Roanoke, Va. (March 10, 2023) - Matthew Lackman secured his second All-American honor to lead Alvernia in the first day of competition of the 2023 NCAA Division III National Championship on Friday in Roanoke, Virginia.

Lackman secured All-American honors with a quarterfinal win on Friday night, and will be the final wrestler representing Alvernia tomorrow as Lackman goes for a national title.

Lackman was one of six wrestlers to compete on Friday. Along with Lackman, Chance Babb and Jason Rezac made it to the Friday night session, but both were eliminated with their second loss of the tournament.

Avery Leonard, Isaac Kassis, and Mauro Pellot-Vazquez were eliminated in the first session of competition today.

A full recap of each Alvernia wrestler is below.

Lackman's journey for a national title will continue tomorrow morning in the semifinals. Lackman, the number two seed, will take on third-seeded Noah Leisgang of University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Semifinals get underway at 10:00 AM. The winner of the Lackman/Leisgang match will face the winner of Nathan Lackman (Rhode Island College) vs. Nicholas Sacco (TCNJ). Nathan Lackman is the older brother of Matthew and is a 2022 national champion at 157 pounds.

Matthew Lackman - 165 lbs

Lackman started his day facing Jordan Hardrick of Ohio Northern University in the first round of the championship bracket. After a scoreless first period, Lackman chose to start bottom to open the second period. The decision proved beneficial as Lackman scored the only point of the bout on an escape. Lackman picked up one point on riding time to take a 2-0 win.

Lackman moved on to face seventh-seeded Cooper Willis of Augsburg University in the quarterfinals. Lackman scored two points on a takedown 1:15 into the first period. The rest of the period went scoreless, but Lackman picked up another two points on a reversal just over a minute into the second period. Lackman then secured the 5-0 win over Willis with a point for riding time.

With the win, Lackman is now a two-time All-American after taking fifth place last year in the National Championship. Lackman moves on to the semifinals tomorrow morning and will take on third-seed Noah Leisgang of University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. 

Jason Rezac - 157 lbs

Rezac opened his first NCAA National Championship appearance with a 12-8 decision over Alex Villar of North Central in a pigtail match to wrestle into the championship round. With the win, Rezac then moved on to face Ryan Whitten of Otterbein University. 

After a scoreless first period, Rezac chose bottom to open the second period and grabbed a point on an escape. Whitten then took two back on a reversal to go up 2-1 on Rezac with 1:47 to wrestle. 

Rezac quickly retook the lead, scoring a reversal of his own to go up 3-2 on Whitten. Rezac then put his foot on the gas and scored four points on a near fall to take a 6-2 lead. He then picked up one more point on riding time to take the 8-2 win and move onto the championship quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Rezac took on Zeke Smith, the three-seed out of Loras College. Smith led Rezac 4-1 after the first period, but Rezac trailed by just one, 6-5, heading into the third period after scoring a reversal and two near-fall points in the second. Smith got two back on a reversal of his own, but Rezac got back within one with his own reversal with 14 seconds to go. It would be too little too late, though, as Smith picked up one more point on riding time for the 9-7 win over Rezac. 

In his first round of consolation competition, Rezac took on Jake Deguire of Springfield College. Rezac was leading 3-2 just over two minutes into the bout. Rezac appeared to be getting into great position to secure a pin, but Deguire quickly threw Rezac into a reversal and pinned him in just seconds to end Rezac's run in the Championship.

Avery Leonard - 141 lbs
Avery Leonard started his day with a pigtail match against Ethan Harstead of Wheaton College. Leonard trailed 5-0 after the second period with Harstead scoring points on an escape, takedown, and two near-fall points. Leonard got one point back on a penalty to open the third period, and grabbed a second on an escape to get within three, 5-2. But, Harstead scored another takedown and earned a riding time point for the 8-2 win over Leonard.

In a must win match for Leonard, he took on Eric Kinkaid of Loras College. After a scoreless first period, Kinkaid scored six points in the second period to go up 6-0 on Leonard. Leonard could not pick up a point in the final period as Kinkaid grabbed four more to eliminate Leonard with a 10-0 win.

Chance Babb - 149 lbs
Chance Babb started his day with a matchup against fifth-seeded Kristian Rumph of Wartburg University. After a back-and-forth first period, Rumph led Babb 5-4 going into the second period. Babb scored the lone point of the period on an escape to open the frame and tie it up at 5-5. Rumph then scored three points on an escape and takedown to open the third period and take an 8-5 lead. Babb got one back on an escape, and would earn another on riding time, but would come up one short to Rumph, 8-7.

Babb moved into the consolation bracket and drew Clayton McDonough of Luther College. McDonough put up six points on Babb in the first period and never looked back, taking an 11-3 win to eliminate Babb from the tournament. 

Isaac Kassis - 184 lbs
Isaac Kassis started his second NCAA tournament with a match against Penn Tech's Isaac Cory. Kassis scored the first point of the match on an escape to open the second period. Cory then tied it up at 1-1 on an escape of his own to open the third period. Neither Kassis or Cory scored in the rest of regulation to send the bout to overtime. Cory grabbed two points on a takedown 1:10 into overtime to take the 3-1 sudden victory over Kassis. 

Kassis then moved into the consolation bracket to take on Coast Guard's David McCullough, the third seed who was upset in his first bout. Kassis scored the opening points of the bout on a takedown in the first period. McCullough got one back on a reversal in the second period, but Kassis escaped out of it to grab another point and take a 3-2 lead. But, McCullough closed out the second frame with a takedown to take the lead at 4-3. Kassis evened it up at 4-4 with an escape to open the third period, but another takedown from McCullough gave him back the lead, 6-4. Kassis got within one on a late escape, but it would not be enough as McCullough eliminated Kassis with the 6-5 win.

Mauro Pellot-Vazquez - 197 lbs
Pellot started his second tournament appearance with a pigtail match against Otterbein's Jarrod Setliff. The match was a rematch of a consolation match in last year's NCAA tournament that saw Pellot eliminate Setliff. In this year's matchup, Setliff got off to a hot start with two takedowns in the first period to take a 4-2 lead on Pellot. Setliff then went up 6-2 on Pellot in the second period, and added three more in the third for the 9-2 final.

Pellot then took on Parker Venz of Augsburg College. Venz made quick work of Pellot, scoring an early takedown to go up 2-0. Venz then rattled off four, 4-point nearfalls to take an 18-0 technical fall over Pellot in just over two minutes.


141 lbs - Avery Leonard

Prelim - Ethan Harsted (Wheaton College (Illinois)) won by decision, 8-2, over Avery Leonard 
Prelim - Eric Kinkaid (Loras College) won by major decision, 10-0, over Avery Leonard 

149 lbs - Chance Babb

Champ. Round 1 - Kristian Rumph (Wartburg College) won by decision, 8-7, over Chance Babb 
Cons. Round 1 - Clayton McDonough (Luther College) won by major decision, 11-3, over Chance Babb

157 lbs - Jason Rezac

Prelim - Jason Rezac won by decision, 12-8, over Alex Villar (North Central College) 
Champ. Round 1 - Jason Rezac won by decision, 8-2, over Ryan Whitten (Otterbein University) 
Quarterfinal - Zeke Smith (Loras College) won by decision, 9-7, over Jason Rezac 
Cons. Round 2- Jake Deguire (Springfield College) won by fall over Jason Rezac, 2:12

165 lbs - Matthew Lackman

Champ. Round 1 - Matt Lackman won by decision, 2-0, over Jordan Hardrick (Ohio Northern University)
Quarterfinal - Matt Lackman won by decision, 5-0, over Cooper Willis (Augsburg University) 

184 - Isaac Kassis

Prelim - Isaac Cory (Penn. Tech.) in sudden victory decision, 3-1, over Isaac Kassis 
Prelim - David McCullough (U.S. Coast Guard Academy) won by decision, 6-5, over Isaac Kassis

197 - Mauro Pellot-Vazquez

Prelim - Jarrod Setliff (Otterbein University) won by decision, 9-2, over Mauro Pellot 
Prelim - Parker Venz (Augsburg University) won by tech fall, 18-0, over Mauro Pellot