Penn State holds early team lead as wild first day of NCAA Championships concludes

No. 15 seed David Terao (American) after upsetting No. 2 seed Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) at 125 lbs. Photo: Larry Slater.

VIDEO: NCAA Championships Athlete and Coach Interviews

NEW YORK – The upset trend continues at the 2016 NCAA Division I Championships at Madison Square Garden as six unseeded wrestlers and countless other underdogs have found a spot in the championship quarterfinals.

Half of the unseeded quarterfinalists live in the 174-pound weight class with Jadaen Bernstein of Navy, Matt Reed of Oklahoma and Lelund Weatherspoon of Iowa State continuing their winning ways in the second session of wrestling.

Furthermore, of the top-eight seeds at 174 only No. 1 seed Bo Nickal of Penn State and No. 7 seed Cody Walters of Ohio advanced to the quarter-final round.

Unseeded wrestlers Conor Youtsey of Michigan at 125 pounds, Patrick Downey of Iowa State at 197 pounds and Brooks Black of Illinois at 285 pounds are also writing their Cinderella stories and will wrestle in tomorrow’s quarterfinals.

“It has been a rollercoaster, emotions from every spectrum, but I can’t be happier with the way it is going,” Downey said after his second round victory. “Coach and I felt it was best for me to go 197, best for the team. Not being able to nutrition down during the year, having some injuries, eligibility issues, our 184 pounder being a qualifier. It was the best move and I am just trying to keep it rolling.”

The second round saw four more top-four seeds topple to the consolation rounds in front of a sellout crowd of 17,805 in New York City.

At 125 pounds No. 15 seed David Terao of American gave fans the first major upset of the Thursday night session by shocking No. 2 seed Joey Dance of Virginia Tech, 5-3. This is Terao’s second big time second round upset in as many years. He took out two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois in the second round last year.

“It just means I keep wrestling how I have been wrestling. Coming in, I haven’t had the best season for sure. None of that matters here as long as I get in and I get the chance. I am pulling out all the stops and giving it everything I have,” said Terao.

It was a tough second session for the upstart North Carolina State Wolfpack as No. 3 seed Kevin Jack and No. 2 seed Tommy Gantt suffered second round losses.

Jack was pitted against former NC State teammate Bryce Meredith who transferred to Wyoming for this season. Meredith edged the apparent 141-pound finals contender, Jack, by a 5-3 decision.

“He was one of my best friends last year, you know, we bonded well. We always joked around that we were going to wrestle at the NCAA tournament and we were hoping in a later round, but hey we don’t get to choose this. I had to go out there and, I mean, it’s my dream too you know,” said Meredith.

Senior Tommy Gantt entered the NCAA Championships with a perfect 25-0 record for the Wolfpack. No. 15 seed Chad Walsh of Rider put a stop to Gantt’s winning ways and ended the dream of an undefeated season, defeating Gantt 11-8.

Walsh will face Cody Pack of South Dakota State for a berth in the 157-pound semifinals.

“I lost to him earlier in the year. It was just a battle, just like that,” Walsh said. “This time I just wanted to come in to him with a clean slate, wrestle my own match and stay in it the whole time. That first period, we had about five minutes of breaks. We were out on the mat for a half hour. Just keeping calm through that whole fiasco that was going on out on the mat was helping me keep my head in it and helped me win at the end."

The final top-four seed to fall on Thursday was No. 4 seed at 184 pounds Domenic Abounader of Michigan. It came down to sudden victory with No. 13 seed Peter Renda of NC State securing the 4-2 win over Abounader.

Penn State has claimed the top spot in the team standings with 27.5 points. The Nittany Lions moved six wrestlers into the quarterfinals and nearly had a seventh with Geno Morelli dropping an overtime heartbreaker to No. 6 seed Steven Rodrigues of Illinois at 165 pounds.

Top-seeded Nittany Lions Zain Retherford, Bo Nickal and Morgan McIntosh all remained steady as they advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Penn State lightweights impressed on Thursday evening. 133-pounder Jordan Conaway avenged two losses to Ryan Taylor of Wisconsin from the Big Ten Championships by putting together an 8-5 win over the No. 12 seeded Badger. Additionally, three-time NCAA All-American Nico Megaludis picked up a 4-2 decision over No. 14 seed Joshua Rodriguez of North Dakota State at 125 pounds.

Bonus point machine Jason Nolf continued to dominate, winning his two matches today by fall and technical fall. Nolf will face Oklahoma State freshman Joe Smith in the 157-pound quarterfinals tomorrow.

“It’s been awesome. I love competing and I love watching my teammates compete, so it’s been good. It’s nationals, but it’s just another tournament too. I’ve been in venues this big before. This is where I have to peak. I have to be at my best, so I keep that in mind. We want to get bonus points as much as possible, but we have three days to do it too,” said Nolf.

The defending NCAA champions from Ohio State end the day tied with Oklahoma State in second place with five quarterfinalists and 24 team points.

As expected, NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello, All-American Bo Jordan and World champion Kyle Snyder cruised to the quarterfinals, but the difference for Ohio State has come from its freshman stars Micah Jordan and Myles Martin who also advanced. According to seeds, all five Buckeyes are favored to make the semi-final round.

“We went five for six (on the championship side). We need the wrestlebacks at 157 and 184. We picked up bonus points in two of the matches, so tomorrow morning is going to be good. We feel good. It is one round at a time. Be who you are, know who you are, stay in the positions you are good at and battle.  As the tournament wears on, you have to continue to battle. Big round in the morning. We have to do the work,” said Ohio State Head Coach Tom Ryan.

Oklahoma State has pushed seven wrestlers to the quarter-final round, the most of any team.

No. 9 seed at 174 pounds Chandler Rogers and No. 11 seed at 149 pounds Anthony Collica scored huge wins for the Cowboys in the second round. Rogers picked up a fall with 0:01 left on the clock against Casey Kent of Penn while Collica upended past NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern, 3-2.

“The seven guys advanced this past round that won this morning. It was so important we did what we did,” Oklahoma State Head Coach John Smith said. “Collica getting the big upset; and having two freshmen in there getting wins; Dieringer doing his thing. It was a good round. It was as good of a second round as I can remember.”

Nebraska continues to surprise as the Huskers end the day in fourth-place overall with five quarterfinalists and 20 team points.

Timothy Dudley capped the spectacular Husker performance with a 7-3 win over returning NCAA runner-up Nate Brown of Lehigh. Dudley will face Iowa’s Sammy Brooks in a rematch of the Big Ten Championships finals tomorrow morning.

Iowa Hawkeyes Thomas Gilman, Cory Clark, Brandon Sorensen, Sammy Brooks and Nathan Burak all advanced to the quarterfinals with sound second round victories. The Hawkeyes are tied for the fifth-place spot in the team race with 20 points alongside Missouri and Virginia Tech.

It was a battle of high school teammates at 125 pounds when Ryan Millhof of Oklahoma defeated Sean Russell of Edinboro by a nail-biting 1-0 margin. Millhof joins Matt Reed and defending NCAA champion Cody Brewer in the quarterfinals for the surging Sooners.

“It’s always tough. A tough competitor, and you saw the score. We’re attacking. It’s just hard. You train with someone since you were five years old, you know, it’s tough. Find a way to win. I guess that’s all that really matters,” said Millhof.

Cornell No. 1 seeds Nahshon Garrett and Gabe Dean punched through to the quarterfinals for the Big Red.

Garrett will face No. 8 seed Earl Hall at 133 pounds tomorrow. 133 is the only weight class in which all of the top-eight seeds made the quarter-final round.

Dean will look to avenge his lone loss of the season tomorrow morning against the always-dangerous Nolan Boyd of Oklahoma State. Boyd defeated Dean 14-9 in the Oklahoma State-Cornell dual meet just over one month ago.

Day two of the NCAA Championships will resume at 11 a.m. (ET) Friday morning. Session III can be viewed live on ESPNU and WatchESPN.

2016 NCAA DIVISION I WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, N.Y.

Team Standings
1. Penn State 27.5
2. Ohio State 24.0
2. Oklahoma State 24.0
4. Nebraska 20.0
5. Iowa 17.5
5. Missouri 17.5
5. Virginia Tech 17.5
8. Michigan 15.0
9. North Carolina State 13.0
9. Oklahoma 13.0

Quarterfinal Pairings
125 pounds
No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) vs No. 9 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa)
No. 5 Ryan Millhof (Oklahoma) vs. No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa)
No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) vs. Conor Youtsey (Michigan)
No. 10 Connor Schram (Stanford) vs. No. 15 David Terao (American)

133 pounds
No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) vs. No. 8 Earl Hall (Iowa State)
No. 5 Jordan Conaway (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma)
No. 3 Zane Richards (Illinois) vs. No. 6 George DiCamillo (Virginia)
No. 7 Eric Montoya (Nebraska) vs. No. 2 Cory Clark (Iowa)

141 pounds
No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 8 Joey Ward (North Carolina)
No. 12 Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) vs. No. 4 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers)
No. 14 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) vs. No. 6 Micah Jordan (Ohio State)
No. 7 Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 2 Joey McKenna (Stanford)

149 pounds
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. No. 9 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan)
No. 5 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) vs. No. 4 Matthew Cimato (Drexel)
No. 3 Lavion Mayes (Missouri) vs. No. 11 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State)
No. 7 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) vs. No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa)

157 pounds
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. No. 8 Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech)
No. 12 Brian Murphy (Michigan) vs. No. 4 Ian Miller (Kent State)
No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 6 Joe Smith (Oklahoma State)
No. 7 Cody Pack (South Dakota State) vs. No. 15 Chad Walsh (Rider)

165 pounds
No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 9 Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State)
No. 12 Connor Brennan (Rider) vs. No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri)
No. 3 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 6 Steven Rodrigues (Illinois)
No. 10 Austin Wilson (Nebraska) vs. No. 2 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin)

174 pounds
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 9 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State)
No. 12 Nathan Jackson (Indiana) vs. Jadaen Bernstein (Navy)
Matt Reed (Oklahoma) vs. No. 11 Myles Martin (Ohio State)
No. 7 Cody Walters (Ohio) vs. Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State)

184 pounds
No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) vs. No. 8 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State)
No. 5 Zachary Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 13 Pete Renda (North Carolina State)
No. 14 Willie Miklus (Missouri) vs. No. 11 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn)
No. 7 Timothy Dudley (Nebraska) vs. No. 2 Sammy Brooks (Iowa)

197 pounds
No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska)
No. 5 Conner Hartmann (Duke) vs. No. 4 Nathan Burak (Iowa)
No. 3 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) vs. Pat Downey (Iowa State)
No. 7 Brett Harner (Princeton) vs. No. 2 J’den Cox (Missouri)

285 pounds
No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) vs. No. 8 Max Wessell (Lehigh)
No. 5 Adam Coon (Michigan) vs. No. 4 Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State)
No. 3 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) vs. Brooks Black (Illinois)
No. 7 Amarveer Dhesi (Oregon State) vs. No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State)