CLEVELAND – Making their first appearance ever at the NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships Thursday at Rocket Arena, both Carter Baer and Mikey Squires of the Binghamton wrestling team each came away with a win in their consolation match to advance to the second day of the tournament.
 
After each wrestler lost their opening match to the move to the consolation bracket, Baer took down No. 29 Avery Bassett of Lock Haven in sudden victory 4-1 at 174 lbs. Squires, meanwhile, defeated No. 26 Ben Vanadia of Purdue in an 11-2 major decision at 197 lbs.
 
With their victories, Binghamton has now won at least one match in each of its last 18 appearances at nationals dating back to 2008. This also marks the eighth consecutive appearance where the Bearcats have won at least two matches at the national tournament dating back to 2018.
 
Overall, Binghamton finished the first day of the event tied for 45th out of 70 teams with 2.0 points.
 
Session One Notes

• Baer went up against No. 20 Daschle Lamer of Oregon State in their first bout of the day. The two wrestlers battled to a scoreless tie after one period. Lamer, who began period two on the bottom, was able to escape and move ahead 1-0. Baer looked to respond with an escape of his own as he started the third period on the bottom. While he had a few close calls, Baer was unable to escape the Pac-12 champion. Lamer rode Baer for the final two minutes to get a bonus point and a 2-0 decision.
• Squires' first match of the day was against No. 10 Mac Stout of Pittsburgh. The Bearcat nearly opened the match with a quick takedown but could not get the first three points. Stout eventually responded with a successful takedown to take a 3-0 lead. Squires escaped before the end of the period, as he went into the second trailing 3-1. Starting on the bottom in the second, Squires escaped to bring himself within one at 3-2. However, Stout defended himself from Squires throughout the remainder of the period. In the third, Stout got an escape of his own and secured himself a bonus point for riding time to defeat Squires 5-2.

Session Two Notes

• Baer got to face Bassett for the second time this season, having defeated him 4-1 in sudden victory during Binghamton's dual against Lock Haven back on Jan. 4. This bout would play out in a similar fashion. Both wrestlers fought to a scoreless tie after the first period. Baer then recorded an escape in the second, while Bassett got one of his own in the third. Since neither wrestler could get any additional points by the end of regulation, they once again headed to overtime. In sudden victory, Baer defended himself from a surge by Bassett, before completing a takedown of his own to keep his hopes for a trip to the podium alive.
• Looking to extend his collegiate career by at least another day, Squires went up against Vanadia. Much like his previous match on Thursday, Squires attacked early, this time completing a takedown 43 seconds into the frame to jump ahead 3-0. Vanadia countered with a reversal later in the period to make it 3-2, before Squires ended the first with an escape to extend his advantage to 4-2. Squires then got an escape and a takedown in the second, before closing out the match with another takedown in the final seconds of the third to win the bout.

 
NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships Results
Carter Baer
174 Round One | No. 20 Daschle Lamer (Oregon State) def. No. 13 Carter Baer (Binghamton) DEC 2-0
174 Consolation First Round | No. 13 Carter Baer (Binghamton) def. No. 29 Avery Bassett (Lock Haven) DEC 4-1 SV
 
Mikey Squires
197 Round One | No. 10 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) def. No. 23 Mikey Squires (Binghamton) DEC 5-2
197 Consolation First Round | No. 23 Mikey Squires (Binghamton) def. No. 26 Ben Vanadia (Purdue) MD 11-2
 
*Rankings are seeds for NCAA tournament
 
Up Next
Both Baer and Squires return to the mat during session three, which begins Friday at noon. Baer will face No. 19 Logan Messer of George Mason for the second time this season. In their previous meeting at the Big Red Invitational on Nov. 23, Baer defeated Messer 6-3.
 
Squires, meanwhile, will go against No. 25 Evan Bates of Missouri.
 
If either wrestler wins two matches during that session without losing, they will then get to compete in session four, which takes place later Friday at 8 p.m. Should either wrestler win their opening match Friday night, they will secure a spot on the podium and earn All-America honors.
 
The New York Army National Guard is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Wrestling.