TULSA, Okla. – The University of Pennsylvania wrestling team opened at the 2023 NCAA Championships in Tulsa at BOK Center. Penn led the field of participating EIWA and Ivy League teams with most qualifiers in the conferences. Four wrestlers advanced their ways to the Friday morning session and will need to win to stay alive.

The highlight of the opening session on Thursday was a first period pin of Missouri's Connor Brown by Michael Colaiocco. At the time, the fall was the fastest fall of the championships but ended the session as the third fastest fall.

Penn had a few close matches as Carmen Ferrante battled late in the third period to cut his defict to 6-4 but his opponent from Missouri had built up more than four minutes of riding time to secure the 7-4 decision.

Zapf led his opening bout 2-1 after the first period. In the second period, his opponent from Michigan added three points on an escape and a takedown to take a 4-2 lead into the final period. Zapf was ablet to get an escape point in the final period but it wasn't enough as he lost by a 4-3 decision to Chance Lamer.

Anthony Artalona trailed 2-1 after the first period and a was down 5-2 entering the third period. In the final period, Artalona got a pair of points off of escapes but could not get the tying point to force extra time.

Like Ferrante, Nick Incontrera saw chipped his way back as he outscored his opponent in the final period, 3-1 before losing by a 5-3 decision.

Cole Urbas had a tough task ahead of him as he saw his season end in the first session on Thursday. Urbas was in the pigtail round and lost by a 4-1 decision to UNC's Max Shaw.

After a scoreless opening period, Ben Goldin saw the bout quickly turn in favor of his opponent as entered the third period down 4-1. Goldin got an escape in the final period, but it was not enough as he fell 4-2.

In the second session of the day four Quakers advanced to the Friday morning session while four others saw their season come to an end.

Urbas opened the session with a major decision loss to Northwestern's Andrew Davison.

Colaiocco looked to advance in the championship bracket but fell into the elimination bracket as he lost by a 6-3 decision to Illinois' Lucas Byrd.

Miller took a 2-1 lead into the second period and his opponent from Oklahoma State tied the bout at 2-2 with a second period escape. With the scored tied at 2-2, the Cowboy was escorted off the mat for concussion protocol and was deemed unable to return. This gave Miller the win by injury default and he will wrestle on Friday morning for a chance to wrestle for an All-American spot.

Carmen Ferrante trailed 3-0 after the second period and with a late takedown he cut his Iowa State opponents lead to just three, 6-3. With riding time already secured, Ferrante was unable to add any more points to the scoreboard but did get the point for riding time but that was not enough as he lost 7-3.

Zapf took a 4-0 lead into the third period and won by a 5-1 decision to advance to Friday mornings consolation round in the 149 bracket.

Artalona saw his one-point lead evaporate and the bout went to sudden victory. Artalona's bout ended early in the extra period as his opponent earned the takedown for the 3-1 sudden victory.   

Incontrera took on a familiar foe from Harvard and looked to replicate a dual win over the Philip Conigliaro. Six of the 10 total points in the bout came in the second period. Incontrera and Conigliaro both used an escape and a takedown to end the second period in a 3-3 tie. Incontrera led with an early escape and using riding time and an escape to win by a 6-4 decision.

Goldin closed out the night with a 5-2 decision over Virginia Tech' Hunter Catka.

125
#18 Ryan Miller (19-11) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - #15 Brett Ungar, Cornell dec. Ryan Miller, Penn, 6-1
Cons. Round 1 - Ryan Miller, Penn, won by injury default over #31 Reece Witcraft, Oklahoma State, INJ 4:26
 
133
#7 Michael Colaiocco (24-5) place is unknown and scored 3.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Michael Colaiocco, Penn over Connor Brown, Missouri, F, 0:38
Champ. Round 2 - Lucas Byrd, Illinois, dec. Michael Colaiocco, Penn, 6-3
 
141
Carmen Ferrante (20-12) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Allan Hart, Missouri dec. Carmen Ferrante, Penn, 7-4
Cons. Round 1 - Casey Swiderski, Iowa State dec. Carmen Ferrante, Penn, 7-3
 
149
Doug Zapf (22-8) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Chance Lamer, Michigan dec. Doug Zapf, Penn, 4-3
Cons. Round 1 - Doug Zapf, Penn dec. Jarod Verkleeren, UVA, 5-1

157
Anthony Artalona (26-7) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Jarrett Jacques, Missouri dec. Anthony Artalona, Penn, 5-4
Cons. Round 1 - Vinny Zerban, Northern Colorado dec. Anthony Artalona, Penn, SV-1 3-1

174
Nick Incontrera (21-10) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Bailee O`Reilly, Minnesota dec. Nick Incontrera, Penn, 5-3
Cons. Round 1 - Philip Conigliaro, Harvard dec. Nick Incontrera, Penn, 6-4

197
Cole Urbas (17-14) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Prelim - Max Shaw, North Carolina dec. Cole Urbas, Penn, 4-1
Prelim - Andrew Davison, Northwestern major dec. Cole Urbas, Penn, MD 9-1
 
285
Ben Goldin (21-14) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Yaraslau Slavikouski, Harvard dec. Ben Goldin, Penn, 4-2
Cons. Round 1 - Ben Goldin, Penn dec. Hunter Catka, Virginia Tech, Dec 5-2
 
UP NEXT
Ryan Miller, Michael Colaiocco, Doug Zapf, and Ben Goldin will all wrestle in the first session on Friday with a chance to win their way to All-American status.