NCAA Division I National Championships
Truax Falls in Semifinals of NCAA Division I National Championships
3/19/2021 7:45:00 PM | Wrestling
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Bernie Truax is Cal Poly's first national semifinalist in 10 years. The redshirt sophomore also is the first Mustang wrestling All-American since 2012.
But his run to become the third Cal Poly matman to capture an NCAA Division I national title came to an end Friday night as top-seeded Michael Kemerer of Iowa earned an 8-1 decision against the ninth-seeded Truax at the 2021 NCAA Division I National Championships inside the Enterprise Center.
Kemerer, a four-time NCAA All-American as he is guaranteed a first- or second-place finish Saturday night, scored two takedowns in the first period for a 4-1 advantage.
Kemerer chose the neutral position for the second period and neither wrestler was able to score a point. Truax elected to start the final period on top, but Kemerer added an escape, takedown and riding time for the semifinal-round decision at 174 pounds.
Kemerer will face third-seeded Carter Starocci of Penn State in the championship final Saturday night. Truax (12-2) falls into the wrestlebacks and will face a familiar foe – Michigan's Logan Massa -- on Saturday morning with a chance to finish as high as third. He can finish no worse than sixth.
Truax earned a 3-1 overtime decision against the fifth-seeded Massa in the second round Thursday.
Without benefit of a takedown, Truax earned a 4-2 decision over fourth-seeded Mikey Labriola of Nebraska in the quarterfinal round earlier Friday.
"Bernie has been laser focused on continuous growth for quite some time, in both his wrestling and his character development," fifth-year Mustang head coach Jon Sioredas said after the quarterfinal round. "He is an unbelievable competitor, but more importantly an incredible young man.
"We could not be more proud of his attitude and effort," Sioredas added.
Truax was the first Mustang to reach the semifinals since Boris Novachkov accomplished the feat en route to a second-place national finish in 2011. With the quarterfinal-round win, Truax also has earned All-American status, the first Cal Poly wrestler to do that in competition since Novachkov and Ryan DesRoches were All-Americans in 2012. Tom Lane was named an All-American last year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association after the 2020 nationals were canceled.
In the quarterfinals, Labriola scored a takedown midway through the first period, but Truax was able to escape. Labriola chose the bottom position for the second period and was unable to escape the grasp of Truax throughout the round. Truax earned a penalty point for Labriola's stalling, tying the score at 2-2.
Starting the third period in the bottom position, Truax was able to escape early, defended himself well against a second takedown and, due to the riding time compiled in the second period, came away with the 4-2 decision.
To get to the semifinals, Truax notched an 18-3 technical fall (3:19) over Jacob Oliver of Edinboro in the first round, a 3-1 overtime win over Massa, scoring a takedown 18 seconds into the first extra period, and Friday morning's 4-2 decision over Labriola.
Truax, who qualified for the 2020 nationals in Minneapolis -- that event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- is 44-20 in his Mustang career.
Meanwhile, Mustang 149-pounder Legend Lamer was eliminated from competition Friday after splitting two more matches, finishing his first trip to the nationals with a 2-2 record.
Seeded ninth, Lamer opened his second day in the tournament with a 3-2 decision over No. 26 Anthony Cheloni of Northern Illinois in the second round of the wrestlebacks. Lamer scored a takedown in the first period and an escape in the second period while giving up just two escapes in the one-point win.
In the third round of wrestlebacks, Lamer fell 5-2 to No. 17 Kyle Parco of Fresno State. Parco scored two takedowns in the first period for a 4-1 lead and added a riding time point. Lamer's only points were escapes in the first and third periods.
Lamer concluded his redshirt freshman season with a 13-3 record.
On Thursday, Lamer earned a 16-2 major decision over Luke Nichter of Drexel, then dropped a 10-4 decision to 25th-seeded Yahya Thomas of Northwestern.
After the pigtail and first two rounds of the championship bracket along with the pigtail and first round of wrestlebacks were conducted Thursday, quarterfinals and two more rounds of wrestlebacks were scheduled for Friday morning followed by the semifinals and an additional two rounds of wrestlebacks in the evening.
Wrestleback semifinals and the matches for third, fifth and seventh place will be contested Saturday morning, with the championship finals Saturday night.
This year, the first three rounds of competition were split into two segments — 125 through 157 weight classes first followed by the 165 through 285 weight classes — to reduce the number of competitors in the arena at the same time.
ESPN2 and ESPNU is providing coverage of all matches in the first five sessions with the championship finals on ESPN on Saturday at 4 p.m. PDT. Every match on every mat will also be available on ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
Photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo | WrestlersAreWarriors.com
