KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Campbell heavyweight Taye Ghadiali became just the second Campbell wrestler to make the podium at the NCAA Championships, as he finished in eighth at this year's finale held at the T-Mobile Center.

Ghadiali joins Nathan Kraisser (2017) as the only two wrestlers from Campbell to finish in the top eight at nationals. Kraisser also finished in eighth at 125 pounds, but Ghadiali is the first non-transfer to make the stand representing Campbell.

Ghadiali becomes the second Campbell wrestler to be named NCAA All-American, joining Kraisser. Five others received NWCA All-America honors in the 2020 season that was cut short before the NCAA Championships.

In the All-American bout against Lehigh's Nathan Taylor, Ghadiali was trailing 4-2 late in the third period. He scored a takedown with just five seconds left, and Taylor scored the riding time point to make it 5-5 going into overtime. Ghadiali dove at Taylor's leg and latched on 15 seconds into the overtime period to get both men on the mat. Ghadiali was then able to circle around and find himself on top for the winning takedown at the 30-second mark.

Ghadiali finishes the 2023-24 season with a 35-5 record. The 35 wins is the fifth-highest mark in Campbell wrestling history. He also finished the year with 12 pins, tied for second-most in program history.

In addition to Ghadiali, five other Campbell wrestlers competed at the NCAAs this weekend, with four recording a victory. Domenic Zaccone won his first-round matchup in an upset over No. 11 ranked Zeth Romney (Cal Poly).

At 165 pounds, No. 26 Dom Baker defeated No. 23 Derek Fields (NC State) with a pin, and Austin Murphy defeated Mizzou's Peyton Mocco (No. 22) with a 5-3 decision in the first round.

No. 28 Caleb Hopkins advanced in the consolation bracket by way of a medical forfeit from Brian Soldano (Rutgers) before falling in a 13-6 decision against No. 11 Colton Hawks (Mizzou). Levi Hopkins dropped two tight matches against Evan Bockman (#20, UVU) and No. 29 Justin Rademacher of Oregon State.

Below are the individual results. Full brackets and results of the event can be found at NCAA.com.

Quotable

Head Coach Scotti Sentes:

"I was very happy with how we competed over the weekend. I thought our guys represented the program and the University very well, and they competed hard with a lot of heart.

We were a moment away in a couple of matches where if things went our way, we would be sitting here with multiple All-Americans and an NCAA finalist, but that's the NCAA Tournament for you. It's a tough and wild tournament that leaves little room for error."

Results

133 #22 Domenic Zaccone (1-2)

Rd. 1 | W | vs. #11 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly), DEC 4-1

Rd. 2 | L | vs. #6 Vito Arujau (Cornell), MD 11-1

Cons. Rd. 2 | L | vs. #12 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech), DEC 4-1

165 #26 Dom Baker (1-2)

Rd. 1 | L | vs. #7 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State), DEC 5-0

Cons. Rd. 1 | W | vs. #23 Derek Fields (NC State), Fall 3:23

Cons. Rd. 2 | L | vs. #9 Peyton Hall (West Virginia), Fall 2:06

174 #11 Austin Muphy (1-2)

Rd. 1 | W | vs. #22 Peyton Mocco (Mizzou), DEC 5-3

Rd. 2 | L | vs. #6 Rocco Welsh (Oklahoma State), SV-1 4-1

Cons. Rd. 2 | L | vs. #12 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), DEC 5-3

184 #28 Caleb Hopkins (1-2)

Rd. 1 | L | vs. #5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska), TF 7:00 (25-8)

Cons. Rd. 1 | W | vs. #21 Brian Soldano (Rutgers), Medical Forfeit

Cons. Rd. 2 | L | vs. #11 Colton Hawks (Mizzou), DEC 13-6

197 #13 Levi Hopkins (0-2)

Rd. 1 | L | vs. #20 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley), TB-1 2-2

Cons. Rd. 1 | L | vs. #29 Justin Rademacher (Oregon State), DEC 9-6

HWT #7 Taye Ghadiali (4-3, All-American, Eighth Place)

Rd. 1 | W | vs. #26 Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech), DEC 8-2

Rd. 2 | L | vs. #10 Lucas Davison (Michigan), MD 8-0

Cons. Rd. 2 | W | vs. Trephan (NC State), DEC 7-3

Cons. Rd. 3 | W | vs. #16 Cory Day (Binghamton), MD 14-3

Cons. Rd. 4 | W | vs. #5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh), SV-1 8-5

Cons. Rd. 5 | L | vs. #9 Nick Feldman (Ohio State), DEC 10-4

7^th Place Match | L | vs. #13 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers), DEC 4-3

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