PDF: Release
VIDEO: NCAA Preview
2016 NCAA DIVISION I WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP
• Cleveland State seniors Riley Shaw and Sam Wheeler will compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships from Thursday through Sunday (March 17-19).
• This year's NCAA Championship is being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• The first session (pigtails and first round) begins on Thursday at 12:00 pm with session two (consolation first round, championship second round) starting at 7:00 pm.
• Friday's quarterfinals and second and third round consolation rounds start at 12:00 pm with the semifinals and the consolation fourth and fifth rounds slated to begin at 8:00 pm.
• The fifth session of the championship starts at 11:00 am on Saturday and features the consolation semfinals and the third, fifth and seventh place matches.
• The final session starts at 8:00 pm on Saturday, featuring the championship finals.
• Shaw, ranked 19th in the nation, is making his third appearance at nationals after winning the EWL title at heavyweight for the second straight season.
• Shaw was an at-large selection to nationals as a freshman in 2013, going 0-2, and earned an automatic bid to nationals last year after winning the EWL heavuweight title. He was 1-2 at last year's NCAA Championship.
• Shaw is the 19th wrestler in CSU history to qualify for the NCAA Championship three times.
• Wheeler is making his second appearance at nationals after earning a runner-up finish at 197 pounds at the EWL Championship.
• Wheeler also qualified for nationals at 174 pounds as a sophomore at Kent State in 2013, losing both of his matches.
• Shaw went 28-5 this season and was ranked as high as seventh in the nation earlier this year.
• Shaw will open nationals against No. 4 seeded Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State in the first round. Marsden went 27-1 this year.
• The two wrestled in the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1 with Marsden earning a 4-1 win.
• The winner of the first round match will take on the winner of 13th-seeded Jared Johnson of Chattanooga and William Miller of Edinboro in the second round, while the two losers will square off in an elimination match.
• Wheeler, who posted a 28-8 record during his first season as a Viking, will open nationals against sixth-seeded Jared Haught of Virginia Tech. Haught went 17-7 this year.
• The winner advances to the second round to face the winner of 11th-seeded Phil Wellington of Ohio and James Downey of Iowa State with the two losers facing off in an elimination match.
• To earn All-American status, Shaw and Wheeler would need to finish in the top-8 of their respective weight classes.
• CSU has had eight wrestlers earn a total of 10 All-American honors in program history.
• Tony DiGiovanni and Dave Zahoransky are the only two-time All-Americans in school history.
• Dan Carcelli was the last CSU grappler to earn All-American accolades, finishing fourth at 142 pounds at the 1995 NCAA Championship.
