INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship brackets were revealed Wednesday, March 9, for North Dakota State University 125-pound Josh Rodriguez, 149-pound Clay Ream and 184-pound Hayden Zillmer.
The NCAA tournament is scheduled for Thursday, March 17 through Saturday, March 19, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Rodriguez, a redshirt junior from Guadalupe, Calif. (Righetti H.S.), is making his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships. He placed third at 125 pounds at the recent Big 12 Championships to earn an automatic qualifying berth.
Seeded No. 14 this year, Rodriguez (34-8) is scheduled to face North Carolina State’s Sean Fausz (16-9) in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
After dropping his first match, Rodriguez went 2-2 at the 2015 NCAA Division I Championships in St. Louis including wins over Dom Forys of Pitt and 13th-ranked Ben Willeford of Cleveland State.
2016 NCAA DI National Championships Brackets
Ream, a redshirt sophomore from Wentzville, Mo. (Holt H.S.) is making his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships. He placed third at 149 pounds at the recent Big 12 Championships to earn an automatic qualifying spot.
Ream (21-16) is scheduled to open with No. 9-seed Justin Oliver (28-5) of Central Michigan at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
After losing his first match, Ream went 2-2 at the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships including wins over Oklahoma State’s Joshua Kindig of Oklahoma State and Ohio State’s Hunter Stieber
Zillmer, a redshirt senior from Crosby, Minn. (Crosby-Ironton H.S.) is making his third straight trip to the NCAA Championships. He was runner-up at 184 pounds at the recent Big 12 Championships to earn an automatic qualifying slot.
Receiving a No.12–seed, Zillmer (30-4) is scheduled to square off with Iowa State’s Dane Pestano (24-13) for the third time this season. Zillmer has won both meetings including the Big 12 Championships semifinals on March 5.
Zillmer earned NCAA All-American honors at 184 pounds after placing sixth at the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. Following a first round upset, he reeled off five straight wins in the wrestle backs to earn his first career All-America finish. Zillmer entered as the tournament’s sixth seed and compiled a 5-3 record. He is 5-5 in two previous trips to the NCAA tournament.
North Dakota State with 19.5 points was No. 23 in the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships team standings. It was the second straight year the Bison were in the top 25.