Rizqallah Advances at NCAA Championships

March 19, 2015

ST. LOUIS - Fifth-year senior John Rizqallah defeated Cal Poly's Nick Fiegener, 8-3, in the first consolation round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday night at the Scottrade Center.

Rizqallah advances in the 184-pound wrestleback bracket to face fourth-seeded Jack Dechow of Old Dominion (30-2) in the consolation second round on Friday.

Rizqallah, who is making his third consecutive appearance at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, dropped a hard-fought match to third-seeded Blake Stauffer of Arizona State, 4-1, in Thursday's first round. For a recap of the first round, click here.

In the evening match against Fiegener, Rizqallah (18-13) was aggressive right from the start and led the entire way. He recorded a takedown within the first minute, and racked up more than two minutes of riding time in the first period alone.

Rizqallah escaped at the 1:30 mark in the second to go up 3-0, and delivered his second takedown with 34 seconds left in the period near the edge of the mat, getting the two points just before Fiegener made it out of the circle.

In the third, Rizqallah went up 7-0 with his third takedown of the match midway through the period. Although Fiegener (24-17) got on the board with a late reversal and a stalling point from Rizqallah, it wasn't enough, as Rizqallah managed to keep his two minutes of riding time to notch the 8-3 victory.

Friday's third session begins at 11 a.m. ET. Live coverage of every match is available at WatchESPN.com and TrackWrestling.com.