Air Force's Cody Phippen upsets Michigan's Dylan Ragusin in first round of 2023 NCAA Wrestling Tournament

On3 imageby:Nick Kosko03/16/23

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No. 22 Cody Phippen (Air Force) scored a big upset over No. 11 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Tournament. He got the pin in 2:02 through the first period.

The Air Force bench initially challenged what appeared to be a lack of a reversal call but eventually Phippen readjusted and got the fall. After a lengthy review, the Michigan bench threw the challenge brick.

The Wolverines’ challenge did not go anywhere and Phippen sprinted off the mat a winner to advance to the Round of 16.

Phippen will take on No. 6 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) in the second round.

More on the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships

The 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships were held March 16-18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa (Okla). The tournament consists of 330 wrestlers in total across 10 weight classes. Each weight class features wrestlers seeded No. 1 through No. 33.

Over the course of the three-day tournament, wrestlers can achieve national champion status by going 5-0 in their bracket, through Saturday night’s finals. The top eight placewinners in each bracket are considered All-Americans.

Losing one match does not eliminate a wrestler from competition. The consolation bracket is designed to determine the remaining spots on the podium (third through eighth place).

Since there are 33 wrestlers in each weight, the competitors seeded No. 32 and 33 compete in a “pigtail bout” prior to the first round to determine who matches up against the No. 1 seed in Round 1.

Losing the pigtail drops the wrestler to the consolation bracket where there is still opportunity to finish as high as third place in the weight class.

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The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Tournament is set to take place in Kansas City (Mo.)