Munoz Clinches Spot in NCAA Quarterfinals - Oregon State University Athletics

Thursday, March 21

Kansas City, Mo.

Oregon State

NCAA Championships

Photo by: MatFocus

March 21, 2024 | Wrestling

By: Athletic Communications

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second consecutive season, Trey Munoz – seeded fourth at 184 – has punched his ticket to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships. The Mission Viejo, Calif., product had a 2-0 day to start his stint in Kansas City as the Oregon State wrestling opened the competition.

Munoz used wins via technical fall and decision to book his spot in the final eight of the 184-lb. class. In the opening round, he soundly defeated Gardner-Webb's Jha'Quan Anderson by a 20-5 margin, having built a 13-3 lead after the first two periods – and cemented it with one last takedown to clinch it with 35 seconds left. Locking up the riding time in the third period of match two, he used an early 4-0 lead to put away Columbia's Aaron Ayzeroff.

His opponent will be Nebraska's Lenny Pinto with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

Moving from the consolation bracket, Cleveland Belton (141) brushed off a close bout in his opener with a major decision win over Illinois' Danny Pucino with a 20-8 major decision win. Belton worked hard in the first period, building a 8-2 lead with over a minute's worth of riding time.

Making his NCAAs debut, Justin Rademacher will make it a longer competition thanks to a late takedown and clinching the riding time in his win-or-go home bout against Campbell's Levi Hopkins, which he won by decision at 9-5. Tied at 5 with 30 seconds, he secured the necessary takedown to grab the win and eliminate Hopkins.

Brandon Kaylor (125) closed his decorated career following a pair of defeats at decision, both by two-point scores while Boone McDermott (HWT) closed his sole season with the Beavers with defeats by a narrow, onedecision and fall.

As a team, Oregon State sits in 29th place with 5.5 points.

The Beavers will continue action in Kansas City with day two's action set for tomorrow at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT, for sessions three and four, respectively. It can be seen on ESPN+, ESPNU and ESPN.

Brandon Kaylor (125)

Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) DEC Kaylor 5-3
Jore Volk (Wyoming) DEC Kaylor 2-0

Cleveland Belton (141)

Sergio Lemley (Michigan) DEC Belton 10-8
Belton MD Danny Pucino (Illinois) 20-8

Trey Munoz (184)

Munoz TF Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 20-5; 6:29
Munoz DEC Aaron Ayzeroff (Columbia) 5-2

Justin Rademacher (197)

Michael Beard (Lehigh) TF Rademacher 26-10; 4:03
Rademacher DEC Levi Hopkins (Campbell) 9-5

Boone McDermott (HWT)

Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) DEC McDermott 6-5
Seth Nevills (Maryland) FALL McDermott 3-0

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