Brown University
NCAA Championships
LaFragola, Viruet Conclude Run for Wrestling at NCAA Championships
3/16/2018 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Junior CJ LaFragola defeated the No. 13 seed in the 184-pound weight class to highlight the Bears' second day of competition as Brown University wrestling concluded its run at the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Friday at Quicken Loans Arena.
Making his second appearance at the NCAA Championships, LaFragola (Little Egg Harbor, N.J.) won his first match of the day to remain in contention before bowing out later in the consolation. In his NCAA debut, junior Jon Viruet (Springfield, Mass.) dropped a 5-3 decision at 165 pounds in his final match at the tournament after upsetting the No. 8 seed on Thursday.
In his first match of the day, LaFragola topped No. 13 seed Steven Schneider of Binghamton in the consolation, 5-3. LaFragola opened the scoring with a first period takedown, and after Schneider tied the score at 2-2 in the second period, LaFragola posted a takedown later in the frame to pull ahead, 4-2. Leading 4-3 late in the third stanza, LaFragola added a point after Schneider committed an unnecessary roughness infraction.
LaFragola fell to Navy's Michael Coleman, 7-3, in the consolation to end his stay at NCAAs. In a re-match from last year's NCAA Championships, LaFragola and Coleman stood tied at 1-1 before Coleman registered a takedown with 25 seconds remaining. Trailing 3-2 with under 10 seconds left, LaFragola looked to rally, but Coleman scored a takedown and 2-point near fall before LaFragola tacked on an escape in the closing seconds.
Viruet challenged Drew Daniels of Navy in an eventual 5-3 setback in the consolation. Viruet drew even at 2-2 with an escape early in the second period before Daniels gained a 3-2 lead on an escape with 1:20 left. Daniels scored a takedown with 50 seconds to go before Viruet notched a late escape.
LaFragola finished his second stint at NCAAs with a pair of wins while Viruet tallied his first career NCAA win with a 6-5 win over No. 8 seed Chandler Rogers of Oklahoma State in the round of 32 on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, senior Justin Staudenmayer (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) made his third appearance at the NCAA Championships, dropping a pair of decisions to close his career.
At the end of the third session, Brown stood in a tie for 49th out of 72 schools in the team standings.
Brown Results
157 Pounds
Justin Staudenmayer (0-2)
Thursday
No. 13 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State) def. Staudenmayer in Round of 32, Dec. 6-1
Jake Short (Minnesota) def. Staudenmayer in Consolation, Dec. 5-2
165 Pounds
Jon Viruet (1-2)
Thursday (1-1)
Viruet def. No. 8 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) in Round of 32, Dec. 6-5
No. 9 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) def. Viruet in Round of 16, Dec. 5-3
Friday (0-1)
Drew Daniels (Navy) def. Viruet in Consolation, Dec. 5-3
184 Pounds
CJ LaFragola (2-2)
Thursday (1-1)
No. 14 Nick Gravina (Rutgers) def. LaFragola in Round of 32, Dec. 6-0
LaFragola def. Greg Bulsak (Clarion) in Consolation, Dec. 7-6
Friday (1-1)
LaFragola def. No. 13 Steven Schneider (Binghamton) in Consolation, Dec. 5-3
Michael Coleman (Navy) def. LaFragola in Consolation, Dec. 7-3
