College wrestling: Avon native falls but still has a chance to finish on the podium at national championships

CLEVELAND — North Carolina's Bryce Hepner saw his dream of winning a national championship in his hometown dashed but a pair of Ohio State Buckeyes secured the title of All-American and are headed to the semifinals after the NCAA Division I national championship quarterfinals Friday at Rocket Arena. Hepner, an Avon native and No. 9 seed at 165 pounds, lost to top-seeded defending national champion Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State by a 6-0 decision in his quarterfinal match. Hepner, a St. Edward grad, was able to battle through a scoreless but eventful first period. Early in the period, he was able to get single-leg control of Mesenbrink near the edge of the mat, but was unable to finish the takedown and score. With 27 seconds left in the opening period, Hepner appeared to hit the back of his head on the mat and remained down on the mat for nearly five minutes before wrestling resumed. After Hepner chose the bottom position to start the second period, Mesenbrink (25-0 this season and 80-1 in his career) was able to secure a four-point near fall to take control of the match. Although Penn State led with 39.5 points in the team standings, it was a victory of sorts for Hepner to deny Mesenbrink, who has had 17 matches end by either pin fall or technical fall this season, any bonus points. Hepner could've still earned a spot on the podium, and All-American status, with a win Friday night in the "Blood round" against Northern Iowa's Ryder Downey. The Buckeyes went 2-2 in the quarterfinal with redshirt freshman Ben Davino (133) and 141-pound defending national champion Jesse Mendez winning their matches to move to the semifinals. No. 2 seed Davino had three takedowns and four near falls in a dominating 14-5 win over No. 7 seed Lucas Byrd, who was a national champion a year ago at 133. When asked how it felt to secure to secure All-American status, Davino let it be known he wasn't satisfied. "it's awesome, it's super cool," Davino said. "But I didn't come here to be an All-American. I came here to be national champion." Devino, who has a 44-2 career record, is a native of South Elgin, Illinois, but he's enjoying wrestling in his first NCAA Tournament in the Buckeye State. "The environment here has been great and I'm super grateful to have my first NCAA Tournament be so close to home," said Davino, who has outscored his opponents 52-12 in his first three matches. Mendez, a two-time defending national champion, has an even easier road to the semifinals after defeating No. 8 seed Vance VomBaur of Minnesota by a 16-4 major decision in the quarterfinals after winning matches Thursday by a first-period pin fall and second-period technical fall. "It feels good," Mendez said. "VomBaur is super tough, that guy just doesn't stop fighting. But I want to dominate and I want to do it through the whole tournament." It was the fourth time Mendez has defeated VomBaur over the past two seasons and the second consecutive year they met in the quarterfinals with Mendez winning both my major decisions. In a 157-pound quarterfinal, Ohio State's Brandon Cannon, the No. 8 seed, lost to top-seed freshman P.J. Duke from Penn State. Duke, who was a six-time varsity letterwinner in his home state of New York, had recorded 16 takedowns in his first three NCAA matches. Buckeyes 174-pounder Carson Kharchla had a heartbreaking 2-1 tiebreaker loss to Iowa's Patrick Kennedy. Kennedy, the fifth seed, managed an escape five seconds into the first tiebreaker after the wrestlers battled through a two-minute sudden victory overtime session. Kharchla, the No. 4 seed, split two matches with Kennedy in the regular season. Kharchla and Kennedy will both look to earn All-American status in Friday night's "Blood round." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.