Casto Advances to Day 2 of NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 17

Detroit, Mich.

All Day

The Citadel

NCAA Championships

Photo by: Duane Burleson

Casto Advances to Day 2 of NCAA Championships

3/17/2022 10:57:00 PM | Wrestling

DETROIT – The Citadel's Dazjon Casto pulled off an upset in sudden victory in the opening round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Dazjon Casto
First Round
No. 22 Dazjon Casto (CIT) DEC No. 11 Austin O'Connor (UNC), 8-2 SV-1
Second Round
No. 6 Jared Franek (SDSU) DEC No. 22 Dazjon Casto (CIT), 3-2

Michael McAleavey
First Round
No. 5 Wyatt Hendrickson (AF) FALL No. 28 Michael McAleavey (CIT), 2:14
Consolation
No. 21 Tyrie Houghton (NCST) DEC Michael McAleavey (CIT), 9-4

How It Happened

Casto and his opponent, No. 11 Austin O'Connor, felt each other out in the first period with neither competitor able to score.
Casto was on the bottom to start the second period, and O'Connor was able to ride out the period.
Casto went down 1-0 early in the third period on an escape, before securing a takedown and riding out the rest of the third period. O'Connor was awarded the point for riding time and we headed to sudden victory.
Early during the extra session, Casto shot on a double leg and was able to secure the takedown and four near fall points for the 8-2 victory.
O'Connor was the defending national champion at 149 pounds.
Michael McAleavey opened his NCAA Tournament against No. 5 Wyatt Hendrickson, suffering a first-period fall.
Casto battled his way in the second-round match as he faced No. 6 Jared Franek of North Dakota State.
A takedown from Franek proved to be the difference in a 3-2 victory.
McAleavey got his match going with a takedown, but he was not able to sustain in falling 9-4 to Tyrie Houghton (NCST) in the consolation bracket.