Upset by Maryland's Myers caps wild first session at NCAA Championships
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by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
Maryland’s Spencer Myers knocked off No. 3 seed Bobby Telford of Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Championships on Thursday afternoon. Tony Rotundo photo.
ST. LOUIS – Maryland’s Spencer Myers had wrestled just 12 matches this season entering the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
But the two-sport athlete sent shockwaves through the Scottrade Center with a huge upset in the first session of the three-day tournament.
Myers scored an early takedown and near fall en route to a stunning 7-5 first-round upset over No. 3 Bobby Telford of Iowa as the 85th NCAA Wrestling Championships kicked off before 18,383 fans.
Myers, a member of the Terrapins football team this past fall, scored a pair of takedowns in downing a two-time All-American heavyweight in Telford.
“It’s my last year, and I’ve got a little bit of a monkey on my back,” said Myers, who placed seventh at the Big Ten tournament but placed sixth at the 2011 NCAAs. “I was an All-American my freshman year, and then went 0-2 and 1-2 my last two trips to this tournament. I lost to him last year and this year, so it’s a little bit of a payback. This is my last shot and I just want to leave it all out there.”
The second round is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Scottrade Center and will be televised on ESPNU.
No. 4 Ohio State has the early team lead with 13.5 points, followed by four-time defending champion Penn State with 11.5 points. No. 1 Missouri and No. 5 Cornell are next with 11 points apiece. No. 2 Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska have 10 points each.
Ohio State went 7-3 in the first session. Penn State was a perfect 7-0. Missouri advanced seven athletes to the second round. Cornell and Iowa pushed six wrestlers into the second round.
“We’ve still got 10 alive – four on the backside and six on the frontside,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “The tournament’s not over. You got to move forward.
“(Telford’s loss) is obviously a hit. It’s not where we want to be. I wouldn’t call it devastating. He can still wrestle back.”
Third-ranked Minnesota is in 11th with seven points, but went 6-2 with all five of its senior All-Americans advancing.
Three-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State rolled to an 18-1 technical fall over Princeton’s Jordan Laster at 141. The powerful Stieber scored a quick takedown and then piled up big points with a barrage of turns from the top position.
Stieber is looking to join Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith, Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson and Cornell’s Kyle Dake as four-time NCAA champions.
“It feels good to get the first one out of the way,” Stieber said. “I’m ready to go. I just have to take it one at a time and get to where I need to be.”
Two-time NCAA champion and unseeded Jesse Delgado of Illinois defeated No. 8 Tyler Cox of Wyoming 3-2 at 125. Delgado scored a first-period takedown en route to the win.
“Seedings don’t matter,” Delgado said. “Four more matches. I won, so now I move on to the next match. I’ve won this tournament twice and I’m ready to go.”
The Hawkeyes suffered another setback at 141 when North Carolina State’s Kevin Jack rallied from a 3-1 deficit to knock off No. 5 Josh Dziewa of Iowa 6-3.
Missouri took an early hit at 174 when No. 4 seed John Eblen fell 6-4 to Oregon State’s Joe Latham at 174.
Ohio State picked up a big win at 184 when Kenny Courts downed No. 6 Hayden Zilmer of North Dakota State 6-4 in sudden victory.
Nebraska’s Austin Wilson knocked off No. 2 seed Mike Moreno of Iowa State 7-5 at 165.
Unseeded Caleb Richardson of Penn State knocked off No. 9 A.J. Schopp of Edinboro 4-2 at 133. Schopp placed fourth here last year.
No. 3 seed David Habat of Edinboro downed returning runner-up Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State 7-0 at 149. Kindig was competing with a hamstring injury where had to injury default twice at the Big 12 tournament.
Returning champions Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern (149), Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State (165), J’den Cox of Missouri (197) and Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State (285) all advanced to the second round.
Cox and fellow top-seeded teammates Alan Waters (125) and Drake Houdashelt (149) also advanced.
“I just went out there and tried to give our team a spark,” Waters said. “This season’s been awesome and we just have to keep it going. We know what we need to do. We just have to want to go out there and have fun. This is what we’ve been working for all year.”
Team scoring (top 10)
Ohio State 13.5, Penn State 11.5, Cornell 11, Missouri 11, Iowa 10, Michigan 10, Nebraska 10, Oklahoma State 9, Virginia Tech 9, Illinois 8.5
ST. LOUIS – Maryland’s Spencer Myers had wrestled just 12 matches this season entering the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
But the two-sport athlete sent shockwaves through the Scottrade Center with a huge upset in the first session of the three-day tournament.
Myers scored an early takedown and near fall en route to a stunning 7-5 first-round upset over No. 3 Bobby Telford of Iowa as the 85th NCAA Wrestling Championships kicked off before 18,383 fans.
Myers, a member of the Terrapins football team this past fall, scored a pair of takedowns in downing a two-time All-American heavyweight in Telford.
“It’s my last year, and I’ve got a little bit of a monkey on my back,” said Myers, who placed seventh at the Big Ten tournament but placed sixth at the 2011 NCAAs. “I was an All-American my freshman year, and then went 0-2 and 1-2 my last two trips to this tournament. I lost to him last year and this year, so it’s a little bit of a payback. This is my last shot and I just want to leave it all out there.”
The second round is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Scottrade Center and will be televised on ESPNU.
No. 4 Ohio State has the early team lead with 13.5 points, followed by four-time defending champion Penn State with 11.5 points. No. 1 Missouri and No. 5 Cornell are next with 11 points apiece. No. 2 Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska have 10 points each.
Ohio State went 7-3 in the first session. Penn State was a perfect 7-0. Missouri advanced seven athletes to the second round. Cornell and Iowa pushed six wrestlers into the second round.
“We’ve still got 10 alive – four on the backside and six on the frontside,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “The tournament’s not over. You got to move forward.
“(Telford’s loss) is obviously a hit. It’s not where we want to be. I wouldn’t call it devastating. He can still wrestle back.”
Third-ranked Minnesota is in 11th with seven points, but went 6-2 with all five of its senior All-Americans advancing.
Three-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State rolled to an 18-1 technical fall over Princeton’s Jordan Laster at 141. The powerful Stieber scored a quick takedown and then piled up big points with a barrage of turns from the top position.
Stieber is looking to join Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith, Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson and Cornell’s Kyle Dake as four-time NCAA champions.
“It feels good to get the first one out of the way,” Stieber said. “I’m ready to go. I just have to take it one at a time and get to where I need to be.”
Two-time NCAA champion and unseeded Jesse Delgado of Illinois defeated No. 8 Tyler Cox of Wyoming 3-2 at 125. Delgado scored a first-period takedown en route to the win.
“Seedings don’t matter,” Delgado said. “Four more matches. I won, so now I move on to the next match. I’ve won this tournament twice and I’m ready to go.”
The Hawkeyes suffered another setback at 141 when North Carolina State’s Kevin Jack rallied from a 3-1 deficit to knock off No. 5 Josh Dziewa of Iowa 6-3.
Missouri took an early hit at 174 when No. 4 seed John Eblen fell 6-4 to Oregon State’s Joe Latham at 174.
Ohio State picked up a big win at 184 when Kenny Courts downed No. 6 Hayden Zilmer of North Dakota State 6-4 in sudden victory.
Nebraska’s Austin Wilson knocked off No. 2 seed Mike Moreno of Iowa State 7-5 at 165.
Unseeded Caleb Richardson of Penn State knocked off No. 9 A.J. Schopp of Edinboro 4-2 at 133. Schopp placed fourth here last year.
No. 3 seed David Habat of Edinboro downed returning runner-up Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State 7-0 at 149. Kindig was competing with a hamstring injury where had to injury default twice at the Big 12 tournament.
Returning champions Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern (149), Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State (165), J’den Cox of Missouri (197) and Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State (285) all advanced to the second round.
Cox and fellow top-seeded teammates Alan Waters (125) and Drake Houdashelt (149) also advanced.
“I just went out there and tried to give our team a spark,” Waters said. “This season’s been awesome and we just have to keep it going. We know what we need to do. We just have to want to go out there and have fun. This is what we’ve been working for all year.”
Team scoring (top 10)
Ohio State 13.5, Penn State 11.5, Cornell 11, Missouri 11, Iowa 10, Michigan 10, Nebraska 10, Oklahoma State 9, Virginia Tech 9, Illinois 8.5
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