ROANOKE, Va. - Millikin junior Zac Blasioli (East Alton, Illinois, East Alton Wood River H.S.) finished in fifth place at the 2023 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships held at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia being held on March 10-11.
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In a tournament filled with close matches, Blasioli won the Fifth Place match by major decision 9-0 over Mason Barrett of Averett. Blasioli went 5-2 in the tournament and finishes the season at 28-5.
In his first Consolation Round match on Saturday, Blasioli defeated Brady Knootz of the University of Dubuque 3-2. Blasioli scored the winning takedown with 10 seconds remaining in the match. It was another close match in the Consolation Semifinal Blasioli losing to Jake Craig of the University of Southern Maine 2-1. The deciding point of the match was advantage time for Craig.
On Friday, Blasioli opened the tournament posting two victories. In the prelim round he defeated Luc Valdez of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 5-2 and then won over Joey Lamparelli of Muhlenberg in Round 1 by major decision 10-2.
In the Quarterfinals, Blasioli lost to Christian Guzman of North Central College 3-2. Facing elimination and trailing in the third period, Blasioli rallied to advance to the All-American round with a pin over James Day of Wabash at the 6:22 mark in the match.
