Last Updated 10:27 AM, March 29, 2021
Shannon Scovel

Iowa Hawkeyes win 2021 Ƶ wrestling team title

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Watch highlights from every match of the 2021 Wrestling Championship finals
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7:20 pm, March 18, 2021

Shane Griffith sends a message at 165 pounds

THIRD PERIOD: Shane Griffith is a national champion! (and Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament)

Griffith chooses neutral to start the third. He goes in for a shot, and they scramble. Takedown Griffith. He takes the 4-2 lead with less than a minute to go. He's working to ride up the riding time. Wentzel nearly escapes, but then Griffith goes in for more. That's it. Stanford has a national championship and Griffith picks up his title in style, 7-2. The message from Griffith is clear: Keep Stanford Wrestling. 

SECOND PERIOD: Tied 2-2
Wentzel starts on the bottom to begin the period and picks up the escape. It's 2-2, riding time is not a factor. 

FIRST PERIOD: Griffith leads 2-1
Shane Griffith puts up the first two points of the period and becomes the only wrestler to score in the first period so far in this finals session. Rocking the black singlet to protest against his school, Stanford, cutting the wrestling program, Griffith is on a mission. Wentzel though is looking for a move of his own. These guys haven't held anything back. There's no cautious wrestling here. 

Shane Griffith's path to the finals: 

Alex Marinelli has some trouble with No. 8 seeds. He lost in the quarterfinals in 2019 to then-No. 8 Mekhi Lewis, and this year, he suffered the same fate against No. 8 Shane Griffith of Stanford in sudden victory. Marnielli started the tournament with two major wins over Austin Yant of Northern Iowa and Thomas Bullard of N.C. State, and he looked calm and composed against Griffith, but the Cardinal was too much.  Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation in the quarterfinals, Griffith initiated a shot, Marinelli responded and led his opponent into a scramble. Marinelli looked like he might finish on top, but Griffith was just a little better. 

Griffith came into the tournament with just one loss in the Pac-12 finals to Anthony Valencia, but everyone is 0-0 at the start of the Ƶ Tournament, and Griffith is now 3-0 and on his way to the semifinals. He'll meet Zach Hartman of Bucknell in the semifinals as he attempts to chase his first national title. 

"I'm just trying to make a name for myself and the program," Griffith said when asked about maybe being the last Stanford wrestler to compete for a title. 

Stanford announced over the summer that the school would be cutting wrestling at the end of the season, but Griffith doesn't want the school to forget what wrestling has brought to the athletic department. His mission is about more than himself. 

12:15 am, March 21, 2021

David Carr takes gold at 157 pounds

THIRD PERIOD: DAVID CARR WINS 4-0
Dellavecchia does down to start the third, but Carr has taken control. He racks up the riding time, but Rider challenges for locked hands. No locked hands, so we continue. Carr stays on top and pushes his riding time over a minute. The Cyclone is 45 seconds away from a national title. Now he's looking for back points, but that's it. DAVID CARR IS A NATIONAL CHAMPION! 

SECOND PERIOD: Carr leads 3-0
Carr stars the second period on bottom. Dellavecchia initiates the ride and holds Carr down for 38 seconds, but Carr does earn the escape and takes the 1-0 lead. Carr goes in for the first shot of the match, and he finishes. That's a 3-0 lead for the Cyclone has he chases his first title. Carr rides out the period, and he'll head into the third period with lead. 

FIRST PERIOD: Scoreless again. No wrestler has scored a point in the first period so far in this finals session. 

7:20 pm, March 18, 2021

UNC's O'Connor wins his first title at 149

Third period: Austin O'Connor wins 3-2
Sasso escapes. He ties is up 1-1, but Sasso has riding time. Less than a minute to go. Sasso takes a shot, but O'Connor reverses and picks up two and eliminates the riding time. The Tar Heel is warned for stalling, and Sasso escapes. It's 3-2 O'Connor, riding time is not a factor. In the last ten seconds, it's Sammy Sasso with the takedown. Or almost. He had O'Connor on the edge with time and wrapped himself around both ankles. The refs did not call the takedown, but Ohio State challenges. Now we wait. NO TAKEDOWN! 

Second period: O'Connor leads 1-0
Austin O'Connor chooses bottom to start the second. Here he comes, but Sasso has his eyes on the cradle. The refs are calling for more action, but nothing happens. Stalemate. There's some caution here from two two wresters who aren't known for cautious wrestling. O'Connor escapes, so that's a 1-0 lead for the Tar Heel. Sasso does have over one minute of riding time, and that's how they'll head into the third. 

First period: Tied, 0-0
Scoreless. Goodness, this has been a trend.

7:20 pm, March 18, 2021

Nick Lee tops Eierman at 141

It's Penn State in overtime again as Nick Lee finishes to win his first national title! Two-for-two for the Nittany Lions.

THIRD PERIOD: Tied 2-2
Nick Lee picks up the early two points in the third for a momentum shifter, but Eierman escapes so we're all tied up again. Lee has 30 seconds of riding time. Less than a minute in the match. Eierman warned for stalling. A shot from Eierman, but grabs the leg. Not enough time. We're going to overtime. Again. 

SECOND PERIOD: Eierman leads 1-0
Eierman starts bottom to begin the second, and he's out for one escape point. That's all we have for scoring in the second, and we'll head to the third 1-0 Eierman

FIRST PERIOD: Scoreless 0-0
Lots of action early, but we're scoreless after the first minute. And scoreless after the second, but that's not for a lack of action or effort. Eierman and Lee are both wrestling smart, attacking cautiously but holding tough defensively to force restarts. 

7:20 pm, March 18, 2021

No. 2 Roman Bravo-Young wins 133 pounds

TAKEDOWN ROMAN-BRAVO YOUNG! He needs overtime, but the Nittany Lion is a national champ! 


Third period: 
Bravo-Young starts down and escapes. He leads 1-0 with 1:50 to go, and that's a shot for the Penn State wrestler. No points, but here's the scramble. No points, but Bravo-Young is dinged for stalling. We're tied 1-1, and Bravo-Young is then hit again. Fix leads 2-1, but Bravo-Young has the riding time. We're heading to overtime. 

Second period: Scoreless 0-0
The Nittany Lion racks up serious riding time as he holds Fix down for the entire two minutes. A stall warning on Roman Bravo-Young serves as the only hint of points in the second period, but we're scoreless again heading into the third.

First period: Scoreless 0-0
After a brief basketball delay, we are back to wrestling and off and running. Fix and Bravo-Young are scoreless after one period, and Fix chose down to start the second period.

MATCH PREVIEW

Daton Fix returns to the national finals tournament after finishing second in 2019, and he'll meet Big Ten champion Roman Bravo-Young for his toughest test yet. Fix is one of of seven No. 1 seeds still alive, and he earned his spot under the bright lights after a major, two falls and a decision earlier in this tournament.  and follow along as we track this top seed in the first finals match of the evening. 

 

7:20 pm, March 18, 2021

Jesse Dellavecchia upsets Ryan Deakin at 157

Northwestern's Ryan Deakin put up three solid wins so far this tournament, and he had done what he needed to do to put himself in position for a finals run. But Jesse Dellavecchia brought a new challenge. The first-time Rider All-American held Deakin scoreless through the first period, but in the second, riding the Wildcat, Dellavecchia went to work. Before fans could even blink, Dellavecchia had Deakin on his back for back points, back points, back points, and then BOOM. Dellavecchia had pinned the top seed, and he was moving on the finals.

The two-time Big Ten champion, Ryan Deakin, will drop down to the consolation finals and look to wrestle for third, but it's Dellavecchia, the MAC champion, who will have his shot at the finals. Dellavecchia will come into Saturday night's final with a 10-0 record and 50% bonus. Here's the moment he's been dreaming about his whole life: Saturday night wrestling under the bright lights. 

"I know I can turn anyone...it just worked out, "Dellavecchia said. "It's a weird journey, but I've been loving it and happy to have found Rider." 

11:11 pm, March 20, 2021

NIU's Mason Kauffman wins Elite 90 Award

 Congratulations to Mason Kauffman of NIU for being awarded the Elite 90 Award. The honor is presented annually to the student-athlete at the Ƶ Tournament in each sport with the highest GPA. You can read about all of the .

11:24 pm, March 10, 2021

2021 Ƶ wrestling championship brackets & schedule

See the updated brackets here. 

See the updated team scores here.  

See the final coaches rankings of 2021 here. 

Complete Championship Schedule

DATE TIME SESSION NETWORK
Thursday, March 18 11 a.m. First Round ESPNU
  2 p.m. First Round ESPNU
  6 p.m. Second Round ESPN2
  9 p.m. Second Round ESPN2
Friday, March 19 11 a.m. Quarterfinals ESPNU
  3 p.m. Semifinals ESPNU
  8 p.m. Semifinals ESPN
Saturday, March 20 11 a.m. Medal Round ESPN2
  7 p.m. Championship ESPN
4:42 pm, March 20, 2021

Meet the 2021 Ƶ wrestling All-Americans

In 2019, 80 men stood on the podium and celebrated that they were among the most elite of the elite in college athletics. They were All-Americans. Now, after a year of adversity and the challenge of competing in a national pandemic, champion wrestling is back. The top-eight men in each of the ten weight classes this year have earned a special honor, and they will march out together as a group tonight during the parade of All-Americans savoring and remembering the moments that made up this wild, unprecedented year.

Here's what you need to know about the individuals that will take home All-American trophies.