Chance Lamer Advances to Quarterfinals, 3 Mustangs Still Alive at NCAAs

Thursday, March 21

Kansas City, MO / T-Mobile Center

All Day

NCAA Championships

Photo by: Jim Thrall | MatFocus

Chance Lamer Advances to Quarterfinals, 3 Mustangs Still Alive at NCAAs

3/21/2024 10:00:00 PM | Wrestling

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Thursday inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, redshirt sophomore Chance Lamer went a perfect 2-0 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals at the NCAA Wrestling Championships while graduate student Adam Kemp and redshirt junior Legend Lamer both posted 1-1 records to advance to the second day of the tournament.

In his second appearance at NCAAs and his first as a Mustang, Chance showed during the opening day that he means business. The No. 10 seed at 149 pounds took down No. 23 seed Drew Roberts from Minnesota by a 7-2 decision in his first round match, and then followed up that performance with another 7-2 decision in his Round of 16 bout, defeating Stanford's Jaden Abas, seeded No. 26. It was Chance's second victory over Abas in 11 days after he beat the 2021 NCAA All-American in the Pac-12 semifinals on March 10.

With the wins, Chance (19-4) advanced to the quarterfinals Friday and will battle No. 2 seed Kyle Parco from Arizona State for a spot in the semifinals. The quarterfinal bout will be a rematch of the 149-pound Pac-12 championship match that Chance lost by a 5-1 decision. Parco is a three-time All-American and Pac-12 champion.

The only other Mustang to win their first round match Thursday was Kemp at 174 pounds, who defeated No. 25 Brayden Thompson from Oklahoma State by a 4-3 decision to grab a spot in the Round of 16. In his next bout, Kemp, the eighth seed, faced a daunting task as he squared off with No. 9 seed Carter Starocci from Penn State, a three-time NCAA champion. But Kemp held his own and rose to the challenge, earning a takedown less than 10 seconds into the match. In the end though, Starocci was able to squeak out a hard-fought 5-3 decision over Kemp.

Kemp (17-4) is set to face Pitt's Luca Augustine, seeded 23rd, in a second-round consolation match Friday morning.

After coming up short in his opening match at NCAAs, Legend, seeded 29th at 157 pounds, stayed alive at the tournament by earning a 5-2 decision over No. 20 Max Brignola from Lehigh in a consolation bout. He will wrestle No. 19 Tommy Askey from Appalachian State in the second round of the consolation bracket Friday morning.

Redshirt sophomore Trevor Tinker (heavyweight) and redshirt freshman Zeth Romney (133 pounds) both went 0-2 Thursday and saw their seasons come to a close. Romney, seeded 11th in his weight class, nearly grabbed a win in his consolation match, falling in sudden victory to Lock Haven's Gable Strickland. In his first trip to NCAAs, Romney finished the season with a 19-9 record. Tinker, who made his second straight appearance at NCAAs, finished the year with a 13-7 mark.

Quarterfinal and second round consolation matches start at 9 a.m. PDT Friday. Action on all the mats can be seen live on ESPN+ via MatCast.

NCAA Championships Day 1
Cal Poly Results

133
No. 22 Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) d. No. 11 Zeth Romney, 4-1.
No. 27 Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) d. No. 11 Zeth Romney, SV-1 2-1.
149
No. 10 Chance Lamer d. No. 23 Drew Roberts (Minnesota), 7-2.
No. 10 Chance Lamer d. No. 26 Jaden Abas (Stanford), 7-2.
157
No. 4 Ed Scott (NC State) tf. No. 29 Legend Lamer, 19-3 (6:04).
No. 29 Legend Lamer d. No. 20 Max Brignola (Lehigh), 5-2.
174
No. 8 Adam Kemp d. No. 25 Brayden Thompson (Oklahoma State) 4-3.
No. 9 Carter Starocci (Penn State) d. No. 8 Adam Kemp, 5-3.
285
No. 5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) d. No. 28 Trevor Tinker, 11-4.
No. 21 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt) f. No. 28 Trevor Tinker, 3:49.