LA CROSSE, Wis. — Junior Mason Barrett is headed to the semifinals and locked in All-American honors for the second consecutive year to highlight Averett University men's wrestling's action on Day 1 at the 2024 NCAA Division III National Championships hosted at the La Crosse Center on Friday.
 
With six national qualifiers, Averett wrestlers went 6-10 overall on Day 1 as Barrett emerged as the lone Cougar to advance past Friday.

Barrett, the No. 6 seed at 125 pounds, opened his day with a dominant 15-0 tech fall win over University of Mount Union's Jack Stanley. He advanced to the night session, where he faced off with No. 3 seed Zac Blasioli from Millikin University. Blasioli had gotten the best of Barrett in their previous three matchups, including the fifth-place match in last season's NCAA National Championships in Roanoke, Virginia. This time, however, Barrett was a force to be reckoned with in their quarterfinal meeting Friday. Barrett got a quick takedown and a three-point nearfall on his way to a 10-1 lead after one period. Up 11-1 entering the third period, Barrett held off Blasioli 13-11 to advance to the semifinals — Averett's first national semifinalist since Brandon Woody in 2022.

"Last year, my head wasn't in the right place," Barrett admitted. "I still wanted to win but I didn't want it enough. This year, I've been doing the right things on and off the mat, so I knew I could get it done."

Averett head coach Blake Roulo was proud of how Barrett flipped those results from last year.

"His first match, he techs a kid who at one point last season was ranked No. 1 in the country and Mason beat him in triple overtime last year during the season. He was a man on a mission winning 15-0. Then in the quarters against Blasioli, he lost to that kid three times prior to today. His competitiveness is unreal. We told him the game plan and he executed that game plan effectively."

Barrett will face North Central University's Christian Guzman, the No. 2 seed, in Saturday's semifinals. Guzman and Barrett met in last year's consolation semifinals, with Guzman winning by a 4-0 decision.

Barrett is guaranteed sixth place or better, which also guarantees him All-American honors.

My thoughts are becoming a national champ," Barrett said. "I'm still taking it one match at a time. The goal is to get that first takedown and keep scoring points."
Barrett was the lone Cougar to win his first match of the day. Junior Anthony Taylor lost his pigtail match in the preliminary round at 165 pounds, as did senior Trent Ragland at heavyweight.

Junior 149-pounder Jesse Alvarado lost in his first round matchup, while junior Khalil Mitchell lost his first match at 174 pounds. Senior George Moseley, the No. 6 seed, lost a heartbreaker 4-3 in his first matchup against Ursinus College's Max Borton.

The morning session ended positively for the Cougars. Taylor, who was down by 14 points and on the verge of losing by tech fall, found a way to keep the match going. Still, down by 10 in the third period, Taylor made his move and pinned Coast Guard's Steven Rochard in one of the best endings of the day to stay alive. Ragland also got to the night session by pinning SUNY Brockport's Nick Franco.

After Barrett opened the evening session with his quarterfinal win over Blasioli, Alvarado earned a 16-9 consolation win over Coe College's Ty Koedam at 149 pounds. Taylor then fell by tech fall to Loras College's Dustin Bohren to end his run at the tournament.

Mitchell kept his night going with a 10-6 decision over Jayden Curley from Roger Williams University in the consolation round. Moseley then saw his run end on a sour note against New York University's Trent Furman. Furman got an escape point in the final second of the second period. That proved to be the lone point of the match and the difference. Ragland then had his tournament end as well in the consolation round. Ragland gave up a takedown in the final seconds plus a riding time point as The College of New Jersey's Peter Wersinger stole the win, 5-2. Alvarado and Mitchell also saw their runs in Friday night. Alvarado lost by fall, while Mitchell fell short 6-1.

Although five of his six national qualifiers won matches, Roulo was disappointed with the outcomes on Day 1.

"It was a very tough day with multiple guys losing heartbreakers for the opportunities to be All-Americans," he said. "Overall as upsetting and as disappointing as today was, hopefully they learned today what it takes at the national tournament."

Day 2 begins at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday.
 
 
 
2024 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships results
La Crosse, Wis.
March 15
 
125
Champ. Round 1 - Mason Barrett (Averett) def. Jack Stanley (Mount Union), TF 15-0 (4:03)
Quarterfinal - Mason Barrett (Averett) def. Zac Blasioli (Millikin), Dec 13-11
 
149
Champ. Round 1 - Tyler Goebel (Wisconsin-La Crosse) def. Jesse Alvarado (Averett), MD 12-0
Cons. Round 1 - Jesse Alvarado (Averett) def. Ty Koedam (Coe), Dec 16-9
Cons. Round 2 - Mike Glynn (RIT) def. Jesse Alvarado (Averett), Fall (5:51)
 
165
Prelim - Andrew Supers (Baldwin Wallace) def. Anthony Taylor (Averett), TF 16-1 (3:39)
Prelim - Anthony Taylor (Averett) def.  Steven Rochard (Coast Guard), Fall (6:13)
Cons. Round 1 - Dustin Bohren (Loras) def. Anthony Taylor (Averett) TF 17-0 (3:44)
 
174
Champ. Round 1 - Charlie Grygas (Oswego State) def. Khalil Mitchell (Averett), MD 15-2
Cons. Round 1 - Khalil Mitchell (Averett) def. Jayden Curley (Roger Williams), Dec 10-6
Cons. Round 2 - Dejon Glaster (Millikin) def. Khalil Mitchell (Averett), Dec 6-1
 
184
Champ. Round 1 - Max Borton (Ursinus) def. George Moseley (Averett), Dec 4-3
Cons. Round 1 - Trent Furman (NYU) def. George Moseley (Averett), Dec 1-0
 
285
Prelim - Guyon Cyprian (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) def. Trent Ragland (Averett), Dec 7-3
Prelim - Trent Ragland (Averett) def. Nick Franco (Brockport), Fall (4:14)
Cons. Round 1 - Peter Wersinger (TCNJ) def. Trent Ragland (Averett), Dec 5-2