UW's Volk earns All-American status at NCAA championships
Mar. 22—Jore Volk had lofty goals entering this year's NCAA championships.
The No. 5-seeded sophomore wanted to make some noise and wrestle all three days of the tournament.
Volk made the path to accomplishing those goals quite difficult after dropping his first match Thursday morning. After the loss, the 125-pounder needed four consecutive wins to earn a spot on the podium and All-American status.
With pure grit, Volk did what he set out to do with our straight wins, the last being an upset over Penn State's No. 1-ranked Braeden Davis in sudden victory 4-1.
"Obviously, my goal coming into the tournament was being a national champion, but that first match didn't go my way," Volk said. "I just had to stay the course, keep my head in the right place and just believe I could come back."
The victory gave Volk his first-career All-American award after going 1-2 at last year's NCAA championships. He's UW's first All-American since 2022.
Volk fell in his final match Friday. Lehigh's No. 2 Luke Stanich won via major decision9 -0. Volk will wrestle for seventh place Saturday morning against South Dakota State's No. 23 Tanner Jordan.
Volk's journey to the podium featured a come-from-behind victory in the third round of the consolation bracket Friday. He rallied, scoring a takedown with under 10 seconds to go for a 5-4 decision win over Stanford's No. 14 Nico Provo in the third round of the consolation bracket.
Friday also featured a 5-1 decision victory for Volk. He defeated Virginia Tech's No. 11 Cooper Flynn.
"It's hard to come back after you drop your first match, especially when it's an upset," UW coach Mark Branch said. "To be able to claw your way back and get on the podium is impressive. Now, it becomes a focus on winning the last match of the tournament, and it's something that is important for him to do."
Volk wasn't the only one to show impressively in Kansas City. The other two Cowboys — Gabe Willochell (149 pounds) and Joey Novak (197) — combined for four upset wins, two of which were of at least 10 seed spots.
Willochell picked up his second upset in as many days Friday. He beat Maryland's No. 12 Ethen Miller via decision, 10-8, to advance to the third round of the consolation bracket.
Willochell's NCAA Championships came to close there; however, it wasn't without a fight. Ohio State's No. 14 Dylan D'Emilio hung on for a 9-7 decision win. It marked Willochell's second NCAA championships.
Novak also boasted his second upset of the tournament Friday. He bested North Carolina's No. 15 Max Shaw via decision, 9-5, which saw the UW freshman score eight third-period points.
Novak's NCAA championships ended in the third round of the consolation bracket. He dropped a major decision 13-5 to Little Rock's No. 9 Stephen Little.
"Gabe and Joey had outstanding tournaments, as well," Branch said. "They came up short from placing, but both of them scored upsets and beat guys that were seeded higher. They wrestled as hard as they have all year and as tough as they have all year.
"I can't remember a group that has wrestled with this much toughness, so in that I'm super proud."
