No. 1 Iowa, No. 3 Iowa State share lead after Day 1 of NCAA Championships
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by Craig Sesker
ST. LOUIS - Iowa and Iowa State were considered the nation's best two teams entering the season.
It looks like they may end the season battling it out for the national championship.
The top-ranked Hawkeyes and third-ranked Cyclones looked strong as the NCAA Championships kicked off on Thursday before 15, 851 fans at the Scottrade Center.
Iowa and Iowa State are tied for first with 33 points after Day 1 of the three-day event. Iowa advanced six wrestlers to Friday morning's quarterfinals. Iowa has three more in the wrestlebacks. Iowa State has five in the quarters and five more in the wrestlebacks.
"Like any tournament, there are good things and bad things," Iowa State coach Cael Sanderson said. "We have a lot of potential to finish the tournament strong. We have to take advantage of our opportunities and create some opportunities."
"We're doing some good things," Iowa coach Tom Brands said. "We need to come back and wrestle tough tomorrow. You've got to stay strong the whole tournament and tomorrow obviously is a very big day for us."
Sixth-ranked Ohio State is also in the mix. OSU is third with 30 points. The Buckeyes have five in the quarters and three in the wrestlebacks. No. 4 Nebraska is fourth with 24 points and four in the quarters and two in the wrestlebacks.
Top seed David Zabriskie of Iowa State staged one of the day's biggest comebacks in his second-round win at heavyweight. Zabriskie fell behind 6-1 before beating West Virginia's Dustin Rogers 9-8. Zabriskie shot in before coming out on top in a scramble for the winning takedown with seven seconds left.
"I gave up a bunch of points early and I knew I had a lot of work to do," Zabriskie said. "I kept on him and got on him. My conditioning was a big-time factor. I knew he was gassed and I had to keep going."
"Zabriskie is a fighter," Sanderson said. "He just outhustles and outscrambles everybody. He has a big heart."
Top seed Kellen Russell of Michigan was caught and pinned by Ryan Prater of Illinois in the second round at 141 pounds. Prater tilted Russell to his back before scoring the stunning fall in the second period.
Also at 141, No. 2 seed Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin fell 9-4 to Virginia's Nick Nelson in the second round.
Top seed Mack Lewnes of Cornell lost his wrestleback and was eliminated after going 0-2 on Thursday at 165. Lewnes placed fourth in the 2008 NCAA tournament as a freshman. Lewnes was 35-0 entering this year's tournament.
No. 2 seed Bubba Jenkins of Penn State, a returning NCAA runner-up, also went 0-2 on Thursday at 149.
Seeing a large number of highly seeded wrestlers falling caught the attention of Nebraska's top-seeded Craig Brester, who gave himself plenty of cushion in winning his second-round match by a 14-5 major decision over Old Dominion's Jesse Strawn.
"You've got to be real focused in this tournament or you're going to get beat," Brester said. "I was putting too much pressure on myself the first couple of matches. I need to go out there and have fun like I did in the regular season. I felt a lot better this last match."
Past Nebraska NCAA champion Paul Donahoe, now wrestling for Edinboro, gave up two early takedowns before taking charge in a 13-7 second-round win over B.J. Futrell of Illinois. The top-seeded Donahoe, a senior, advances to face Penn's Rollie Peterkin in Friday's quarterfinals at 125 pounds.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday morning with the semifinals to follow on Friday night.
It looks like they may end the season battling it out for the national championship.
The top-ranked Hawkeyes and third-ranked Cyclones looked strong as the NCAA Championships kicked off on Thursday before 15, 851 fans at the Scottrade Center.
Iowa and Iowa State are tied for first with 33 points after Day 1 of the three-day event. Iowa advanced six wrestlers to Friday morning's quarterfinals. Iowa has three more in the wrestlebacks. Iowa State has five in the quarters and five more in the wrestlebacks.
"Like any tournament, there are good things and bad things," Iowa State coach Cael Sanderson said. "We have a lot of potential to finish the tournament strong. We have to take advantage of our opportunities and create some opportunities."
"We're doing some good things," Iowa coach Tom Brands said. "We need to come back and wrestle tough tomorrow. You've got to stay strong the whole tournament and tomorrow obviously is a very big day for us."
Sixth-ranked Ohio State is also in the mix. OSU is third with 30 points. The Buckeyes have five in the quarters and three in the wrestlebacks. No. 4 Nebraska is fourth with 24 points and four in the quarters and two in the wrestlebacks.
Top seed David Zabriskie of Iowa State staged one of the day's biggest comebacks in his second-round win at heavyweight. Zabriskie fell behind 6-1 before beating West Virginia's Dustin Rogers 9-8. Zabriskie shot in before coming out on top in a scramble for the winning takedown with seven seconds left.
"I gave up a bunch of points early and I knew I had a lot of work to do," Zabriskie said. "I kept on him and got on him. My conditioning was a big-time factor. I knew he was gassed and I had to keep going."
"Zabriskie is a fighter," Sanderson said. "He just outhustles and outscrambles everybody. He has a big heart."
Top seed Kellen Russell of Michigan was caught and pinned by Ryan Prater of Illinois in the second round at 141 pounds. Prater tilted Russell to his back before scoring the stunning fall in the second period.
Also at 141, No. 2 seed Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin fell 9-4 to Virginia's Nick Nelson in the second round.
Top seed Mack Lewnes of Cornell lost his wrestleback and was eliminated after going 0-2 on Thursday at 165. Lewnes placed fourth in the 2008 NCAA tournament as a freshman. Lewnes was 35-0 entering this year's tournament.
No. 2 seed Bubba Jenkins of Penn State, a returning NCAA runner-up, also went 0-2 on Thursday at 149.
Seeing a large number of highly seeded wrestlers falling caught the attention of Nebraska's top-seeded Craig Brester, who gave himself plenty of cushion in winning his second-round match by a 14-5 major decision over Old Dominion's Jesse Strawn.
"You've got to be real focused in this tournament or you're going to get beat," Brester said. "I was putting too much pressure on myself the first couple of matches. I need to go out there and have fun like I did in the regular season. I felt a lot better this last match."
Past Nebraska NCAA champion Paul Donahoe, now wrestling for Edinboro, gave up two early takedowns before taking charge in a 13-7 second-round win over B.J. Futrell of Illinois. The top-seeded Donahoe, a senior, advances to face Penn's Rollie Peterkin in Friday's quarterfinals at 125 pounds.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday morning with the semifinals to follow on Friday night.
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