Cruz and Gaethje end seasons in Philadelphia

RELATED CLICKS:
NCAA Brackets

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The second day of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships wasn't quite as nice for the Northern Colorado Bears as day one as both grapplers lost in the morning session.

Junior Casey Cruz at 133 pounds faced off with ninth-seeded Devin Carter from Virginia Tech and dropped a 7-5 decision. Carter led 4-2 after the first period, but Cruz scored an escape for the only points of the second period to close within one, 4-3. Carter chose down to start the third, recorded an escape and takedown. Cruz managed a reversal, but was unable to score anymore. Cruz ends his season with a record of 24-12.

Senior Justin Gaethje started the morning in a rematch from earlier this year against Oregon State's Scott Sakaguchi. Gaethje was aggressive in the first period, recording two takedowns with one Sakaguchi escape for the 4-1 lead, but fortunes were reversed as Sakaguchi got an escape for the only scoring in the second period and he had two takedowns in the third period, while Gaethje got one point each on an escape and penalty point for a 6-6 tie. Sakaguchi recorded a takedown early in the sudden victory period for the 8-6 win to end Gaethje's career with a 17-8 record on the season (38-12 including unattached competition during first semester).

The NCAA Championship concludes on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.