TULSA, Okla. – Utah Valley's Demetrius Romero is on the verge of becoming a two-time All-American after two wins in Friday's morning session at the NCAA Championships at the BOK Center. Romero, the No. 15 seed will face No. 5 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State, the 2023 Big 12 Champion, in Fridays night's blood round. No. 20 seed Evan Bockman fell in the morning session to end his NCAA Championship run.
 
"Demetrius showed a lot of grit and focus in both of his matches today. He is striving to get that third place spot on the podium and knows it will be one battle at a time," said UVU head coach Greg Williams.
 
The second-round consolation match saw No. 15 seed Romero trailing in the first period to No. 33 John Worthing of Clarion University. In the second period, Romero changed the match and got control to secure a pin to advance to the third round of consolation matches.
 
In his next match against Harvard's Phillip Conigliaro. It was Romero that scored early on a takedown to go up 2-0 after the takedown was upheld on a challenge. After an escape in the first two periods, the match was tied at 2-2. In the final period, with choice, the UVU All-American took the lead on an escape to go up 3-2 and held on to secure the match win and advance to the evening session.
 
In the blood round tonight, Romero will face Big 12 foe and two-time Big 12 Champion No. 5 seeded Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State.
 
No. 20 Evan Bockman matched up with four-time All-American and 2021 NCAA Runner-up Jacob Warner (Iowa). Warner took control early and secured a first-period pin to defeat Bockman.
 
Romero will return to the mat during Friday's evening session, starting at 6:00 p.m. MT. The session can be watched on ESPN, with all mats available on ESPN+.