CLEVELAND – Northern Illinois University's
Brock Hudkins advanced to day two of the 2018 NCAA National Championships following his performance at the Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday.
Bryce Gorman (Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central), who was competing at 184 in his first NCAA Championships, saw his season come to a close after suffering a pair of losses.
Hudkins, a native of Danville, Ind. and competing in his second NCAA Championship at 125, was edged by No. 7 seed Taylor LeMont of Utah Valley, 3-2. After each grappler recorded an escape in the second and third periods, Lemont had a takedown in the third period. Hudkins, who picked up his second point on an escape, was unable to return the favor, and he fell to the consolation bracket.
The Huskie sophomore wasted little time with George Mason's Ibrahim Bunduka. Hudkins recorded a pinfall victory over Bunduka at the 2:21 mark in the first period. Hudkins will face Minnesota's Ethan Lizak in the Wrestlebacks.
"Brock competed in both bouts," said NIU head coach
Ryan Ludwig. "He really came out firing in his first consolation match and it was great for him to throw up bonus points with a fall."
Gorman suffered a 24-9 tech fall to No. 2 seed Myles Martin of Ohio State in his first match of the day, but had a better showing in his second match of the day.
The Huskie redshirt junior faced off against conference foe Canten Marriott of Missouri in a rematch of their 2018 Mid-American Conference Championships meeting. Gorman defeated Marriott, 6-5, when the two met two weeks ago. However, the Huskie junior was unable to duplicate his victory Thursday night, falling to Marriott, 6-0. Gorman finishes the regular season with an 11-10 record.
"It was good for Bryce to have this experience and understand what it takes to succeed here moving forward," Ludwig said. "We've got a lot to build on there."
The NCAA Championships continue tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT will be live on ESPN3. Fans can follow Hudkins through the NCAA Championships on Twitter via
@NIUWrestling.
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