Zerban Moves into the Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 20

Philadelphia, Pa.

TBA

University of Northern Colorado

NCAA

3/20/2025 7:21:00 PM | Wrestling

All Four Bears Advances to Day Two

By: Michael High, Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications

PHILADELPHIA – Stevo Poulin, Dominick Serrano, Andrew Alirez and Vincent Zerban advanced to day two of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center Thursday.

Zerban won both of his matches and moved into the quarterfinals. Poulin, Serrano and Alirez fell in their round of 32 bouts and dropped to the consolation bracket. The quartet returns to action Friday, with session three beginning at 10 a.m. MT.

In round one, Poulin built an 8-1 advantage with two takedowns and two back points against Tanner Jordan. He had a penalty point in the second frame. He allowed a stalling point and takedown for the final tally.

In the round of 16, Poulin built up nearly 90 seconds of riding time in the second round, before Troy Spratley recorded a reversal and a 2-0 lead. Poulin earned a point when Spratley pulled on the singlet. Poulin fell 2-1 in the match.

Serrano held a 7-2 cushion after two rounds, in his opening match against Colton Camacho. He held on for the victory, despite the third escape and a takedown in the last stanza for Camacho.

Serrano trailed from the beginning in his 15-7 defeat to Anthony Rini in the second round. Rini registered a takedown in the opening frame and continued to apply pressure throughout the bout.

Alirez returned to the NCAA Championships for the first time since winning the 2023 title, with a 5-0 victory over AJ Rallo. He controlled the bout from the opening whistle, netting a takedown in the first period. Alirez added to the lead with a stalling penalty point in the middle frame, before collecting the riding time bonus.

Alirez evened his second-round bout against Jacob Frost, with an escape in the third period. Frost earned a takedown late in the frame and secured the 4-1 victory.

Zerban led Blake Saito 6-0 when he recorded the pinfall. Zerban notched a takedown in the first and doubled his gap in the third with a reversal and a penalty point on Saito.

After falling behind 1-0, with an escape from Chase Saldate in the second frame, Zerban rattled off five unanswered points in the final stanza. Starting from the bottom position, he cracked the scoreboard with a reversal and worked his way to a 2-point near fall for the 4-1 gap. He completed the scoring with the riding time bonus. Zerban takes on No. 2 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) in the quarterfinals. The winner faces either No. 3 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) or No. 11 Matty Bianchi (Little Rock) in the semifinals.

125 | Stevo Poulin
Round 1 | No. 10 Stevo Poulin (UNC) over No. 23 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) | Dec 9-5
Round 2 | No. 7 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) over No. 10 Stevo Poulin (UNC) | Dec 2-1

133 | Dominick Serrano
Round 1 | No. 10 Dominick Serrano (UNC) over No. 23 Colton Camacho (Edinboro) | Dec 8-6
Round 2 | Angelo Rini (Indiana) over Dominick Serrano (UNC) | MD 15-7

141 | Andrew Alirez (14-1)
Round 1 | Andrew Alirez (UNC) over AJ Rallo (Bellarmine) | Dec 5-0
Round 2 | Jacob Frost (Iowa State) over Andrew Alirez (UNC) | Dec 6-1

157 | Vincent Zerban
Round 1 | Vincent Zerban (UNC) over Blake Saito (Brown) | Fall 6:49
Round 2 | Vincent Zerban (UNC) over Chase Saldate (Michigan) | Dec 5-1

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