California's win over Wisconsin brings Junior Greco-Roman Duals down to its Final Four
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by Roger Moore
OKLAHOMA CITY - And then there were three …
Thanks to a coin flip, that number moved to four entering the final day of wrestling at the 2008 Junior Greco Duals at Oklahoma City University.
Top-seeded Minnesota, No. 3 Iowa and No. 4 Illinois rolled through matches on Tuesday to move one victory from the finals. That trio is 6-0 through two days.
California, the seventh seed, decided to crash the party with a dramatic, come-from-behind, down-to-the-flip, 32-30, win over Wisconsin in the last match of Tuesday's competition.
Ian Daube's pin at 189 and Dominic Pica's technical fall at 215 tied the dual at 29 with only the big boys remaining. It appeared California's Kasey Cowan had wrapped up a two-period victory, but Nikko Bogojevic, a Cadet All-American in 2007, was awarded a pair of points on a late second-period turn.
However, the official's disc came up in favor of Cowan in the final period and he was able to avoid a turn and win 1-1, 0-3, 1-1, to send the California contingent into a frenzy.
Next up for the Californians is an Iowa squad that rolled on Tuesday, beating Wisconsin and Michigan by a combined 92-40.
Minnesota and Illinois will lock horns this morning with the winner earning a berth in the finals opposite California or Iowa.
Minnesota, in search of its first Greco title since 2005 - the Storm lost to Illinois in the 2007 finals - got by Missouri on Tuesday afternoon, then dismantled Kansas to improve to 6-0.
"We do what we do," said Minnesota coach Matt Clark. "Once you get into this thing, it's a lot about depth and you can see the teams that don't have it.
"We have experienced guys who've been to Fargo and to these duals. They know what it takes."
After dropping a nail-biter to California on Tuesday morning in a match to determine Pool B's winner, Missouri, the second overall seed, had to come back against Minnesota three hours later.
Missouri's Alan Waters scored a fall at 112; All-American Mac Bailey picked up a blood-filled win over Dylan Ness at 135 and Clarence Neely's decisive victory at 160 tied the dual at 23.
But there was no panic for the Storm as Travis Rutt had a technical fall at 171; Caleb Lines beat Jon Eblen at 189 and Jake Kahnke had little trouble at 215 as the top seeds pulled away for a 34-27 victory.
Standing in the way of a berth in the finals is defending champion Illinois, who whipped Kansas, 57-6, Tuesday morning, then came back to beat Missouri, 43-20, to stay unbeaten.
The fourth seeds jumped out early against Missouri, picking up a victory at 112 when Kent Williams beat Waters, a Cadet champion in 2007.
Missouri's Ryan Mango came back to beat Lillishawn Coleman at 119, but Jimmy Chase and Matt Holmes gave the Illini a 20-5 lead. By the time Cadet champion Ellis Coleman was done hammering Bailey, 6-0, 6-0, at 135 it was off to the races for the 2007 kings.
Early birds
California edged Missouri, 32-30, in Tuesday's first session for No. 1 in Pool B. Missouri forfeited at 98 pounds and the dual was tied at 24 entering 189 pounds where Daube, a Cadet All-American, pinned Eblen, also a Cadet All-American. Pica beat Kolton Kono at 215 pounds to give California a 32-25 advantage.
Cody Rodebough added a big win for California at 135 pounds, beating Bailey in a three-period bout.
In the other meaningful dual in the first session, Kansas beat Georgia for second in Pool C. Kansas won the final three bouts for a 33-28 victory. The five-point difference? A forfeit at 98 by the Georgians.
Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois wrapped up first in the other three pools on Monday night. Michigan and Wisconsin guaranteed themselves a top-eight finish with second place pool finishes.
Seven of the top eight seeds advanced into the championship rounds. Pennsylvania, No. 8 in the seedings, went 2-2 and was third in Pool A behind Minnesota and Michigan.
Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. (CST) today with the finals scheduled for approximately 11 a.m. All results can be found at
www.trackwrestling.com
By the numbers
Iowa's Grant Gambrall has the tournament's quickest fall, pinning Oklahoma's Kelley Freeman in :10 on Monday night.
California's Antonio Hernandez had a 12-second pin.
New York has a tournament-leading 18 pins through two days. Iowa is a close second with 17, led by Matt McDonough and Blayne Beal, who each have three.
Iowa's Dylan Carew and New York's Zach Clemente have each scored a tournament-high 26 points for their respective teams. McDonough, headed to the University of Iowa, and teammate Andrew Long, a 2007 Junior Greco champion who will attend Iowa State, have totaled 25 points.
Thanks to a coin flip, that number moved to four entering the final day of wrestling at the 2008 Junior Greco Duals at Oklahoma City University.
Top-seeded Minnesota, No. 3 Iowa and No. 4 Illinois rolled through matches on Tuesday to move one victory from the finals. That trio is 6-0 through two days.
California, the seventh seed, decided to crash the party with a dramatic, come-from-behind, down-to-the-flip, 32-30, win over Wisconsin in the last match of Tuesday's competition.
Ian Daube's pin at 189 and Dominic Pica's technical fall at 215 tied the dual at 29 with only the big boys remaining. It appeared California's Kasey Cowan had wrapped up a two-period victory, but Nikko Bogojevic, a Cadet All-American in 2007, was awarded a pair of points on a late second-period turn.
However, the official's disc came up in favor of Cowan in the final period and he was able to avoid a turn and win 1-1, 0-3, 1-1, to send the California contingent into a frenzy.
Next up for the Californians is an Iowa squad that rolled on Tuesday, beating Wisconsin and Michigan by a combined 92-40.
Minnesota and Illinois will lock horns this morning with the winner earning a berth in the finals opposite California or Iowa.
Minnesota, in search of its first Greco title since 2005 - the Storm lost to Illinois in the 2007 finals - got by Missouri on Tuesday afternoon, then dismantled Kansas to improve to 6-0.
"We do what we do," said Minnesota coach Matt Clark. "Once you get into this thing, it's a lot about depth and you can see the teams that don't have it.
"We have experienced guys who've been to Fargo and to these duals. They know what it takes."
After dropping a nail-biter to California on Tuesday morning in a match to determine Pool B's winner, Missouri, the second overall seed, had to come back against Minnesota three hours later.
Missouri's Alan Waters scored a fall at 112; All-American Mac Bailey picked up a blood-filled win over Dylan Ness at 135 and Clarence Neely's decisive victory at 160 tied the dual at 23.
But there was no panic for the Storm as Travis Rutt had a technical fall at 171; Caleb Lines beat Jon Eblen at 189 and Jake Kahnke had little trouble at 215 as the top seeds pulled away for a 34-27 victory.
Standing in the way of a berth in the finals is defending champion Illinois, who whipped Kansas, 57-6, Tuesday morning, then came back to beat Missouri, 43-20, to stay unbeaten.
The fourth seeds jumped out early against Missouri, picking up a victory at 112 when Kent Williams beat Waters, a Cadet champion in 2007.
Missouri's Ryan Mango came back to beat Lillishawn Coleman at 119, but Jimmy Chase and Matt Holmes gave the Illini a 20-5 lead. By the time Cadet champion Ellis Coleman was done hammering Bailey, 6-0, 6-0, at 135 it was off to the races for the 2007 kings.
Early birds
California edged Missouri, 32-30, in Tuesday's first session for No. 1 in Pool B. Missouri forfeited at 98 pounds and the dual was tied at 24 entering 189 pounds where Daube, a Cadet All-American, pinned Eblen, also a Cadet All-American. Pica beat Kolton Kono at 215 pounds to give California a 32-25 advantage.
Cody Rodebough added a big win for California at 135 pounds, beating Bailey in a three-period bout.
In the other meaningful dual in the first session, Kansas beat Georgia for second in Pool C. Kansas won the final three bouts for a 33-28 victory. The five-point difference? A forfeit at 98 by the Georgians.
Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois wrapped up first in the other three pools on Monday night. Michigan and Wisconsin guaranteed themselves a top-eight finish with second place pool finishes.
Seven of the top eight seeds advanced into the championship rounds. Pennsylvania, No. 8 in the seedings, went 2-2 and was third in Pool A behind Minnesota and Michigan.
Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. (CST) today with the finals scheduled for approximately 11 a.m. All results can be found at
www.trackwrestling.com
By the numbers
Iowa's Grant Gambrall has the tournament's quickest fall, pinning Oklahoma's Kelley Freeman in :10 on Monday night.
California's Antonio Hernandez had a 12-second pin.
New York has a tournament-leading 18 pins through two days. Iowa is a close second with 17, led by Matt McDonough and Blayne Beal, who each have three.
Iowa's Dylan Carew and New York's Zach Clemente have each scored a tournament-high 26 points for their respective teams. McDonough, headed to the University of Iowa, and teammate Andrew Long, a 2007 Junior Greco champion who will attend Iowa State, have totaled 25 points.
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