Unbeatens Iowa and Missouri power to National Duals finals
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by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
Iowa’s Thomas Gilman fires in for the winning takedown against Cornell’s Nahshon Garrett. Darren Miller photo.
IOWA CITY – Iowa’s Thomas Gilman didn’t stay down for long.
Upset in the day’s first match, the fifth-ranked Gilman fired in for a takedown late in his second match to upset No. 2 Nahshon Garrett of Cornell 3-1 in the National Duals semifinals.
Gilman’s huge win at 125 pounds ignited a boisterous crowd of 7,006 fans and sparked the No. 1 Hawkeyes to a 24-8 win over No. 5 Cornell on Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa (17-0) now advances to face No. 2 Missouri (23-0) in the National Duals finals on Sunday in Iowa City. Missouri defeated No. 11 Lehigh 23-9 in the other semifinal.
The Iowa-Missouri match is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. Central on Sunday and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Tickets are still available.
Gilman lost 3-1 in overtime to eighth-ranked Sean Boyle of Tennessee-Chattanooga earlier in the day before the Hawkeyes came back for a lopsided 44-3 win in the quarterfinal dual.
Gilman knocked off a returning NCAA runner-up in Garrett.
“Nahshon Garrett is very explosive and he can get underneath you in a hurry,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “You have to wrestle him patiently. We did a good job and didn’t walk into things. Gilman did a good job coming back after the first match.”
Iowa is seeking its seventh National Duals title. Missouri is shooting for its first title. The Tigers were second in this event in 2007.
“Missouri has been on the radar,” Brands said. “They are right behind us in the rankings. They’ve had some big wins and they’re undefeated. I know they’re looking forward to it and we’re looking forward to it. It should be a good dual.”
Iowa sophomore Cory Clark gave up the first takedown before recovering for a convincing 6-2 win over Cornell’s Mark Grey at 133. Clark pushed the pace with an aggressive attack to defeat Grey, a past Junior World Team member. Iowa’s Josh Dziewa followed with a win at 141 to push the Hawkeye team lead to 9-0.
Second-ranked Brandon Sorensen of Iowa continued his superb season in earning a 4-1 win over No. 5 Chris Villalonga at 149. That built Iowa’s team advantage to 12-zip. Sorensen is just a freshman.
Cornell’s drought ended when No. 4 Brian Realbuto held off No. 14 Michael Kelly of Iowa 10-7 at 157. Cornell’s Dylan Palacio then edged Iowa’s Nick Moore 6-5 at 165 despite being penalized for stalling twice in the final 30 seconds.
Two-time All-American Mike Evans of Iowa used a third-period takedown to clinch a 3-0 win over George Pickett at 174.
Top-ranked Gabe Dean of Cornell used a pair of takedowns to earn an impressive 6-2 win over No. 8 Sammy Brooks of Iowa at 184. Dean was a Junior World bronze medalist in 2014.
Iowa clinched the dual win when All-American Nathan Burak prevailed at 197. Hawkeye heavyweight Bobby Telford won by forfeit.
Missouri’s three No. 1 ranked wrestlers – Alan Waters (125), Drake Houdashelt (149) and J’den Cox (197) – each earned a pair of victories on Saturday.
“It’s exciting to see how consistent my team’s been all season,” Missouri coach Brian Smith said. “I’m real pleased with how we competed today against some really good teams.”
The Tigers have had a superb season, but will wrestle in front of a huge pro-Hawkeye crowd on Sunday.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll have success,” Smith said. “We’ve had some tough duals this year. We can’t focus on (Iowa’s) crowd, we just have to focus on what we can control. We have great leadership on this team.”
No. 11 Lehigh knocked off No. 3 Ohio State 21-18 in a quarterfinal dual that came down to the final bout at heavyweight. Lehigh’s Doug Vollaro shot in on a single and finished for a takedown to edge Nick Tavanello 4-2 in the second sudden-victory period.
Realbuto of Cornell came out aggressively en route to upsetting No. 1 Dylan Ness of Minnesota 9-3 at 157. Realbuto led 5-3 late in the match before taking Ness to his back to clinch the win. Ness, a two-time NCAA runner-up, suffered his first loss of the season.
Realbuto’s upset sparked Cornell to a 19-17 win over the Gophers.
Waters started quickly en route to a 6-2 win over two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois at 125. The Tigers defeated the Fighting Illini 23-13.
NWCA National Duals
Feb. 21-22, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
Semifinal results
No. 1 Iowa 24, No. 5 Cornell 8
No. 2 Missouri 23, No. 11 Lehigh 9
125 – Alan Waters (Missouri) dec. Scott Parker (Lehigh), 6-2. 133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Zach Synon (Missouri), 9-4. 141 – Lavion Mayes (Missouri) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh), 11-3. 149 – Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) dec. Drew Longo (Lehigh), 10-2. 157 – Mitchell Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Joseph LaVallee (Missouri), 2-0. 165 – Mike England (Missouri) dec. Marshall Peppelman (Lehigh), 6-1. 174 – John Eblen (Missouri) dec. Santiago Martinez (Lehigh), 4-2. 184 – Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) dec. Willie Miklus (Missouri), 7-3. 197 – J’den Cox (Missouri) dec. Elliot Riddick (Lehigh), 4-0. 285 – Devin Mellon (Missouri) dec. Doug Vollaro (Lehigh), 5-3
Quarterfinal results
No. 1 Iowa 44, Tennessee-Chattanooga 3
125 – Sean Boyle (Tennessee-Chattanooga) dec. Thomas Gilman (Iowa), 3-1 OT. 133 – Cory Clark (Iowa) pinned Nick Soto (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 4:16. 141 – Josh Dziewa (Iowa) dec. Mike Pongracz (Chattanooga), 4-2. 149 – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) won by tech. fall over Jacob Murphy (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 19-4. 157 – Mike Kelly (Iowa) pinned Austin Sams (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 4:32. 165 – Nick Moore (Iowa) dec. Justin Lampe (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 11-6. 174 – Mike Evans (Iowa) pinned Sean Mappes (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 4:44. 184 – Sammy Brooks (Iowa) pinned McCoy Newberg (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 1:53. 197 – Nathan Burak (Iowa) Scottie Boykin (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 7-4. 285 – Bobby Telford (Iowa) pinned Jared Johnson (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 2:50.
No. 2 Missouri 23, No. 12 Illinois 13
125 – Alan Waters (Missouri) dec. Jesse Delgado (Illinois), 6-2. 133 – Zane Richards (Illinois) dec. Zach Synon (Missouri), 9-2. 141 – Lavion Mayes (Missouri) dec. Steven Rodrigues (Illinois), 10-3. 149 – Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) dec. Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois, 6-3. 157 – Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) dec. Joseph LaVallee (Missouri), 17-6. 165 – Jackson Morse (Illinois) dec. Mike Englund (Missouri), 4-3. 174 – John Eblen (Missouri) pinned Zach Brunson (Illinois), 0:50. 184 – Lazarus Reyes (Illinois) dec. Willie Miklus (Missouri), 3-1 OT. 197 – J’den Cox (Missouri) dec. Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois), 15-3. 285 – Devin Mellon (Missouri) dec. Brooks Black (Illinois, 5-1 OT
No. 11 Lehigh 21, No. 3 Ohio State 18
125 – Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) dec. Scott Parker (Lehigh), 10-3. 133 – Zane Richards (Illinois) dec. Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State), 1-0. 141 – Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh), 4:52. 149 – Drew Longo (Lehigh) dec. Randall Languis (Ohio State), 2-1 OT. 157 – Mitchell Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Josh Demas (Ohio State), 3-1. 165 – Bo Jordan (Ohio State) tech. fall over Marshall Peppelman (Lehigh), 22-6. 174 – Santiago Martinez (Lehigh) dec. Mark Martin (Ohio State), 4-2. 184 – Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) pinned Kenny Courts (Ohio State), 3:30. 197 – Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) dec. Elliot Riddick (Lehigh), 9-1. 285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Nick Tavanello (Ohio State), 4-2 OT
No. 5 Cornell 19, No. 4 Minnesota 17
125 – Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) tech. fall over Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 18-2. 133 – Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) dec. Mark Grey (Cornell), 7-4. 141 – Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) dec. David Logan (Cornell), 19-10. 149 – Chris Villalonga (Cornell) dec. Jake Short (Cornell), 2-1. 157 – Brian Realbuto (Cornell) dec. Dylan Ness (Minnesota), 9-3. 165 – Dylan Palacio (Cornell) tech. fall over Nicholas Wanzek (Minnesota), 18-2. 174 – Logan Storley (Minnesota) dec. George Pickett (Cornell), 7-5. 184 – Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 10-4. 197 – Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Jace Bennett (Cornell), 7-1. 285 – Michael Kroells (Minnesota) dec. Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell), 10-1
IOWA CITY – Iowa’s Thomas Gilman didn’t stay down for long.
Upset in the day’s first match, the fifth-ranked Gilman fired in for a takedown late in his second match to upset No. 2 Nahshon Garrett of Cornell 3-1 in the National Duals semifinals.
Gilman’s huge win at 125 pounds ignited a boisterous crowd of 7,006 fans and sparked the No. 1 Hawkeyes to a 24-8 win over No. 5 Cornell on Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa (17-0) now advances to face No. 2 Missouri (23-0) in the National Duals finals on Sunday in Iowa City. Missouri defeated No. 11 Lehigh 23-9 in the other semifinal.
The Iowa-Missouri match is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. Central on Sunday and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Tickets are still available.
Gilman lost 3-1 in overtime to eighth-ranked Sean Boyle of Tennessee-Chattanooga earlier in the day before the Hawkeyes came back for a lopsided 44-3 win in the quarterfinal dual.
Gilman knocked off a returning NCAA runner-up in Garrett.
“Nahshon Garrett is very explosive and he can get underneath you in a hurry,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “You have to wrestle him patiently. We did a good job and didn’t walk into things. Gilman did a good job coming back after the first match.”
Iowa is seeking its seventh National Duals title. Missouri is shooting for its first title. The Tigers were second in this event in 2007.
“Missouri has been on the radar,” Brands said. “They are right behind us in the rankings. They’ve had some big wins and they’re undefeated. I know they’re looking forward to it and we’re looking forward to it. It should be a good dual.”
Iowa sophomore Cory Clark gave up the first takedown before recovering for a convincing 6-2 win over Cornell’s Mark Grey at 133. Clark pushed the pace with an aggressive attack to defeat Grey, a past Junior World Team member. Iowa’s Josh Dziewa followed with a win at 141 to push the Hawkeye team lead to 9-0.
Second-ranked Brandon Sorensen of Iowa continued his superb season in earning a 4-1 win over No. 5 Chris Villalonga at 149. That built Iowa’s team advantage to 12-zip. Sorensen is just a freshman.
Cornell’s drought ended when No. 4 Brian Realbuto held off No. 14 Michael Kelly of Iowa 10-7 at 157. Cornell’s Dylan Palacio then edged Iowa’s Nick Moore 6-5 at 165 despite being penalized for stalling twice in the final 30 seconds.
Two-time All-American Mike Evans of Iowa used a third-period takedown to clinch a 3-0 win over George Pickett at 174.
Top-ranked Gabe Dean of Cornell used a pair of takedowns to earn an impressive 6-2 win over No. 8 Sammy Brooks of Iowa at 184. Dean was a Junior World bronze medalist in 2014.
Iowa clinched the dual win when All-American Nathan Burak prevailed at 197. Hawkeye heavyweight Bobby Telford won by forfeit.
Missouri’s three No. 1 ranked wrestlers – Alan Waters (125), Drake Houdashelt (149) and J’den Cox (197) – each earned a pair of victories on Saturday.
“It’s exciting to see how consistent my team’s been all season,” Missouri coach Brian Smith said. “I’m real pleased with how we competed today against some really good teams.”
The Tigers have had a superb season, but will wrestle in front of a huge pro-Hawkeye crowd on Sunday.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll have success,” Smith said. “We’ve had some tough duals this year. We can’t focus on (Iowa’s) crowd, we just have to focus on what we can control. We have great leadership on this team.”
No. 11 Lehigh knocked off No. 3 Ohio State 21-18 in a quarterfinal dual that came down to the final bout at heavyweight. Lehigh’s Doug Vollaro shot in on a single and finished for a takedown to edge Nick Tavanello 4-2 in the second sudden-victory period.
Realbuto of Cornell came out aggressively en route to upsetting No. 1 Dylan Ness of Minnesota 9-3 at 157. Realbuto led 5-3 late in the match before taking Ness to his back to clinch the win. Ness, a two-time NCAA runner-up, suffered his first loss of the season.
Realbuto’s upset sparked Cornell to a 19-17 win over the Gophers.
Waters started quickly en route to a 6-2 win over two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois at 125. The Tigers defeated the Fighting Illini 23-13.
NWCA National Duals
Feb. 21-22, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
Semifinal results
No. 1 Iowa 24, No. 5 Cornell 8
125 – Thomas Gilman (Iowa) dec. Nahshon Garrett (Cornell), 3-1. 133 – Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. Mark Grey (Cornell), 6-2. 141 – Josh Dziewa (Iowa) dec. Dylan Realbuto (Cornell), 5-3. 149 – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. Chris Villalonga (Cornell), 4-1. 157 – Brian Realbuto (Cornell) dec. Michael Kelly (Iowa), 10-7. 165 - Dylan Palacio (Cornell) dec. Nick Moore (Iowa), 5-4. 174 – Mike Evans (Iowa) dec. George Pickett (Cornell), 3-0. 184 – Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. Sammy Brooks (Iowa), 6-2. 197 – Nathan Burak (Iowa) dec. Jace Bennett (Cornell), 3-2. 285 – Bobby Telford (Iowa) won by forfeit.
No. 2 Missouri 23, No. 11 Lehigh 9
125 – Alan Waters (Missouri) dec. Scott Parker (Lehigh), 6-2. 133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Zach Synon (Missouri), 9-4. 141 – Lavion Mayes (Missouri) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh), 11-3. 149 – Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) dec. Drew Longo (Lehigh), 10-2. 157 – Mitchell Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Joseph LaVallee (Missouri), 2-0. 165 – Mike England (Missouri) dec. Marshall Peppelman (Lehigh), 6-1. 174 – John Eblen (Missouri) dec. Santiago Martinez (Lehigh), 4-2. 184 – Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) dec. Willie Miklus (Missouri), 7-3. 197 – J’den Cox (Missouri) dec. Elliot Riddick (Lehigh), 4-0. 285 – Devin Mellon (Missouri) dec. Doug Vollaro (Lehigh), 5-3
Quarterfinal results
No. 1 Iowa 44, Tennessee-Chattanooga 3
125 – Sean Boyle (Tennessee-Chattanooga) dec. Thomas Gilman (Iowa), 3-1 OT. 133 – Cory Clark (Iowa) pinned Nick Soto (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 4:16. 141 – Josh Dziewa (Iowa) dec. Mike Pongracz (Chattanooga), 4-2. 149 – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) won by tech. fall over Jacob Murphy (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 19-4. 157 – Mike Kelly (Iowa) pinned Austin Sams (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 4:32. 165 – Nick Moore (Iowa) dec. Justin Lampe (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 11-6. 174 – Mike Evans (Iowa) pinned Sean Mappes (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 4:44. 184 – Sammy Brooks (Iowa) pinned McCoy Newberg (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 1:53. 197 – Nathan Burak (Iowa) Scottie Boykin (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 7-4. 285 – Bobby Telford (Iowa) pinned Jared Johnson (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 2:50.
No. 2 Missouri 23, No. 12 Illinois 13
125 – Alan Waters (Missouri) dec. Jesse Delgado (Illinois), 6-2. 133 – Zane Richards (Illinois) dec. Zach Synon (Missouri), 9-2. 141 – Lavion Mayes (Missouri) dec. Steven Rodrigues (Illinois), 10-3. 149 – Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) dec. Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois, 6-3. 157 – Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) dec. Joseph LaVallee (Missouri), 17-6. 165 – Jackson Morse (Illinois) dec. Mike Englund (Missouri), 4-3. 174 – John Eblen (Missouri) pinned Zach Brunson (Illinois), 0:50. 184 – Lazarus Reyes (Illinois) dec. Willie Miklus (Missouri), 3-1 OT. 197 – J’den Cox (Missouri) dec. Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois), 15-3. 285 – Devin Mellon (Missouri) dec. Brooks Black (Illinois, 5-1 OT
No. 11 Lehigh 21, No. 3 Ohio State 18
125 – Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) dec. Scott Parker (Lehigh), 10-3. 133 – Zane Richards (Illinois) dec. Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State), 1-0. 141 – Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh), 4:52. 149 – Drew Longo (Lehigh) dec. Randall Languis (Ohio State), 2-1 OT. 157 – Mitchell Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Josh Demas (Ohio State), 3-1. 165 – Bo Jordan (Ohio State) tech. fall over Marshall Peppelman (Lehigh), 22-6. 174 – Santiago Martinez (Lehigh) dec. Mark Martin (Ohio State), 4-2. 184 – Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) pinned Kenny Courts (Ohio State), 3:30. 197 – Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) dec. Elliot Riddick (Lehigh), 9-1. 285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Nick Tavanello (Ohio State), 4-2 OT
No. 5 Cornell 19, No. 4 Minnesota 17
125 – Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) tech. fall over Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 18-2. 133 – Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) dec. Mark Grey (Cornell), 7-4. 141 – Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) dec. David Logan (Cornell), 19-10. 149 – Chris Villalonga (Cornell) dec. Jake Short (Cornell), 2-1. 157 – Brian Realbuto (Cornell) dec. Dylan Ness (Minnesota), 9-3. 165 – Dylan Palacio (Cornell) tech. fall over Nicholas Wanzek (Minnesota), 18-2. 174 – Logan Storley (Minnesota) dec. George Pickett (Cornell), 7-5. 184 – Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 10-4. 197 – Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Jace Bennett (Cornell), 7-1. 285 – Michael Kroells (Minnesota) dec. Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell), 10-1
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