Stoll, Knutson Receive At-Large Bids to NCAA Championships; Seeds and Brackets Announced

INDIANAPOLIS - North Dakota State senior 184-pounder Mac Stoll and sophomore heavyweight Evan Knutson were among the at-large bids for the 2013 NCAA Wrestling Championships announced Wednesday evening by the NCAA. Stoll and Knutson will join senior Trent Sprenkle (125 pounds) and junior Steven Monk (165 pounds) to give NDSU four qualifiers for the national meet.

Stoll (Dent, Minn.) received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships in the 184-pound bracket for the second straight season and will be making his second NCAA appearance. He owns a record of 18-9 on the season.

Knutson (Wausau, Wis.) will be competing at the NCAA Championships for the first time after posting a 16-13 record this season. Stoll and Knutson each finished as runners-up at the NCAA West Regional on Mar. 9.

In addition to the announcement of the at-large selections, the NCAA also released the brackets and seeding for all 10 weight classes.

Sprenkle (28-4) will be the No. 9 seed in the 125-pound bracket and open against unseeded Tyler Iwamura (23-8) of CSU Bakersfield. Monk (33-2) was awarded the No. 5 seed in the 165-pound bracket and will wrestle unseeded Josh Condon (20-6) of Chattanooga in the opening round. Both Sprenkle and Monk came up one win shy of All-America honors at the 2012 NCAA Championships.

Stoll will open against No. 8-seeded Josh Ihnen of Nebraska (24-6), and Knutson will take on unseeded Odie Delaney of The Citadel (37-7).

First round matches are scheduled for the morning of Thursday, Mar. 21, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Second round matches will be held that evening, and quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Friday, Mar. 22. Finals will be broadcast live on ESPN on Saturday night, Mar. 23.