University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Alirez Rolls to NCAA Quarterfinals; Poulin & Zerban Advance to Day 2
3/16/2023 8:36:00 PM | Wrestling
TULSA, Okla. – Junior and Greeley native Andrew Alirez advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the 141-weight division with a pair of wins.
Alirez, the No. 2 seed, pinned No. 31 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin), the opening period. Alirez followed that with an 8-5 win over No. 18 Frankie Tal Shahar (Northwestern) to complete the opening day sweep versus a pair of Big Ten opponents and remain unbeaten this season.
Stevo Poulin, the No. 6 seed at 125-weight division, dropped the opening match to No. 27 Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech), but rebounded in the evening session with an 11-4 decision over No. 22 Diego Sotelo (Harvard).
At the 157- weight division, No. 32 Vincent Zerban defeated No. 33 Nathan Lukez (Army) 6-5. That matched Zerban with No. 1 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) and Zerban took the unbeaten O'Connor to the limit in a 6-1 defeat.
Zerban followed up with a 3-1 overtime win over No. 16 Anthony Artalona (Penn) to advance to day two.
UNC head wrestling coach Troy Nickerson was pleased with the performances from the trio of wrestlers competing.
"Overall, it was a good day. Having three guys advance to day two is big," Nickerson said. "I think all three have a chance to do damage and Alirez looked good and will wrestle for All-American honors tomorrow morning. For now, that's step one."
The NCAA championships are being broadcast on ESPN, ESPNU and ESPN +.
Alirez, the No. 2 seed, pinned No. 31 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin), the opening period. Alirez followed that with an 8-5 win over No. 18 Frankie Tal Shahar (Northwestern) to complete the opening day sweep versus a pair of Big Ten opponents and remain unbeaten this season.
Stevo Poulin, the No. 6 seed at 125-weight division, dropped the opening match to No. 27 Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech), but rebounded in the evening session with an 11-4 decision over No. 22 Diego Sotelo (Harvard).
At the 157- weight division, No. 32 Vincent Zerban defeated No. 33 Nathan Lukez (Army) 6-5. That matched Zerban with No. 1 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) and Zerban took the unbeaten O'Connor to the limit in a 6-1 defeat.
Zerban followed up with a 3-1 overtime win over No. 16 Anthony Artalona (Penn) to advance to day two.
UNC head wrestling coach Troy Nickerson was pleased with the performances from the trio of wrestlers competing.
"Overall, it was a good day. Having three guys advance to day two is big," Nickerson said. "I think all three have a chance to do damage and Alirez looked good and will wrestle for All-American honors tomorrow morning. For now, that's step one."
The NCAA championships are being broadcast on ESPN, ESPNU and ESPN +.
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