Complete Brackets
Final Team Results
No. 9 Matt Mariacher won the Keystone Classic title at 141 lbs. to lead the seventh-ranked American University wrestling team Sunday at The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa.
Mariacher claims his second Keystone title in the last four seasons as he won all four of his bouts on Sunday. After receiving a bye in the first round, he began with a fall against Duke's Chris Mullin at the 4:18 mark and then defeated Zeb Stewart of VMI in the next round with a tech fall at 4:15. In the semifinals, Mariacher took care of Princeton's Adam Krop by a 10-4 decision before defeating Jimmy Kirchner of Rider, 4-3, in the championship. This is Mariacher's third top-two finish at Keystone in his career, which includes his title in 2008 and his runner-up result last year.
Heavyweight Blake Herrin earned a third-place result after beginning his day with a pair of victories, a 12-4 major decision over Andrew Embree of VMI and a 10-3 decision against Appalachian State's Joe Cummings. Herrin then dropped a 3-1 decision to Boston University's Kevin Innis in the first sudden victory period before earning a 4-2 decision over Rider's Evan Craig to earn his third–place finish.
Thomas Williams came in fourth at 125 lbs. as he started with a fall against Duke's Peter Terrezza at the 5:49 mark. After losing by a 5-3 decision in a tiebreaker to Check Zeisloft of Rider, Williams bounced back with three consecutive falls in the wrestlebacks, the quickest of which came in 1:36 against Joseph Barbato of Harvard. Williams then closed out his tournament with another loss at the hands of Zeisloft, 6-5, in the third-place matchup.
Kevin Tao also earned a fourth-place finish at 149 lbs. as he began his run with a pair of wins, a 17-6 major decision versus Penn's Jordan Michelson and a 7-5 decision against Paul Liquori of Harvard. Tao then dropped a 5-4 decision to Nestor Taffur of Boston University before losing by that identical score in the third-place match against Kevin Friedley of Northwestern.
Thomas Barreiro rounded out AU's placewinners as he registered a sixth-place effort at 184 lbs. He started with a 13-3 major decision against Jesse Johnson of Appalachian State before losing by decision versus Brown's Ophir Bernstein. Barreiro won his next two bouts in the wrestlebacks before losing his final two, which included a 9-5 decision to Erich Smith of Penn in the fifth-place match.
As a team, the No. 7 Eagles placed in eighth-place in the 11-team field with 75 points. AU, however, was without the services of three of its four nationally-ranked wrestlers, including No. 2 Ryan Flores and No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa, who will both be making their season debuts on Monday at the NWCA All-Star Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
Following Flores and Sanjaa's appearances on Monday, the Eagles will return to action this Saturday, November 26 at the Northeast Duals in Albany, N.Y. AU will compete against Central Michigan, Purdue, and Penn at the event.
