Joe Ariola scratched and clawed his way into the NCAA Tournament by upsetting several higher seeds in the MAC Tournament and he did the same in his first bout in Madison Square Garden today. Ariola was able to upend returning All-American Vic Avery of Edinboro 7-5 in his first round match at 184 pounds for the biggest win of his young career.
After being taken down early, Ariola took advantage of several Avery cautions and dictated the pace of the match to force Avery into desperation mode. Ariola scored a takedown of his own in the 2nd period off of a beautifully executed ankle pick to take the lead and never looked back.