PITTSBURGH – A pair of freshmen Penn wrestlers saw their first NCAA Championships come to an end on Friday, with No. 13 seed Anthony Artalona coming up one win shy of All-American honors.
 
Classmate Carmen Ferrante was knocked off in his first match of the day by eventual All-American Rayvon Foley of Michigan State to end his national tournament.
 
Artalona became the first Penn freshman to reach the Round of 12 at NCAAs since Matt Dragon did so at 149 pounds in 2006. Two-time national champion Matt Valenti also was Round of 12 as a freshman in 2003.
 
Artalona finishes his freshman season 28-7 overall, while Ferrante put together a 25-10 season. Artalona was the first Penn freshman to win an EIWA championship since 2006, and his 28 wins are the most by a Penn freshman since 2006.
 
Artalona was one point short in his Round of 12 bout against No. 8 Jarrett Degan, 6-5. The Iowa State wrestler scored two first period takedowns, the first coming 0:15 in, and led, 4-2 after a period. In the second, Artalona scored a takedown, but Degan worked two escapes and the match was still a two-point bout after two periods. In the third, Artalona escaped quickly to close within one and drew a stall call on Degan but was unable to break through the arm defense of Degan and find a winning score.
 
Artalona opened his second day with a 7-2 win over No. 19 Cole Martin of Wisconsin. It looked as if Artalona would trail, 2-0, after the first period following a late takedown awarded to Martin. The Penn coaches threw the challenge brick, though, and after review the takedown was waved off to send the match to the second period scoreless. Martin was down for the middle frame, and managed just an escape for a 1-0 lead after two. In the third Artalona escaped very quickly to tie the match, then he followed up by pancaking Martin to his back for six points with under 1:00 to go. That big move was enough to lock up the win for the true freshman.
 
In the consolation third round, Artalona needed overtime to knock off No. 28 Michael Sprague, 3-1. The win was the eight overtime win of the season for Artalona, and he connected quickly for the winning takedown just 0:09 into the extra frame.
 
No. 23 seed Carmen Ferrante was knocked out of his first NCAA Championships after an 8-4 loss to No. 9 seed Rayvon Foley of Michigan State. Ferrante scored first, finishing a single leg 1:07 into the match. Foley would reverse off a restart to tie the match before an escape by Ferrante gave him a 3-2 lead after three minutes. In the second period, Foley escaped then tacked on two takedowns for a 7-4 lead. In the third, Foley rode out for riding time and the win.
 
125 – No. 23 Carmen Ferrante
First Round: lost to No. 10 Brent Fleetwood (NDSU), 2-0
Consolation First Round: def. No. 26 Alonzo Allen (Chattanooga), 7-5 (SV)
Consolation Second Round: lost to No. 9 Rayvon Foley (Michigan State), 8-4
 
149 – No. 13 Anthony Artalona
First Round: lost to No. 20 Tommy Thorn (Minnesota), 5-4
Consolation First Round: def. No. 29 Matthew Zovistoski (App. State), 16-1 (4:17)
Consolation Second Round: def. No. 19 Cole Martin (Wisconsin), 7-2
Consolation Third Round: def. No. 28 Michael Sprague (American), 3-2 (SV)
Round of 12: lost to No. 8 Jarret Degen (Iowa State), 6-5
 
Day I Recap
Day One of the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships may not have started the way the University of Pennsylvania wrestling team wanted, but it ended with a bang as Penn's two true freshmen qualifiers picked up wins to move on to Day Two.
 
No. 13 seed Anthony Artalona dominated in his consolation first round match, picking apart No. 29 seed Matthew Zovistoski (Appalachian State) in a 16-1 technical fall. A beautiful arm spin takedown in the first period led two a pair of four-point nearfalls for Artalona in the first period, and he would then score a second takedown late in the first period for a 12-1 lead. In the second, a takedown and then two more backpoints off a cross-wrist sealed the win and moved Artalona on to Day Two.
 
Classmate Carmen Ferrante had just finished off a gutty comeback in his wrestleback match moments before Artalona's win. Seeded No. 23 at 125, Ferrante defeated No. 26 Alonzo Allen of Chattanooga, 7-5, in overtime. The start wasn't the best for Ferrante as he was down, 2-0, quickly and then 4-2 by the end of the first period. In the second, Ferrante needed almost all of the period to escape, but did so just before the buzzer to hit the third down by just a point. In the third, Allen chose down but Ferrante made him pay with two nearfall at the midway mark. The backpoints gave Ferrante a 5-4 lead, but Allen's 1:09 of riding time forced overtime. In the extra period, Ferrante scored the winning takedown 0:37 in to secure his first win at the national tournament.
 
Those two wins helped negate a tough first session for Penn's NCAA Tournament rookies.
 
True freshman No. 13 Anthony Artalona suffered a heartbreaking loss in his first round match at 149 pounds. Matched up against Minnesota's Tommy Thorn, Artalona scored a takedown in the final 0:15 of the match to take a 4-3 lead, but a roll and reversal from Thorn in the final five seconds resulted in a 5-4 win for the returning All-American.
 
125-pounder Carmen Ferrante was edged in his first NCAA Championships bout, 2-0, by No. 10 seed Brent Fleetwood of North Dakota State. After a scoreless first period, Fleetwood escaped 0:45 into the middle frame for a 1-0 lead. In the third, Fleetwood was able to ride the entire period for riding time and the win.