ROANOKE, Va. — Sophomore
Mason Barrett was greeted by an ear-to-ear smile and a hug as he made his way to the corner, where Averett University men's wrestling head coach
Blake Roulo was waiting to congratulate his latest All-American.
Barrett battled back from a quarterfinals loss to guarantee a spot on the podium and advance to Day 2 as the Cougars put together a memorable opening day at the 2023 NCAA Division III national championships held at the Berglund Center on Friday.
Averett, which had three national qualifiers, made program history on Day 1. For the first time, every one of the Cougars' participants earned a win at the national tournament. Barrett was the lone Averett wrestler to advance to Saturday as graduate student
Alex Turley and senior
Hai Siu had their tournament runs end on the first day.
Barrett, the No. 7 seed in the 125-pound bracket, overcame a 1-0 deficit entering the third period in his consolation matchup with Luke Hoerle of Stevens Institute of Technology. Barrett started the third period on bottom and was able to get a reversal for two points, then picked up a penalty point to go up 3-1. Barrett held on during the final seconds to clinch a top-eight finish and give the Cougars their third All-American in two years — including a second in a row at 125 pounds.
"I think we had a great game plan and we knew exactly where that kid was going to go with offense. Nothing really surprised us. Mason has such a high IQ with how his body moves, and I'm so proud of him. We are '125 University.'"
Barrett was nearly joined by Turley, who fell one win short of advancing to Saturday after losing his blood round match.
The day began with Siu winning his opening match. He defeated University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Tyler Goebel, who was ranked No. 6 in the nation, by a 6-4 decision in the 149-pound preliminary rounds to advance to the first round. Despite the close score, Siu had complete control over his opponent the entire match, Goebel did not score a single takedown. Siu advanced to the first round of the tournament where he battled McDaniel College's Thomas Monn for the second time this season after previously meeting in Averett's first dual of the season. Siu and Monn, who is ranked No. 3 in the country, battled in an evenly matched bout that ultimately came down to sudden victory. Monn pinned Siu to put him in the consolation bracket.
"He came out firing on all cylinders in the first match and then lost a heartbreaker in the Round of 16 to the No. 3 seed," Roulo said.
Siu's season ended with his consolation loss to Springfield College's Chase Parrott, who won by a 6-1 decision.
Turley lost his opening match Friday in a 11-5 decision at 174 to Oswego State's Charlie Grygas, the No. 6 seed who was also ranked No. 6 in the nation. In the consolation round, Turley scored an escape and a takedown in the second period, then he finished what he started with a pin in the beginning of the third period against Adrian College's Derick Duvall to stay alive. He then held off Castleton University's Cooper Fleming with a 9-7 decision to advance in the consolation round to the blood round. However, Stevens' Stefan Major got a first-period pin to end Turley's season.
"He made me come to tears," Roulo said. "He came off the mat and the very first thing he did was give me a hug and said, 'Thank you so much for this opportunity. I'm grateful.' This was his last year
and he was so close to being an All-American. But it's been an amazing career."
Moments earlier, Barrett completed his first day in his first national tournament with his big win over Hoerle. Barrett began his day by dominating Albion College's Cole Odrobina in a 10-0 major decision in the first round. Barrett nearly pinned his opponent in the first period with a four-count near fall and kept the pressure on the whole match with a couple of takedowns. He advanced to the national quarterfinals, where he was pitted against defending national champion Jacob Decatur, who is ranked No. 3 in the nation and was the No. 2 seed from Baldwin Wallace University. The two battled to tight 2-2 score through two periods, and Decatur got an escape point in the third period after starting on bottom to give him the go-ahead point that helped him beat Barrett.
"That should give Mason all the confidence in the world to come back here next year and be a national champion," Roulo said. "We're right there. He's hard to score on. He's one of the best defensive wrestlers in the nation."
That set up Barrett's showdown with Hoerle, who he edged by one point two weeks again the NCAA Southeast Region semifinals.
Barrett will continue his run on Day 2, beginning at 10 a.m. He can finish as high as third with his performance on Saturday.
2023 NCAA Division III National Championships Results
March 10-11, 2023
Berglund Center in Roanoke, Va.
Day 1
Champ. Round 1 – 125 Mason Barrett (Averett) def. Cade Odrobina (Albion), MD 10-0
Quarterfinals – 125 Jacob Decatur (Baldwin Wallace) def. Mason Barrett (Averett), Dec 3-2
Cons. Round 2 – 125 Mason Barrett (Averett) def. Luke Loerle (Stevens), Dec. 3-1
Prelim – 149 Hai Siu (Averett) def. Tyler Goebel (Wisconsin-La Crosse), Dec. 6-4
Champ. Round 1 – 149 Thomas Monn (McDaniel) def. Hai Siu (Averett), Fall (7:48)
Cons. Round 1 – 149 Chase Parrott (Springfield) def. Hai Siu (Averett), Dec. 6-1
Champ. Round 1 – 174 Charlie Grygas (Oswego State) def. Alex Turley (Averett), Dec. 11-5
Prelim – 174 Alex Turley (Averett) def. Derick Duvall (Adrian), Fall (5:16)
Cons. Round 1 – 174 Alex Turley (Averett) def. Cooper Fleming (Castleton), Dec. 9-7
Cons. Round 2 – 174 Stefan Major (Stevens) def. Alex Turley (Averett), Fall (2:18)
Gallery: (3-10-2023) Wrestlng NCAA Nationals Day 1
