 19-0 on the season. The win marks the 13th time this season Deakin has earned bonus points in a win. He'll face off later tonight against the No. 5 seed Will Lewan (Michigan), who is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation by FloWrestling. When the two met at Welsh-Ryan Arena earlier this season on Jan. 24, Deakin won by a 4-1 decision.
Also making a statement in the first session was Sebastian Rivera. Wrestling just an hour away from his hometown of Jackson, NJ, Rivera immediately set the tone in his first match of the day, picking up a first-period fall over the No. 12 seed Travis Ford-Melton (Purdue) before winning picking up a top-10 victory over No. 7 ranked Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) by a 9-4 decision. Rivera will face off tonight against No. 1 Seth Gross (Wisconsin) in a rematch of the 133 lb semifinal round of this year's Midlands Championships, a controversial match that Gross won by a narrow 8-7 decision.
Wrestling in his first-ever Big Ten Championships, Lucas Davison had no trouble punching his ticket to the semifinals. In the first round, Davison notched a 7-2 victory over Nick May (Michigan State), scoring the final seven points of the bout en route to his second victory over May this year. In the quarterfinals, the Chesteron, Indiana native faced off against No. 5 Christian Brunner (Purdue) for their fourth meeting of the season. Davison jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to a takedown and two nearfall points late in the first period and never looked back from there, pulling off a 7-3 upset for his second-straight victory over Brunner. Tonight, Davison will face off against No. 1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State).
At 125 lbs, Michael DeAugustino picked up two convincing wins to earn his spot in the semifinals. In the first round, DeAugustino secured a fall over Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) in just 4:35. Facing off against Brandon Meredith (Penn State) in the quarters, DeAugustino jumped out in front with an early first period takedown and never looked back en route to an 8-2 decision. The redshirt first-year will match up with No. 2 seed Devin Schroeder (Purdue) in the semis tonight.
Rounding out the semifinalists for the Wildcats at 165 lbs is Shayne Oster, who improved his winning streak to 10 following his two victories this afternoon. In the first round, Oster picked up a 7-4 decision over Brett Donner (Rutgers) followed by a decisive first-period pin over Diego Lemley (Indiana). Oster will be back in action tonight, taking on No. 2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) for a spot in the finals.
In the 149 lb division, Yahya Thomas earned a 6-3 victory over No. 8 seed Jarod Verkleeren (Penn State) to advance to the quarters and then battled with No. 1 ranked Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) in a marathon bout that went to six sudden victory tiebreaker periods before Sasso finally came away with a 5-4 victory.
All ten NU wrestlers will be in action tonight this evening in either the semifinals or consolation rounds. Session II will begin at 5:30 p.m. CT, with one round of consolation matches followed by the semifinal contests.
Results for all Northwestern wrestlers can be found below, and full updated brackets can be found at the top of the page.
Session I Results
Round 1:
125: (6) Michael DeAugustino Fall (11) Malik Heinselman (Ohio State), 4:35
133: (5) Sebastian Rivera Fall (12) Travis Ford-Melton (Purdue), 2:28
141: (7) Dylan Duncan (Illinois) dec. (10) Alec McKenna, 4-0
149: (9) Yahya Thomas dec. (8) Jarod Verkleeren (Penn State), 6-3
165: (6) Shayne Oster dec. (11) Brett Donner (Rutgers), 7-4
174: (4) Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) Tech Fall (13) Eric Yang, 17-2 (7:00)
184: (5) Billy Janzer (Rutgers) dec. (12) Jack Jessen, 8-2
197: (5) Lucas Davison dec. (12) Nick May (Michigan State), 7-2
285: (4) Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) Tech Fall (13) Jack Heyob, 15-0
Quarterfinals:
125: (6) Michael DeAugustino dec. (14) Brandon Meredith (Penn State), 8-2
133: (5) Sebastian Rivera dec. (4) Travis Piotrowski (ILL), 9-4
149: (1) Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) dec. (9) Yahya Thomas, 5-4 (SV-6)
157: (1) Ryan Deakin maj. dec. (9) Michael VanBrill (Rutgers), 9-1
165: (6) Shayne Oster Fall (14) Diego Lemley (Indiana), 2:28
197: (5) Lucas Davison dec. (4) Christian Brunner (Purdue), 7-3
Consolation Round 1:
174: (12) Max Maylor (Michigan) dec. (13) Eric Yang, 5-0
184: (12) Jack Jessen dec. (13) Jakob Hinz (Indiana), 7-4
285: (13) Jack Heyob dec. (12) Jake Kleimola (Indiana), 3-1
••••••
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Northwestern impressed in the first session at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, advancing six wrestlers to the quarterfinals and five to tonight's semifinals, tied for the third-most of any school in the conference.
Ryan Deakin, Sebastian Rivera, Lucas Davison, Michael DeAugustino and Shayne Oster will all be back in action later tonight wrestling for a spot in tomorrow's finals.
The No. 1 seed Deakin received a first round bye at 157 lbs before matching up against No. 9 seed Michael VanBrill (Rutgers). Deakin wasted no time jumping out to an early lead and cruised to a 9-1 major decision, improving to 19-0 on the season. The win marks the 13th time this season Deakin has earned bonus points in a win. He'll face off later tonight against the No. 5 seed Will Lewan (Michigan), who is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation by FloWrestling. When the two met at Welsh-Ryan Arena earlier this season on Jan. 24, Deakin won by a 4-1 decision.
Also making a statement in the first session was Sebastian Rivera. Wrestling just an hour away from his hometown of Jackson, NJ, Rivera immediately set the tone in his first match of the day, picking up a first-period fall over the No. 12 seed Travis Ford-Melton (Purdue) before winning picking up a top-10 victory over No. 7 ranked Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) by a 9-4 decision. Rivera will face off tonight against No. 1 Seth Gross (Wisconsin) in a rematch of the 133 lb semifinal round of this year's Midlands Championships, a controversial match that Gross won by a narrow 8-7 decision.
Wrestling in his first-ever Big Ten Championships, Lucas Davison had no trouble punching his ticket to the semifinals. In the first round, Davison notched a 7-2 victory over Nick May (Michigan State), scoring the final seven points of the bout en route to his second victory over May this year. In the quarterfinals, the Chesteron, Indiana native faced off against No. 5 Christian Brunner (Purdue) for their fourth meeting of the season. Davison jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to a takedown and two nearfall points late in the first period and never looked back from there, pulling off a 7-3 upset for his second-straight victory over Brunner. Tonight, Davison will face off against No. 1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State).
At 125 lbs, Michael DeAugustino picked up two convincing wins to earn his spot in the semifinals. In the first round, DeAugustino secured a fall over Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) in just 4:35. Facing off against Brandon Meredith (Penn State) in the quarters, DeAugustino jumped out in front with an early first period takedown and never looked back en route to an 8-2 decision. The redshirt first-year will match up with No. 2 seed Devin Schroeder (Purdue) in the semis tonight.
Rounding out the semifinalists for the Wildcats at 165 lbs is Shayne Oster, who improved his winning streak to 10 following his two victories this afternoon. In the first round, Oster picked up a 7-4 decision over Brett Donner (Rutgers) followed by a decisive first-period pin over Diego Lemley (Indiana). Oster will be back in action tonight, taking on No. 2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) for a spot in the finals.
In the 149 lb division, Yahya Thomas earned a 6-3 victory over No. 8 seed Jarod Verkleeren (Penn State) to advance to the quarters and then battled with No. 1 ranked Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) in a marathon bout that went to six sudden victory tiebreaker periods before Sasso finally came away with a 5-4 victory.
All ten NU wrestlers will be in action tonight this evening in either the semifinals or consolation rounds. Session II will begin at 5:30 p.m. CT, with one round of consolation matches followed by the semifinal contests.
Results for all Northwestern wrestlers can be found below, and full updated brackets can be found at the top of the page.
Session I Results
Round 1:
125: (6) Michael DeAugustino Fall (11) Malik Heinselman (Ohio State), 4:35
133: (5) Sebastian Rivera Fall (12) Travis Ford-Melton (Purdue), 2:28
141: (7) Dylan Duncan (Illinois) dec. (10) Alec McKenna, 4-0
149: (9) Yahya Thomas dec. (8) Jarod Verkleeren (Penn State), 6-3
165: (6) Shayne Oster dec. (11) Brett Donner (Rutgers), 7-4
174: (4) Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) Tech Fall (13) Eric Yang, 17-2 (7:00)
184: (5) Billy Janzer (Rutgers) dec. (12) Jack Jessen, 8-2
197: (5) Lucas Davison dec. (12) Nick May (Michigan State), 7-2
285: (4) Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) Tech Fall (13) Jack Heyob, 15-0
Quarterfinals:
125: (6) Michael DeAugustino dec. (14) Brandon Meredith (Penn State), 8-2
133: (5) Sebastian Rivera dec. (4) Travis Piotrowski (ILL), 9-4
149: (1) Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) dec. (9) Yahya Thomas, 5-4 (SV-6)
157: (1) Ryan Deakin maj. dec. (9) Michael VanBrill (Rutgers), 9-1
165: (6) Shayne Oster Fall (14) Diego Lemley (Indiana), 2:28
197: (5) Lucas Davison dec. (4) Christian Brunner (Purdue), 7-3
Consolation Round 1:
174: (12) Max Maylor (Michigan) dec. (13) Eric Yang, 5-0
184: (12) Jack Jessen dec. (13) Jakob Hinz (Indiana), 7-4
285: (13) Jack Heyob dec. (12) Jake Kleimola (Indiana), 3-1
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!
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