Dean Peterson thought there was potential for fireworks as he sized up his second-round match at the NCAA Championships. 

On the other side stood returning national champion Richard Figueroa of Arizona State — an opponent Peterson thought mirrored himself in several ways. 

“I was looking forward to that match just because I know me and him have similar styles — we’re both fast, we’re both quick, we’re both slick,” said the Rutgers junior 125-pounder who locked up a third-period cradle and pinned Figueroa. “I knew it was going to be a barnburner, I knew there were going to be scrambles, but I was confident in my offense and confident in my scrambles that I was going to win them, and I kept the pace on him and got him tired and there was no way he was getting out of that cradle at the end.” 

The Peterson pin came moments after he put himself in a precarious position, taking a bad shot that led to a go-ahead takedown for Figueroa before the #12 seed bailed himself out by reversing the Arizona State star to his back. 

“(The Rutgers coaches have) kinda been telling me all week to wrestle through positions because if I wrestle through and get to the positions I want to get to I’m going to score points,” Peterson said. “So even off of that bad shot, I kept moving, he didn’t keep moving, I got the reversal and locked up the cradle.” 

While Peterson was cinching up the cradle on Mat 5, trouble was brewing for his quarterfinal opponent. 

Fourth-seeded Vincent Robinson of North Carolina State trailed 4-0 in the third period against Princeton’s Marc-Anthony McGowan. Robinson chipped away with an escape and pushed the pace to earn three stalling calls to pull within a point. 

After a stoppage with nine seconds remaining, Robinson used a super duck to get behind McGowan and secured the winning takedown just before time expired for a 6-4 victory.