Two Hoosiers — juniors Elijah Oliver, 125 lbs, and Bryce Martin, 165 lbs — earned their spots in the NCAA tournament over the weekend by placing within the top of their weight classes.
However, teammates junior Cole Weaver and sophomore Devin Skatzka both finished within one spot of qualifying and were left out of the competition. But, with 47 extra spots open for at-large bids, both Weaver, 141 lbs, and Skatzka, 174 lbs, earned the right to wrestle in the NCAA tournament.
According to NCAA.com, the at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using head-to-head competition, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating percentage index, coaches ranking and qualifying event placement.
Oliver will be making his third consecutive appearance, and Skatzka will be making his second. If Oliver qualifies next year as well, then he could become only the sixth wrestler in IU history to appear in the NCAA tournament all four years.
The seeds for the tournament announced on Wednesday night placed Cole Weaver as the No. 16 seed, with the other three wrestlers not being seeded. However, all three of the other wrestlers — Oliver, Sktazka and Martin — would presumably go on to face the No. 9 seed in the next round of the tournament if they win their unseeded match-up.
The 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships begin on March 15 and end on March 17 in Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. You can watch the first few rounds on ESPNU and the semifinal round and championship matches on ESPN.
Daniel Zur
