Buckeyes, Hawkeyes set for fight to finish at NCAA Championships
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by Craig Sesker
ST. LOUIS - Reece Humphrey couldn't imagine training in a better atmosphere than the Ohio State University wrestling room.
"Our whole coaching staff is amazing," Humphrey said. "You have Lou Rosselli with the technique and the fight. Tom Ryan with the leadership and the ability to push us. Joe Heskett with the heart, which is kind of funny because he has a defibrillator. We're like a family. Coming in here, we knew he had the ability to have a great tournament."
The Buckeyes have a pretty amazing team as well.
The sixth-ranked Buckeyes have turned in a remarkable performance this weekend at the Scottrade Center and it continued Friday night as OSU advanced three wrestlers to the finals. The Buckeyes placed sixth two weeks ago at the Big Ten tournament.
Ohio State leads with 84.5 points while returning champion and No. 1 Iowa is a close second with 81 points. OSU has one wrestler who can come back and place third Saturday. Iowa has four wrestlers left in the wrestlebacks. No. 3 Iowa State is third with 71.5 points and No. 4 Nebraska is fourth with 69 points.
The Buckeyes are seeking their first NCAA title. Ohio State's previous best finish was second in the 2008 NCAA meet.
Reaching the finals for Ohio State were returning national champions J Jaggers (141) and Mike Pucillo (184) along with Humphrey (133).
The No. 3 Jaggers cradled and pinned No. 7 Chris Drouin of Arizona State to set off a huge roar from the OSU fans seated in a corner of the arena. Jaggers will meet surprise finalist and No. 8 seed Ryan Williams of Old Dominion in the finals at 141.
"This has been an unbelievable tournament," Jaggers said. "This would mean everything to win this. To do it over the returning NCAA champions in Iowa, it would be amazing."
Pucillo will meet No. 1 Jake Herbert of Northwestern in the finals. Herbert won the 2007 NCAA title at 184 before taking an Olympic redshirt last year. Pucillo stepped in and won the 2008 NCAA title at 184.
A crowd of 16,682 fans was treated to a memorable day of wrestling at the Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis.
Returning NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner Brent Metcalf of Iowa earned a 6-2 win over Ohio State's Lance Palmer in the semifinals. Metcalf will meet North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell in the finals at 149.
The third-seeded Caldwell handed the No. 1 Metcalf his only college loss last year after catching him with a spladle and pinning him. Metcalf rolled to a lopsided win over Caldwell in this season's all-star dual.
"I got to my offense early and I wrestled smart," Metcalf said of his win over Palmer. "I made sure I got the riding time because I knew he was going to be defensive and I wanted to get all the points I could."
Iowa State junior Jake Varner, second in this event the past two seasons at 184, reached the finals for the third straight season. He beat Max Askren of Missouri 8-3 in the 197 semifinals.
The second-seeded Varner will meet top-seeded Craig Brester of Nebraska in the finals. Varner is 2-1 against Brester this year, but Brester beat Varner two weeks ago in the Big 12 finals.
"I just have to go out and wrestle my match," Varner said. "I can't worry about what happened in the past. This is a new match and I just have to be ready for him. I've wrestled pretty well in this tournament. I will wrestle the same way in the finals."
Top seed Paul Donahoe of Edinboro scooted behind No. 12 seed Anthony Robles for a pair of third-period takedowns in earning a 5-2 semifinal win at 125. Donahoe will meet No. 2 seed Troy Nickerson of Cornell in the finals.
Donahoe edged Nickerson in the semifinals in 2007 en route to winning an NCAA title for Nebraska that season.
"(Nickerson) is a tough wrestler - I won a controversial match over him last time," Donahoe said. "He's a great wrestler and it will be a great match. This has been my dream - ever since I lost in the semis last year - to get back here and have another chance to win a national title."
Saturday night's finals matchups
125 pounds
1-Paul Donahoe (Edinboro) vs. 2-Troy Nickerson (Cornell)
133 pounds
1-Franklin Gomez (Michigan State) vs. 2-Reece Humphrey (Ohio State)
141 pounds
8-Ryan Williams (Old Dominion) vs. 3-J Jaggers (Ohio State)
149 pounds
1-Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. 3-Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State)
157 pounds
1-Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) vs. 2-Mike Poeta (Illinois)
165 pounds
12-Jarrod King (Edinboro) vs. 2-Andrew Howe (Wisconsin)
174 pounds
1-Steve Luke (Michigan) vs. 7-Mike Miller (Central Michigan)
184 pounds
1-Jake Herbert (Northwestern) vs. 3-Mike Pucillo (Ohio State)
197 pounds
1-Craig Brester (Nebraska) vs. 2-Jake Varner (Iowa State)
285 pounds
5-Konrad Dudziak (Duke) vs. 2-Mark Ellis (Missouri)
"Our whole coaching staff is amazing," Humphrey said. "You have Lou Rosselli with the technique and the fight. Tom Ryan with the leadership and the ability to push us. Joe Heskett with the heart, which is kind of funny because he has a defibrillator. We're like a family. Coming in here, we knew he had the ability to have a great tournament."
The Buckeyes have a pretty amazing team as well.
The sixth-ranked Buckeyes have turned in a remarkable performance this weekend at the Scottrade Center and it continued Friday night as OSU advanced three wrestlers to the finals. The Buckeyes placed sixth two weeks ago at the Big Ten tournament.
Ohio State leads with 84.5 points while returning champion and No. 1 Iowa is a close second with 81 points. OSU has one wrestler who can come back and place third Saturday. Iowa has four wrestlers left in the wrestlebacks. No. 3 Iowa State is third with 71.5 points and No. 4 Nebraska is fourth with 69 points.
The Buckeyes are seeking their first NCAA title. Ohio State's previous best finish was second in the 2008 NCAA meet.
Reaching the finals for Ohio State were returning national champions J Jaggers (141) and Mike Pucillo (184) along with Humphrey (133).
The No. 3 Jaggers cradled and pinned No. 7 Chris Drouin of Arizona State to set off a huge roar from the OSU fans seated in a corner of the arena. Jaggers will meet surprise finalist and No. 8 seed Ryan Williams of Old Dominion in the finals at 141.
"This has been an unbelievable tournament," Jaggers said. "This would mean everything to win this. To do it over the returning NCAA champions in Iowa, it would be amazing."
Pucillo will meet No. 1 Jake Herbert of Northwestern in the finals. Herbert won the 2007 NCAA title at 184 before taking an Olympic redshirt last year. Pucillo stepped in and won the 2008 NCAA title at 184.
A crowd of 16,682 fans was treated to a memorable day of wrestling at the Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis.
Returning NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner Brent Metcalf of Iowa earned a 6-2 win over Ohio State's Lance Palmer in the semifinals. Metcalf will meet North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell in the finals at 149.
The third-seeded Caldwell handed the No. 1 Metcalf his only college loss last year after catching him with a spladle and pinning him. Metcalf rolled to a lopsided win over Caldwell in this season's all-star dual.
"I got to my offense early and I wrestled smart," Metcalf said of his win over Palmer. "I made sure I got the riding time because I knew he was going to be defensive and I wanted to get all the points I could."
Iowa State junior Jake Varner, second in this event the past two seasons at 184, reached the finals for the third straight season. He beat Max Askren of Missouri 8-3 in the 197 semifinals.
The second-seeded Varner will meet top-seeded Craig Brester of Nebraska in the finals. Varner is 2-1 against Brester this year, but Brester beat Varner two weeks ago in the Big 12 finals.
"I just have to go out and wrestle my match," Varner said. "I can't worry about what happened in the past. This is a new match and I just have to be ready for him. I've wrestled pretty well in this tournament. I will wrestle the same way in the finals."
Top seed Paul Donahoe of Edinboro scooted behind No. 12 seed Anthony Robles for a pair of third-period takedowns in earning a 5-2 semifinal win at 125. Donahoe will meet No. 2 seed Troy Nickerson of Cornell in the finals.
Donahoe edged Nickerson in the semifinals in 2007 en route to winning an NCAA title for Nebraska that season.
"(Nickerson) is a tough wrestler - I won a controversial match over him last time," Donahoe said. "He's a great wrestler and it will be a great match. This has been my dream - ever since I lost in the semis last year - to get back here and have another chance to win a national title."
Saturday night's finals matchups
125 pounds
1-Paul Donahoe (Edinboro) vs. 2-Troy Nickerson (Cornell)
133 pounds
1-Franklin Gomez (Michigan State) vs. 2-Reece Humphrey (Ohio State)
141 pounds
8-Ryan Williams (Old Dominion) vs. 3-J Jaggers (Ohio State)
149 pounds
1-Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. 3-Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State)
157 pounds
1-Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) vs. 2-Mike Poeta (Illinois)
165 pounds
12-Jarrod King (Edinboro) vs. 2-Andrew Howe (Wisconsin)
174 pounds
1-Steve Luke (Michigan) vs. 7-Mike Miller (Central Michigan)
184 pounds
1-Jake Herbert (Northwestern) vs. 3-Mike Pucillo (Ohio State)
197 pounds
1-Craig Brester (Nebraska) vs. 2-Jake Varner (Iowa State)
285 pounds
5-Konrad Dudziak (Duke) vs. 2-Mark Ellis (Missouri)
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