Czarnecki, Innis Set for NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 14, 2012 | Men's Wrestling
March 14, 2012
Watch (ESPN3) | NCAA Brackets
NCAA Wrestling Profiles: K. Czarnecki | K. Innis
BOSTON - Making their first-ever appearance at the NCAA Championships, Boston University wrestling junior Kyle Czarnecki and sophomore Kevin Innis will face the nation's best beginning on Thursday (March 15) at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Fans unable to attend will be able to follow all of the action online, as ESPN3.com will provide four-screen, four-mat viewing throughout the tournament. On Friday, two of the four quarterfinals, as well as the semifinals, will be televised on ESPNU in a revised side-by-side format, allowing viewers to catch the action in two matches at the same time. ESPNU will also televise Saturday's Session V medal round, while the championship finals can be seen on ESPN.
Both Czarnecki and Innis will try to build off last season's successful NCAA run in which three men (Fred Santaite, Hunter Meys and John Hall) combined for five wins to give BU its best showing in 14 years.
Starting the season in the 165-pound weight class, Czarnecki moved to 174 in January and reached the title match at the CAA Championships. He fell to Old Dominion's Te Edwards but quickly rebounded by dispatching Binghamton's Caleb Wallace to finish second and punch his first NCAA ticket.
With a 23-11 overall record this season, he will face off Thursday morning against Missouri's Dorian Henderson with a 19-11 record. The winner will face off against either Penn State's No. 1 seed Edward Ruth (26-0) or Rider's Jim Resnick (18-4) later Thursday night. Czarnecki has two wins this season against Resnick.
Innis had a standout season after posting a 16-15 record his freshman year at 285. He went 21-5 with key wins over fellow NCAA participants, Northwestern's Michael McMullan and Columbia's Kevin Lester. At the CAAs, he lost to Binghamton's Nick Gwiazowski but came back to defeat ODU's Matt Tourdot and Hofstra's Paul Snyder to clinch his first NCAA berth.
He will open Thursday's competition against Pittsburgh's Patrick Tasser (13-8), who won the consolation bracket as well in the Eastern Wrestling League tournament. The winner will face off against Oregon State's No. 3 Clayton Jack (35-1) or Michigan's Benjamin Apland (21-9).
2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
| Date | Time (ET) | Championship Round | Network |
| Thu., March 15 | Noon | First Round (Session I) | ESPN3 |
| 7:30 p.m. | Second Round (Session II) | ESPN3 | |
| Fri., March 16 | 11 a.m. | Quarterfinals (Session III) | ESPNU/ESPN3 |
| 7 p.m. | Semifinals (Session IV) | ESPNU/ESPN3 | |
| Sat., March 17 | 11 a.m. | Medal Round (Session V) | ESPNU/ESPN3 |
| 7:30 p.m. | Final (Session VI) | ESPN/ESPN3 |
