NCAA Championships
Lotito Eliminated From 2014 NCAA Division I National Championships
3/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Cal Poly sophomore Devon Lotito has been eliminated from the 2014 NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships hosted by the University of Oklahoma in Chesapeake Energy Arena.
In a second-round wrestleback match Friday morning, Lotito fell 4-1 to Rossi Bruno of Michigan. Bruno scored a takedown and two-point near fall late in the first period and Lotito managed only an escape in the second period. Bruno chose the neutral position in a scoreless final period.
Lotito, who won two of his three matches Thursday, finished his second season with the Mustangs with a 24-11 record. Bruno, like Lotito a two-time national qualifier, is 21-15 on the year following his win Friday morning.
By the luck of the draw, Lotito had to wrestle in the lone pigtail match of the 133-pound bracket for the second straight year. On Thursday morning, he dropped a 2-1 decision to senior Shelton Mack of Pittsburgh. Mack is a three-time national qualifier.
Lotito also had to wrestle in the pigtail of the wrestlebacks and earned a 6-1 decision over Vincent Dellefave of Rutgers, avenging a 3-2 loss in the Las Vegas Invitational in December. Dellefave also is a two-time national qualifier.
In his third match of the day, Lotito recorded a 9-5 decision over Mack McGuire of Kent State, the 16th seed. Lotito scored a reversal in the first period, a pair of escapes in the second period and, with McGuire choosing the neutral position in the final period, notched a pair of takedowns plus riding time to turn a 4-4 deadlock into the victory.
McGuire, a two-time national qualifier, won 27 of 42 matches this season.
Earlier this month, Lotito placed second at 133 pounds in the Pac-12 finals behind Ryan Mango of Stanford. Mango is seeded 11th in the nationals and lost in the second round Thursday. He won his second-round wrestleback match Friday morning and needs two more victories to earn All-American honors.
Lotito opened his sophomore campaign by losing four of his first seven matches, but turned things around with 19 wins in his next 23 matches before dropping a 5-2 decision to Mango in the Pac-12 Championship.
Lotito placed third in the Reno Tournament of Champions with a 5-1 record, finished seventh in the Midlands and went 3-2 in the Las Vegas Invitational. He recorded five falls, one technical fall and three major decisions this season and posted an 8-3 mark in dual meets.
Last year, Lotito placed first in the Keystone Invitational in Philadelphia, earning the Most Outstanding Wrestler award. He also recorded a third-place finish at the 32-team Las Vegas Invitational and was a champion at the California Collegiate Open hosted by San Francisco State.
He has eight career falls and a 53-20 career record, including a 16-6 career mark in duals.
Lotito, a psychology major, is a three-time Pennsylvania AAA state placewinner with a seventh, second and third in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively, at 132 pounds. He compiled a 106-12 career prep record, including 39-2 as a senior, 39-4 as a junior and 27-6 as a sophomore.
Quarterfinals and another round of wrestleback matches were slated for Friday morning, with the semifinals and two more rounds of wrestlebacks scheduled for Friday night.
Wrestleback semifinals and matches for third, fifth and seventh places will be contested Saturday morning, with the championship finals set for Saturday at 5 p.m. PDT.
ESPN is televising all six sessions and carrying every match on ESPN3, both for the first time. ESPN will televise the semifinals and championship finals while ESPNU will air the preliminary sessions and medal round. The entire tournament will be available on WatchESPN.
Photo by Randy Martin
