Wrestlers 3-4 in First Session at NCAAs

There was good news and bad news for West Virginia from the first round of NCAA Wrestling championships.

The good news: Dustin Rogers (285), Chance Litton (174), and Donnie Jones (165) all won.

The bad news: Kurt Brenner (184), Zac Fryling (157), David Jauregui (149), and WVU's highest-ranked combatant, Jared Villers (197) all lost in today's action.

Dustin Rogers, who went into nationals ranked 17th in the heavyweight division, took a 4-2 victory over Andy Totusek of Old Dominion in one of the more thrilling first round matches. With 2 seconds remaining in their contest, Rogers broke a 2-2 tie with a two-point takedown.

Chance Litton piled on four points in the third round to defeat Bucknell's Shane Riccio 6-1. The two wrestled very evenly for five minutes before Litton got that final burst of energy. Litton will face top-rated Keith Garvin of Pitt in the second round tonight. The two have already met twice this year with Litton giving Garvin the strongest competition he faced all season.

Donnie Jones narrowly defeated Daniel Atondo of Cal State-Bakersfield, 9-8, in his first national tournament action.

The biggest disappointment of the day was the loss of Jared Villers at 197. The experienced and battle-tested senior lost to seventh-ranked Hudson Taylor of Maryland, and initial reports from Intermatwrestling.com indicate that the loyal Mountaineer sustained an injury in the second period of the match. Villers did finish, losing on points, but it is unclear at this point whether he will be able to continue. If he is able to continue, Villers will meet Boise State's Matt Casperson tonight -- if Casperson is able to compete. Casperson bled profusely from the nose during his loss to 6th-ranked Joel Flaggert of Oklahoma earlier today and at press time his status was unresolved.

Kurt Brenner at 184 lost to #3 Tyrel Todd of Michigan, 4-0. Todd finished their competition with 3:17 riding time.

Zac Fryling, who went into the tournament with a #17 ranking, lost a barn burner to #7 Brandon Becker of Indiana, 1-0.

At 149, Purdue's 13th-seeded Jake Patacsil scored a 14-0 technical fall over Mountaineer David Jauregui.

Tonight's pairings are:

In the championship bracket:

285: #17 Dustin Rogers, WVU, v. #3 Ed Prendergast, Navy

174: Chance Litton, WVU, v. #1 Keith Gavin, Pitt

165: Donnie Jones, WVU, v. #4 Mack Lewnes, Cornell

In the consolation bracket:

149: David Jauregui, WVU has a bye.

157: #17 Zac Fryling, WVU, has a bye.

184: Kurt Brenner, WVU, v. Andy O?Loughlin, Northern Iowa

197: #15 Jared Villers, WVU, v. Matt Casperson, Boise State

Stay with BlueGoldNews.com for tournament updates.