ST. LOUIS – Greg Bulsak dropped his first match but earned the right to continue his tournament in the consolation bracket, as the first day the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis drew to a close. The redshirt senior fell by 6-4 decision in the first round to 19^th-seeded Thomas Penola of Purdue before dominating Hofstra's Trey Rogers for a 10-1 major decision.
 
Seeking his first trip to the NCAA podium in his fourth NCAA Championships appearance, Bulsak will have a potentially busy day ahead of him on Friday. He will first need to face off with South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan, who entered the week as the 13^th seed in the bracket. Should he win that bout, Bulsak will have to win another in the early session, and then one more match in the so-called "blood round" on Friday night.
 

WR: Greg Bulsak talks about his win over Trey Rogers in the consolation bracket, and what it's going to take to get a spot on the podium on Friday.

Also, you get to see the SID's kitchen.@WrestlingCUP x #NCAAWrestling pic.twitter.com/kj0djWEjUe

— Clarion Golden Eagles (@ClarionEagles) March 19, 2021

 
In the first bout of the day, against Purdue's Penola, Bulsak and his opponent started out to a scoreless first period. Bulsak nearly took Penola down with a shot on his right leg, but Penola successfully put in a whizzer to keep him at bay and force a stalemate. The best opportunity for Bulsak to rack up points came early in the second period when Penola selected the down spot to start. The Golden Eagle worked hard and eventually got his boots locked in, trying to work the tilt, but Penola ultimately reversed him to take a 2-1 lead after two.
 
Bulsak escaped relatively quickly in the third period to tie the score at 2-2, but not before Penola erased the riding time advantage Bulsak had built. Penola worked Bulsak for two more takedowns in the third period, and though Bulsak escaped twice he was unable to find a takedown of his own in falling by 6-4 decision.
 
If the first bout saw an atypical lack of scoring for Bulsak, then the late match must have been a much more comfortable sight for Golden Eagle fans. In the first period, Bulsak came in on a single leg on Rogers and held him in position until he was finally able to back-trip him for the two-point takedown, setting in motion a chain of events that led to a dominant victory. He went to in his favorite position on top, locking in the boots and turning Rogers for a two-point near fall. Bulsak tilted Rogers for another two-point near fall, but more impressively kept him from scrambling out of the hold to maintain his ride for the rest of the first period.
 
Now up 6-0 heading into the second period, Bulsak nearly caught Rogers on another single leg to keep the pressure on his opponent. Though there was no scoring in the period, Bulsak maintained firm control of the bout, and escaped to start the third period. He took Rogers down once more for good measure, taking the 10-1 major decision.
 
Action at the Enterprise Center will kick off at 11 a.m. ET tomorrow, with Bulsak set to wrestle in the later session starting at 2 p.m. ET.