Flores Turns Heads in NCAA Championship

Columbia’s wrestling team saw its season come to an end on Friday, March 21 after freshman Ryan Flores lost his consolation match to Matt Spaid from Bloomsburg University 12-2 in the heavyweight class of the NCAA championships.

One would expect seniors Brandon Kinney and Anthony Constantino, seasoned veterans with the team, to advance to the tournament’s later rounds. But while Kinney and Constantino watched their collegiate careers come to an end on the first day of the tournament, it looked as though it were Flores’ last day as a Lion.

Flores began the tournament with a loss to Northwestern’s Dustin Fox. He was overwhelmed for most of the match, losing 19-0 and falling into the tournament’s consolation bracket.

However, he was able to pick up a win against Oregon’s Charlie Alexander in a grueling match that went into double overtime. The two were tied 1-1 after the first overtime, forcing a tiebreaker. In a tiebreaker, one wrestler begins the match in the down position, while the other holds him on the ground for at least 30 seconds. Flores managed to escape his opponent’s grasp to gain a 2-1 lead and then pinned Alexander for a full 30 seconds to pick up the victory before falling to Spaid in the next round.

Flores began turning heads even before the NCAA tournament began, as he advanced to the final round of the EIWA championships in Lancaster, Penn. He defeated second-seeded Trey McLean from Penn in his opening match and Levon Mock of Brown in the semifinal round. He was defeated in the final round by the defending champion Ed Prendergast of the Naval Academy, 5-1.

Constantino lost to Cesar Grajales of Penn, 6-3 in the first round, but fought his way back in the consolation bracket with an 8-2 win over Albert Gianforti of Franklin & Marshall, a 3-2 win over Bucknell’s Kevin LeValley, and an upset of fifth-seeded D.J. Meagher of Cornell, 4-1 before losing to fourth-seeded Bryce Saddoris of Navy, 6-2, finishing fourth overall at 149 pounds.

Kinney, a third seed in the 125-pound weight class, was upset in the first round with a loss to the sixth-seeded Jasen Borshoff of American. He defeated Nathan Myers of Brown 6-3 and Jacob Bucha of Franklin & Marshall College 4-2 in the consolation bracket before falling to fourth-seeded Mike Rodriguez of Cornell on a controversial call, as the referee called Kinney down when the time limit for the period seemed to have already expired.

Although this wrestling season saw a reversal of roles, with the veterans suffering early exits and the freshman reaching the final rounds, Flores has shown that his future with Columbia wrestling should be bright.