ESPN to Televise NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Live from MSG

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be live from Madison Square Garden for the first time ever and ESPN will televise every session and cover every mat, every match for the entire three days of the sport's premier event (March 17-19). This is the third year of every session, mat and match coverage. The NCAA announced the full 2016 Division I Wrestling brackets Wednesday night.

2016 Summer Olympic Contenders
With THE 2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS looming, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships mean more this year as all NCAA Champions will automatically qualify for the Olympic trials in April. Additionally, some participants in the Championship have already qualified including Iowa's Sam Stoll, Michigan's Adam Coon, NC State's Nick Gwiazdowski, and Ohio State's Kyle Snyder and Nathan Tomasello. Snyder is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in his weight class.

Showdown Looming
Gwiazdowski and Snyder will compete in the same weight class and are seeded No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. If both successfully reach the finals, the two will square off Saturday night in showdown of top athletes in the sport. Gwiazdowski was last year's national champion and hasn't lost a college match in over two seasons, while Snyder finished his freshmen year as a runner-up before going on to become the youngest World Champion in in USA history last summer.

Television and Digital Coverage
ESPN will televise the semifinals (March 18) and finals (March 19) in prime time and ESPNU will televise the first and second rounds (March 17), quarterfinals (March 18) and medal round (March 19).

ESPN3 will carry individual mat feeds throughout the entire tournament allowing fans to choose which wrestlers and/or schools to follow at any time. Eight mats will be used for the first, second and quarterfinals, before the competition is reduced to six mats for the semifinals, three mats for the medal round and one mat for the finals.

Additionally, for computer users, ESPN3 will once again offer multi-mat, simultaneous viewing which allows fans to watch up to four different mats at one time. Also for the third consecutive year, Off the Mat - a special presentation of the Championships finals - will be seen on ESPN3.

Image courtesy of ESPN Press

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