WRESTLING: Degen Goes 1-1, advances to day two in Cleveland

The following press release and above photo are courtesy of Iowa State athletics communications. 

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Iowa State’s redshirt freshman Jarrett Degen has advanced to day two of the NCAA Championships. The Belgrade, Mont., native posted a 1-1 record on day one, with a first-round victory over No. 13 Colton McCrystal, 9-5.

Wrestling will resume tomorrow from Quicken Loans arena at 10 a.m. CT. Degen will see wrestle-back action in the 149-pound bracket and will square up against Minnesota’s Steve Bleise.

Round of 16

After a first round victory, Degen faced North Carolina’s No. 4 Troy Heilmann. Heilmann struck first, scoring on a first-period takedown. Degen began the second period on top, and Heilmann earned a reversal to take a 4-2 lead. After two periods, Heilmann led 6-2.

In the final stanza, Degen cut the lead to 6-3 on an escape to begin the period. He then took Heilmann down to make the match 6-5. With 30 seconds to go, Degen fired off a series of shots, Heilmann was warned for stalling, but it wasn’t enough to mount the necessary comeback. In the end, Heilmann advanced to the quarterfinals over Degen, 7-5.

Round of 32

To open the tournament, Degen was pitted against the No. 13 seed Colton McCrystal of Nebraska. The Cornhusker jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first takedown of the match to go up 2-0. Degen would score a reversal and ride out McCrystal to close out the first period.

In the second, Degen earned an early escape to take a 3-2 lead. McCrystal was back on the attack, bringing Degen back down to the mat. Degen got to his feet and finished the second period on top, taking McCrystal down in short time. In the third, Degen padded his lead with a takedown and finished the match with 1:50 of riding time to take the match, 9-5.

Match-by-Match

R32: Jarrett Degen (ISU) dec. No. 13 Colton McCrystal (NEB), 9-5 (1:50 RT).
R16: No. 4 Troy Heilmann (UNC) dec. Jarrett Degen (ISU), 7-5.