ROANOKE, Va. - A trio of Washington and Lee Generals will compete on the national stage at the 2023 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11 at the Berglund Center in Roanoke. 

Seniors Cameron Blizard and Ryan Luth and sophomore Harrison Kelly all finished in the top-3 of the Southeast Regional two weekends ago and qualified for the national championships. 

ODAC member Ferrum College, in tandem with Virginia Blue Ridge Sports will host the 2023 championship tournament in W&L's backyard. The 2023 championship brackets can be found HERE. The Track Wrestling real-time statistics will go live after weight and skin checks are finalized on Friday HERE and video for the weekends events can be found on the NCAA HOME SITE.

Tournament Schedule

Friday, March 10, Session I
9:00 am: Doors open for spectators
11:00 am: Preliminary rounds one & two (6 mats), Consolation first round (6 mats)
3:00 pm: Berglund Center closes at conclusion of last match (time approximate)

Friday, March 10, Session II
4:30 pm: Doors open for spectators
4:45 pm: Special Olympics Ceremony
6:00 pm: Championship quarterfinals (3 mats), Consolation second & third rounds (3 mats)
10:00 pm: Session II ends (time approximate)

Saturday, March 11: Session III
9:00 am: Doors open for spectators
10:00 am: Championship semifinals (2 mats), Consolation quarterfinals (2 mats), Consolation semifinals (2 mats), Consolation place matches: 3rd, 5th, 7th (3 mats)
3:00 pm: Session III ends (time approximate)

Saturday, March 11, Session IV
5:30 pm: Doors open for spectators
6:15 pm: Lineup of All-Americans
6:30 pm: Parade of All-Americans
7:00 pm: Championship finals (1 mat)
9:00 pm: Awards presentation immediately following completion of all wrestling for team awards and final two matches. Individual weight class awards will be presented between finals matches.

Tickets 

Tickets may be purchased online at The Berglund Center website. Alumni and any other special interest groups should use the group sales link below or contact Tanya Donald directly at (540) 853-5373 or Tanya.Donald@roanokeva.gov.

Adult & Seniors: single session $15, all-session $50

Student & Youth: single session $12, all-session $42

Group Adults/Senior (10 or more): all-session $34

Group Students/Youth (10 or more): all-session $26

General Ticket Sales: purchase tickets

RYAN LUTH

157 Weight Class (19-1 overall)

Senior Ryan Luth (Milford, Conn. / Joseph A. Foran) will be the first General to wrestle on Friday. Earning the fifth seed in the bracket, Luth will square off against Muhlenberg College's Brandon Bowles in bout 55.

Luth has a highly decorated career with a pair of All-American honors already on his resume and looks to add a third this weekend. He is a three-time conference champion at the 157 weight class and earned a regional championship title in both 2019 and 2022.

Luth's only loss this season came in the semifinals of the regionals, he has scored 165 match points and pinned his opponents six times with five major decisions and two technical falls.

2023 Regional Results

Luth placed third in the 157 class and scored 17 team points. The 2022 All-American fell to Alvernia's Jason Rezac by Major Decision (11-3) in the semifinals but answered the call with two straight decision wins to take the final 157 ticket to nationals. Luth went 5-1 on the weekend and claimed his podium finish with a 9-3 win over York's (Pa.) Jared Blair in the third place bout.

• Prelim - Ryan Luth won by fall over Cameron Hatchett (Shenandoah) (Fall 0:29)
• Champ. Round 1 - Ryan Luth won by tech fall over Hunter O'Connor (Lycoming) (TF-1.5 6:13 (17-1))
• Quarterfinal - Ryan Luth won by decision over Zane Cox (Roanoke) (Dec 5-2)
• Semifinal - Jason Rezac (Alvernia) won by major decision over Ryan Luth (MD 11-3)
• Cons. Semi - Ryan Luth won by decision over Garret Cornell (Messiah) (Dec 5-2)
• 3rd Place Match - Ryan Luth won by decision over Jared Bair (York (Pa.))(Dec 9-3)

HARRISON KELLY

165 Weight Class (31-12 overall)

Junior Harrison Kelly (Berkeley Heights, N.J. / Governor Livingston) is unranked entering into the bracket's draw and will take on Austin Lamb from the Rochester Institute of Technology in bout 66 of the first round. 

Kelly earned a third place finish at the ODAC Wrestling Championship Tournament and punched his ticket to nationals with a runner-up title in the regional tournament. 

Through the season Kelly has tallied 254 match points and has posted a pair of technical fall wins and nine falls out of 31 total wins. Fourteen decisions and four majors round out his wins this year. 

2023 Regionals Results

Kelly had one of the highest finishes for the Blue and White. Kelly wrestled his way to a second place finish after winning the first three bouts in the 165 weight class. In the first place match Alvernia's Matt Lackman, the top-ranked wrestler in the region, pinned Kelly (2:46) to claim the 165 title. The sophomore recorded 16 points toward the Generals' team score

• Champ. Round 1 - Harrison Kelly won by decision over Logan Marko (Washington And Jefferson) (Dec 11-5)
• Quarterfinal - Harrison Kelly won by major decision over James Geiger (Wilkes) (MD 8-0)
• Semifinal - Harrison Kelly won by decision over Zach Needles (Messiah) (Dec 7-5)
• 1st Place Match - Matt Lackman (Alvernia) won by fall over Harrison Kelly (Fall 2:46)

CAMERON BLIZARD

184 Weight Class (21-6 overall)

Senior Cameron Blizard (Greensboro, N.C. / Ragsdale) qualified for the NCAA Championships with a second place finish at the Southeast Regional Championships. Blizard missed out on qualifying for nationals his junior season but finished on the South Region's podium in fourth place. 

In the first round of the national draw, Blizard will wrestle in the 79th bout against fifth-seeded Donovan Corn of Luther College.

Blizard has tallied 208 match points his senior season despite missing a few matches, including the ODAC Tournament. He has racked up 13 decision wins, including one in sudden victory, with three major decisions. Blizard has recorded four falls total, two technical falls and a pair of pins. 

2023 Regionals Results

Blizard went 4-0 through the semifinals to qualify for the first place bout. In the semis, the senior upset the top 184 wrestler in the region, Roanoke's Mahlic Sallah, in a 7-1 decision. Alvernia's Isaac Kassis, who is ranked just above Blizard in the regional rankings at three, won the first place bout and 184 title with a 4-2 victory. Blizard recorded 19 team points in the second place finish. 

• Prelim - Cameron Blizard won by fall over Nick Funovits (Washington And Jefferson) (Fall 3:51)
• Champ. Round 1 - Cameron Blizard won by major decision over Kian Payne (York College (Pa.)) (MD 19-10)
• Quarterfinal - Cameron Blizard won by decision over Hunter Lowe (Wilkes) (Dec 8-1)
• Semifinal - Cameron Blizard won by decision over Mahlic Sallah (Roanoke)(Dec 7-1)
• 1st Place Match - Isaac Kassis (Alvernia) won by decision over Cameron Blizard (Dec 4-2)