Both Bears advance to day two of NCAA Championship

RELATED CLICKS:
NCAA Brackets

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – At the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, both Northern Colorado junior Casey Cruz (133 pounds) and senior Justin Gaethje (149) lost in the opening sessions before bouncing back to win in the evening session and advance to day two.

Both lost by decision in the morning session. Cruz lost 8-1 to returning All-American and #3 seed Andrew Long from Penn State, while Gaethje lost 6-2 to Ganbayar Sanjaa from American.

Cruz shut out his opponent in the consolation first round, defeating Army's Jordan Thome, 5-0. Cruz recorded a takedown early in the first period for the only scoring and then Thome chose top to start the second period. Cruz got out late in the stanza and then recorded a takedown in the final period after choosing to start neutral.

In the consolation first round, Gaethje faced ninth-seeded Donald Vinson from Binghamton. Each recorded a takedown and an escape in the first period. Vinson had an escape in the second period and Gaethje recorded an escape early in the third period for the 4-4 tie. After a 36 second injury timeout by Gaethje, he got a late takedown for the 6-4 win.

In the Friday morning session, Cruz will take on ninth-seeded Devin Carter from Virginia Tech, while Gaethje will take the mat against Oregon State's Scott Sakaguchi in a rematch from earlier this year. In the dual between the Cowboys and Bears, Sakaguchi won a 4-1 decision against Gaethje.