Penn wrestling sending four to NCAA Championships

With the NCAA announcing the brackets for the 2014 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Penn knew it had three wrestlers heading to Oklahoma City via automatic bids from EIWA championships.

And the Quakers will also be sending a fourth.

Penn wrestling will be sending junior Lorenzo Thomas (184 pounds), sophomore Casey Kent (165 pounds) and senior Brad Wukie (174 pounds) through automatic bids and got a fourth qualifier, freshman Caleb Richardson , thanks to an at-large bid at the 125-pound weightclass.

Both Thomas and Wukie made the finals at their respective weightclasses at EIWAs, which were held at the Palestra last weekend. While Thomas was ranked No. 2 in his class for EIWAs (he is ranked No. 11 for NCAAs), Wukie was ranked eighth before making a surprise run to the final.

Thomas will face Oregon State’s Austin Moorehead, whom he pinned at the Southern Scuffle in early January. Wukie will face Tyler Wilps from Pittsburgh, who is the No. 7 seed.

Meanwhile, Kent took a fourth-place finish, falling in the semi final at 165 pounds. The sophomore will face the No. 4 seed in North Dakota State’s Steven Monk, who has lost just once all season.

Richardson will be facing the No. 9 seed, Tyler Cox from Wyoming. The freshman will look to respond after losing both his bouts at EIWAs. Richardson went 12-9 in his freshman campaign.

All four Penn grapplers will be making their first NCAA appearances when the Championships start on March 20.