PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Former Belgrade High School four-time state wrestling champion Jarrett Degen earned a No. 8 seed in the upcoming NCAA wrestling championships, which begin March 21 at PPG Paints Arena. Degen will compete in the 149-pound weight class.
The former Belgrade standout, who now wrestles at Iowa State, guaranteed his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships after finishing runner-up in the Big 12 Conference Championships. He was among the 286 automatic qualifiers for the tournament, which unveiled its seeding and brackets on Wednesday, while an additional 44 at-large berths were introduced during the annual selection show.
Degen (25-6) opens the tournament against Cal State Bakersfield’s Russell Rohlfing (16-11) on Thursday morning, with the winner advancing in the championship bracket. Four consecutive wins would land Degen, a redshirt sophomore, a national championship.
Last March, Degen was the Cyclones’ lone competitor in the NCAA Championships, advancing to the Round of 12, before falling in the blood round. The Virginia Tech transfer is one of nine Iowa State wrestlers that will compete at PPG Paints Arena.
Degen won four matches against top-15 opponents during the season, according to www.WrestleStat.com, and split with Rohlfing during the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1. Degen pinned Rohlfing at the 4:57 mark of their fifth-place match in the tournament.
The NCAA Championships will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. The brackets can be viewed by clicking here.
For more information about the tournaments, the qualifiers or how to watch, please click here.
