Gavin Drexler Takes Eighth at NCAA Championships

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – North Dakota State wrestling’s Gavin Drexler wrapped up the NCAA Championships on Sunday with an eighth-place finish in the 149-bound bracket.
 
In his only match of the day, Drexler fell to No. 11 seed Sammy Alvarez of Rider 9-6 in the medal round, as Alvarez scored a takedown out of a scramble in sudden victory to defeat Drexler for the second time in the championships after defeating Drexler 4-2 in the first round.
 
Drexler scored the initial takedown in the first period, but Alvarez recorded a reversal in the first and another in the second to take a 4-3 lead. Drexler picked up an escape in the second to level the match at 4-4 headed to the third, where he scored his own reversal to take a 6-4 lead. Alvarez recorded an escape and tied the match with a riding time point to force sudden victory.
 
Drexler became the 13^th All American in NDSU wrestling’s Division I history on Friday night, completing the feat in his first trip to the NCAA Championships as a redshirt sophomore.
 
North Dakota State closes out the NCAA Championship with 11.5 points and finishes the weekend 37^th out of 66 teams competing.
 
NDSU Final Results
149 | Gavin Drexler | 4-3 | 8.0 pts
L to #11 Sammy Alvarez (Rider); Dec 4-2
W over #27 Kaden Cassidy (George Mason); MD 13-1
W over #5 Kyle Parco (Iowa); MFF
W over #29 Jack Gioffre (Virginia); Dec 12-9
W over #7 Kannon Webster (Illinois); Dec 4-0
L to #6 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina); MD 10-2
L to #11 Sammy Alvarez (Rider); SV 9-6
 
184 | Aidan Brenot | 3-2 | 3.5 pts
L to #10 Edmund Ruth (Illinois); MD 10-2
W over #26 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State); Dec 13-7
W over #9 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh); Fall 2:35
W over #16 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers); SV 4-1
L to #6 Chris Foca (Cornell); Dec 2-0
 
125 | Tristan Daugherty | 0-2
L to #6 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia); Dec 7-2
L to #22 Trever Anderson (Northern Iowa); Dec 2-0
 
133 | Kyle Burwick | 0-2
L to #9 Braxton Brown (Maryland); Dec 3-2
L to #25 Kurt Phipps (Bucknell); Dec 6-5