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Wisconsin’s Zan Fugitt advances to NCAA Wrestling semifinals

Zan Fugitt stuns Connor McGonagle at NCAA Championships, earns All-American, spot in semifinals

Dana Becker

Wisconsin's Zan Fugitt advanced to the NCAA Championship semifinals Friday.
Wisconsin's Zan Fugitt advanced to the NCAA Championship semifinals Friday. / X/Wisconsin Wrestling

Not many gave Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin much of a shot to advance to the final four of the 133-pound division at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Well, Fugitt showed why anything is possible - especially in March.

Fugitt secured his spot in Friday night’s semifinals with a pin of No. 6 seed Connor McGonagle from Virginia Tech during the early session in Philadelphia from Wells Fargo Center.

“I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid,” Fugitt said. “My coaches told me to just let it fly and have fun, so I just went out there and let it fly. It ended up going my way.”

Up next for Fugitt will be defending national runner-up Drake Ayala of Iowa later tonight live on ESPN2. The match will also stream on ESPN+.

Fugitt, who topped No. 3 seed Nasir Bailey of Little Rock in sudden victory and Gardner-Webb’s Takeo Davis on Thursday to begin the tournament, got McGonagle on his back on the out of bounds circle, securing the fall right in front of his coaches in the first period.

His Badger teammate, Nicolar Rivera, will be in the blood rounds. With a win, Rivera will secure All-American status at 125 pounds after topping Spencer Moore of North Carolina, 11-3, in the consolation third round.

Rivera will meet Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl for a spot on the podium Saturday night and a medal.

In earlier action, Rivera topped Trever Anderson from Northern Iowa before losing to Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia. He also posted a consolation round win over Antonio Lorenzo from Oklahoma, 5-0. 

Cody Goebel went 0-2 on Thursday and was eliminated for Wisconsin.

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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in north-central Iowa.