Tyler Smith Represents Bucknell at NCAA Wrestling Championships

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Tyler Smith is set to represent Bucknell in the 141-pound weight class at the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships this week.

2018 NCAA Championships
When: Thursday, March 15 to Saturday, March 17
Where: Quicken Loans Arena – Cleveland, Ohio
Event Website: NCAA.com
Live Results: TrackWrestling.com
Television/Online Video: ESPN Family of Networks (Full schedule below)
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WRST

About the NCAA Championships
• NCAA wrestling's premier event will be held Thursday, March 15 to Saturday, March 17 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
• A rare four-time NCAA qualifier, Tyler Smith will strive to become Bucknell's sixth All-American by finishing in the top eight. This season, the senior has already made history by becoming the 10th Bison to reach the 100-win plateau, securing Bucknell's seventh runner-up finish at the EIWA Championships and completing the 11th undefeated dual season in school history.

ESPN to Air NCAA Championships
• For the fourth-straight year, ESPN will air the entire NCAA Championships on its family of networks.
• ESPN's prime-time coverage begins with the second round on Thursday at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m. on both nights, Friday's semifinals will be televised on ESPN and Saturday's finals will air on ESPN2.
• ESPNU will carry the earlier sessions each day. During all six sessions, ESPN3 will stream every single mat and match, allowing fans to follow any wrestler and/or school.

2018 NCAA Championships Schedule
Thursday, March 15
First Round, 12 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Second Round, 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)

Friday, March 16
Quarterfinals, 11 a.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Semifinals, 8 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)

Saturday, March 17
Medal Round, 11 a.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Championships, 8 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)

Bucknell's NCAA Championships History
• Since the Bucknell wrestling program was reinstated ahead of the 2006-07 season thanks in large part to a generous donation from Bill Graham '62, 17 different wrestlers have combined to earn 39 NCAA berths and four All-America certificates.
• Tyler Smith (141) became the fourth Bison since the program was revived to qualify for the NCAA Championships during all four years of his collegiate career. David Marble (133, 2007-10), Andy Rendos (165, 2007-10) and Joe Stolfi (285, 2013-16) previously accomplished the feat.
• Overall, Smith is the fifth Bison to qualify for four NCAA Championships. Bobby Ferraro qualified at 190 pounds in 1992 and at 177 pounds in 1993, 1994 and 1995.
• Smith, the No. 12 seed, will attempt to become Bucknell's sixth All-American. Tom Marchetti (167, 4th in 1989), Bryan Burns (190, 8th in 1991), Ferraro (177, 7th in 1995; 8th in 1994), Rendos (165, 5th in 2009; 6th in 2010) and current assistant coach Kevin LeValley (149, 7th in 2010 & 2011) previously earned a spot on the NCAA podium.
• This is the first time since the wrestling program was reinstated that only one Bison qualified for the NCAA Championships. Drew Phipps (184) is an alternate and may compete in Cleveland. If he did, he would be making his NCAA Championships debut.

Smith at the NCAA Championships
• Tyler Smith is set to make his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championships. He is 4-6 all-time at the event, with one pin and one win in the sudden victory period.
• Last season, Smith narrowly missed earning All-American status. In the blood round, he fell to Princeton's Matthew Kolodzik, the EIWA champion and No. 4 seed. Kolodzik ultimately finished seventh.

2015: 0-2 (141 pounds)
First Round: #11/11 Chris Mecate (Old Dominion), L, Fall (1:16)
Consolation First Round: #18/- Steven Rodrigues (Illinois), L, Dec. (4-11)

2016: 1-2 (141 pounds)
First Round: #18/15 Brock Zacherl (Clarion), L, Dec. (3-7)
Consolation First Round: #14/- Zachary Horan (Central Michigan), W, medical forfeit
Consolation Second Round: #16/16 Randy Cruz (Lehigh), L, Fall (2:51)

2017: 3-2 (141 pounds, No. 15 seed)
First Round: Russell Rohlfling (CSU Bakersfield), W, SV-1 (8-6)
Second Round: #2/2 Kevin Jack (NC State), L, Dec. (0-4)
Consolation Second Round: #18/- Brock Zacherl (Clarion), W, Dec. (3-0)
Consolation Third Round: Johnathan Hathaway (Oregon State), W, Fall (6:08)
Consolation Fourth Round: #4/4 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton), L, MD (3-11)

Note: Number listed first is Intermat rank; number listed second is NCAA seed

Smith Against First-Round Opponent
• Tyler Smith, the No. 12 seed, will face Virginia Tech's Brent Moore in the first round. This will be their first meeting. Moore, who is unseeded, went 19-10 in 2017-18.
• The winner will face NC State's Kevin Jack, the No. 5 seed, or CSU Bakersfield's Russell Rohlfing.
• At last year's NCAA Championships, Jack, then the No. 2 seed, topped Smith by a 4-0 decision to send him into the consolation bracket.
• Smith also has history with Rohlfing; he defeated the Roadrunner in the opening round of last year's NCAA Championships and in his first bout of the 2017-18 campaign.

Smith Against the Field
• In 2017-18, Tyler Smith faced 12 of the 32 wrestlers in the NCAA Championships' 141-pound bracket, compiling a 9-4 record.
• Smith defeated the following NCAA qualifiers: CSU Bakersfield's Russell Rohlfing (11-2 MD), George Mason's Tejon Anthony (10-1 MD), Lehigh's Luke Karam (5-3 dec.; 5-2 dec.), Navy's Nicholas Gil (4-1 dec.), Lock Haven's Kyle Shoop (18-3 TF), Pitt's Nick Zanetta (5-2 dec.) Purdue's Nate Limmex (10-4 dec.) and South Dakota State's Henry Pohlmeyer (9-3 dec.).
• Smith was defeated by the following NCAA qualifiers: Central Michigan's Mason Smith (4-5 dec.), Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis (9-17 MD), Indiana's Cole Weaver (4:50 fall) and Old Dominion's Alex Madrigal (7-11 dec.). All of Smith's losses this season came to NCAA qualifiers.

NCAA Qualifiers from the EIWA Championships
• The EIWA had 47 automatic qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA Championships, ranking second behind the Big Ten (80) and narrowly edging the Big 12 (45).
• The EIWA tied the Big Ten in number of automatic qualifiers from the 197-pound weight class. The conference was second to only the Big Ten in automatic qualifiers from the 141-, 157-, 165-, 174-, 184- and 285-pound weight classes.
• At this year's EIWA Championships, Tyler Smith (141) earned his third career automatic berth.
• Smith was one of 23 EIWA wrestlers who received a seed for the NCAA Championships. All four of the EIWA's automatic qualifiers in the 141-pound weight class are seeded: Cornell's Yianni Diakomilhalis (3rd), Smith (12th), Lehigh's Luke Karam (13th) and Navy's Nicholas Gil (14th).

EIWA Allotments
125: 1     165: 6
133: 3     174: 5
141: 4     184: 7
149: 4     197: 6
157: 6     285: 5
     Total: 47

Bucknell At a Glance
• The Bison finished 2017-18 dual competition with a 3-14 (2-7 EIWA) record. They also won the team title at Dec. 29's Lock Haven Classic and took 13th at Nov. 18's Navy Classic.
• Tyler Smith enters the NCAA Championships with a 27-4 record. His winning percentage of .871 would slot him fifth in the Bucknell annals. Only four Bison have recorded a single-season winning percentage north of .900: Tom Scotton (.966 in 1977-78), Kevin LeValley (.919 in 2010-11), Tom Marchetti (.906 in 1989-90) and Bobby Ferraro (.903 in 1992-93).
• Smith, who went a perfect 16-0 in dual action, leads the Bison with his 27 victories. He also owns team-best totals in wins by major decision (9) and technical fall (4).
• Drew Phipps finished second in overall wins (22), dual wins (11) and EIWA duals wins (7).
• D.J. Hollingshead took second in victories by major decision (6). He stood behind only Smith and Phipps in overall wins (18), dual wins (8) and EIWA dual wins (5).
• Matthew Kolonia (141/149) led Bucknell with five pins; he, Mike Macklin (125), Phipps and Smith were the only Bison who have won by fall, technical fall and major decision in 2017-18.

Bucknell at the 2018 EIWA Championships
• The Bison placed 14th at the 2018 EIWA Championships, held March 3-4 at Hofstra's David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex in Hempstead, N.Y.
• Tyler Smith (141) became Bucknell's seventh EIWA runner-up, joining David Marble (2008, 133), Andy Rendos (2009, 165), current assistant coach Kevin LeValley (2010, 149), Joe Stolfi (2015 & 2016, 285), Paul Petrov (2016, 125) and Tom Sleigh (2017, 197). Smith will graduate as a three-time EIWA placewinner, as he took third as a freshman in 2015 and fourth as a junior in 2017.
• David Campbell (133) and Drew Phipps (184) took eighth at their first EIWA Championships, each going 2-3 over the course of the event. Phipps missed securing the EIWA's final auto bid in his weight class by one spot.
• The Bison have finished as high as third in the team standings. They tied Penn for that spot in 2009 and claimed sole possession of it in 2015 and 2016.
• Bucknell wrestlers have captured an EIWA individual title on three occasions. Rendos won the 165-pound crown in 2010, LeValley earned the 149-pound title in 2011 and Stolfi was the 285-pound champion in 2014.
• Since the wrestling team was reinstated ahead of the 2006-07 campaign, 29 Bison have combined to place on the EIWA podium 58 times.

Bison Ranked
• Tyler Smith (141) checked in at No. 12, 11 and 15 respectively in the Intermat, The Open Mat and FloWrestling rankings released ahead of the NCAA championships.
• Smith and Drew Phipps (184) also appeared in the final NCAA rating percentage index and NCAA Coaches' Panel Rankings. Smith checked in at 10th in the RPI and 12th in the NCAA Coaches' Panel Rankings while Phipps was slotted 29th in both.

Smith Completes Undefeated Dual Season
• Tyler Smith went 16-0 in duals at 141 pounds during the 2017-18 campaign.
• Smith became the first Bison to go undefeated in dual competition (minimum five starts) since Andy Rendos accomplished the feat with a 12-0 record at 165 pounds in 2009-10.
• Smith's undefeated season was the 11th put together by a Bison.
• Between Rendos and Smith's perfect campaigns, three Bison had one-loss dual seasons: Kevin LeValley (17-1 at 149 in 2010-11), Tom Sleigh (15-1 at 197 in 2016-17) and Joe Stolfi (18-1 at 285 in 2014-15, 13-1 at 285 in 2015-16).
• Smith concluded his collegiate dual career on a 26-bout winning streak. Over the course of his winning streak, which began on Jan. 14, 2017, he racked up bonus points in 18 bouts, winning four by fall, four by technical fall and 10 by major decision.

Smith Becomes 10th Bison with 100 Career Victories
• On Feb. 4 at American, Tyler Smith edged Jack Mutchnik by a 4-0 decision to become the 10th Bison to reach the 100-victory plateau.
• Smith is 105-35 in his collegiate career, giving him a winning percentage of .750 that stands ninth in school history. With one win at the NCAA Championships, he'll enter a tie for ninth with Tom Marchetti (1987-91) in career victories; with three, he'll climb into a tie for seventh with Shane Riccio (2006-10) and Victor Lopez (2013-17).

Challenging Schedule
• Four of Bucknell's 2017-18 opponents were ranked at the time of their meeting: No. 1 Penn State, No. 10 Lehigh, No. 20 Lock Haven and No. 25 Edinboro.
• Three of those four teams were ranked in the regular season's final USA Today/NWCA Poll: No. 1 Penn State, No. 8 Lehigh and No. 23 Lock Haven. In addition, Edinboro and American received votes.

Starting Lineups
• Twenty two different Bison started in dual competition in 2017-18, five more than a season ago.
• Bucknell's starters included eight freshmen, six sophomores, five juniors and three seniors.
• Only Tyler Smith (141) and Drew Phipps (184/197) started all but one dual. Nick Stephani (174) missed just two starts over the course of the campaign.
• At least three different starters took the mat at five different weight classes: 125 (3), 149 (3), 157 (3), 197 (4) and 285 (3).