NCAA finals set, All-Americans crowned after thrilling semi-final session at NCAA Championships in New York

Thomas Gilman (Iowa) celebrates after pinning NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) in the 125 lbs. semifinals. Photo: Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com.

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NEW YORK – In a tournament filled with upsets at every turn, favorites held firm in the semifinal session of the 2016 NCAA Division I Championships in front of a rocking crowd of 18,309 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.

Penn State has all but cinched the program’s fifth NCAA title in the past six seasons. The Nittany Lions boast a whopping 114 team points, 34 points ahead of second place Oklahoma State. Iowa, Virginia Tech and Ohio State round out the top-five teams heading into the final day of competition.

“We're happy we wrestled well, a lot of tough matches, big day, quarter and semifinals,” said Penn State Head Coach Cael Sanderson. “Tonight was good. We went 8 for 8, which is good, Conaway wrestled great. He was in the wrestle backs, beat a couple of All-Americans, I believe, and everyone in the semis you guys already know.”

Mathematically only Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech have the firepower to catch Penn State in the team race. All other teams have been eliminated from national title contention.

Nine No. 1 seeds made their way to the NCAA finals set for tomorrow night at 8 p.m. (ET). The only top seed to fall came in the first semi-final bout of the evening.

Thomas Gilman waited over a year for another shot at returning NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello, and the Hawkeye made the most of his opportunity. After eluding a potential match-clinching takedown by Tomasello at the end of the third period, Gilman worked a little Hawkeye magic, pinning his fierce Buckeye rival in the first sudden victory period.

“You know, me and Tom talked about, if it's 1-1, going into that third period, you don't have to rush anything,” Gilman said. “And when I got into overtime, I hooked his head with my foot. I made an adjustment there. And that's something -- if you look at my career, that something I've really done well is making adjustments, not only day-to-day or year-to-year but within the match itself. And that's what good wrestlers do. They make adjustments within the match. I thank my ability there.”

Gilman, the No. 4 seed at 125 pounds, will look to avenge a loss to another Big Ten rival, No. 3 seed Nico Megaludis of Penn State, tomorrow night. The two squared off in the Big Ten semifinals two weeks ago with Megaludis winning in overtime. Megaludis is now a four-time NCAA All-American and three-time NCAA finalist with one match left in his stellar Nittany Lion career.

Immediately following Gilman’s pin, a second defending NCAA champion was pinned in spectacular fashion as No. 1 Nahshon Garrett stunned No. 4 Cody Brewer in 21 seconds.

“I knew I had to attack right away, and I did. I think he was trying to look for something big, and I don't think he really wanted to wrestle me. Then it happened the way it happened. It's absolutely surreal. After, I was just like, did that just happen? I thought I was in a dream for a second. I didn't realize what was going on,” said Garrett.

Garrett, now a four-time NCAA All-American and two-time NCAA finalist, will face No. 2 Cory Clark of Iowa for the 133-pound national title. Clark scored a late takedown to top No. 3 Zane Richards of Illinois, 4-3, in a rematch of the Big Ten finals, also won by Clark. The Hawkeye finished in second place at 133 to Brewer last season.

The most surprising run to the NCAA finals came from Wyoming’s No. 14 seed Bryce Meredith at 141 pounds. Meredith stymied No. 2 seed Joey McKenna of Stanford, 5-3, to cap off his improbable finals berth.

“Everybody in the country has known that this weight could be blown wide open by anybody, and being put at the 14 seed, I wasn't worried about it. I knew I was going to get there really no matter where I was at in the bracket. I knew I could beat anybody at any given moment. Now I'm in the finals, and it feels good. It feels everything that you would ever expect,” said Meredith.

The first NCAA finalist for Wyoming in 20 years, Meredith will face Big 12 foe Dean Heil of Oklahoma State in the 141-pound finals. Heil beat Mereidth 5-4 in the Oklahoma State-Wyoming dual meet in December. The two did not meet at the Big 12 Championships where Heil placed first and Meredith third.

At 149 pounds, top-seed Zain Retherford of Penn State continued his carnage by pinning No. 5 Alec Pantaelo of Michigan in 4:49. Retherford will face Iowa’s No. 2 Brandon Sorensen in the finals. The two last met in the Big Ten finals with Retherford winning 4-0.

The rubber match wrestling fans have been clamoring for will take place on the elevated stage as both No. 1 Isaiah Martinez of Illinois and No. 3 Jason Nolf of Penn State booked their trip to the 157-pound finals on Friday night. Martinez narrowly escaped the always-dangerous Ian Miller of Kent State, 7-5, in sudden victory while Nolf dominated Chad Walsh of Rider by 19-4 technical fall.

Nolf handed Martinez his first and only collegiate loss when he pinned the defending NCAA champion in the Illinois-Penn State dual meet on Jan. 23. Martinez retaliated with a 4-3 overtime win over Nolf in the Big Ten finals.

“I had a feeling it was going to come down to me and him. I just don't think anyone knows the right way to wrestle him, and I've kind of figured it out. If it's the way I want it to be tomorrow, it'll be entertaining and it'll be a brawl,” said Martinez on wrestling Nolf for the third time.

Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State is now one win away from claiming his third NCAA title and cementing himself in Cowboy wrestling lore. Standing in the way of history is No. 2 seed Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin. Both Dieringer and Jordan are undefeated on the season with Dieringer’s undefeated streak sitting at 81 straight wins.

“I don't want to think about it too much, you know,” Dieringer said about wrestling his final match for Oklahoma State. “I don't want to get sad about it even though it's going to be a sad day after tomorrow night. I'm just going to try to stay calm and focus on my match.”

It will be an all freshman battle in the 174-pound finals as No. 1 Bo Nickal of Penn State and No. 11 Myles Martin of Ohio State will meet for the fourth time this season. Nickal has won all three of the previous match-ups between the two. Most recently, Nickal pinned Martin in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships.

Defending NCAA champion Gabe Dean of Cornell will get his chance to repeat at 184 pounds after cruising past No. 13 Pete Renda of NC State in the semifinals. Dean is slated to face No. 7 Timothy Dudley in the championship match. Dean defeated Dudley by 11-3 major decision in November.

No. 1 Morgan McIntosh capped off a 5-0 semi-final round for Penn State when he beat No. 4 Nathan Burak of Iowa, 4-2, at 197 pounds. McIntosh will face past NCAA champion J’den Cox of Missouri in a highly anticipated final installment between the two.

The NCAA finals will be highlighted by the most anticipated heavyweight showdown in recent memory with No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski of NC State facing No. 2 Kyle Snyder of Ohio State with history on the line.

Gwiazdowski won a 3-2 nail-biter over No. 5 Adam Coon of Michigan in a rematch of last year’s heavyweight finals, increasing his NCAA leading win streak to 87 matches in-a-row. Gwiazdowski is one win away from becoming the first heavyweight since Pitt-Johnstown’s Carlton Haselrig (1985-87) to win a third NCAA title in the weight class.

“I want to wrestle the best guy. If you want to be the NCAA champ you have got to wrestle the best guy, so we are the two best guys at this point. So tomorrow night we will find out and either way I think it's good for the media attention, also for both of us,” said Gwiazdowski.

Snyder passed his toughest heavyweight test to date by beating No. 3 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech, 10-6, in his semi-final bout. Snyder became the youngest World champion in U.S. men’s freestyle history last September.

“We trained together a lot this summer. He comes up to Ohio State and trains, a decent amount last year and we made the decision we were texting back and forth to see how each other was doing and he's a good guy and we didn't think we were going to wrestle each other,” said Snyder.

The NCAA has announced that Gwiazdowski vs. Snyder will be the headline match of the NCAA finals on Saturday night meaning action will begin with Gilman vs. Megaludis at 125 pounds and end with the epic heavyweight clash.

Penn State, Oklahoma State, Iowa and Virginia Tech all finished the day tied with six All-Americans. No other team claims more than four.

Session five of the NCAA Championships will resume at 11 a.m. (ET) Saturday night with the All-American rounds. All the action 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 114.0
2. Oklahoma State 79.5
3. Iowa 77.5
4. Virginia Tech 69.5
5. Ohio State 68.0
6. Missouri 58.5
7. Nebraska 56.0
8. Cornell 53.5
9. North Carolina State 43.0
10. Illinois 42.0

Championships Finals
125 lbs. – No. 4 Thomas Gillman (Iowa) vs. No. 3. Nico Megaludis (Penn State)
133 lbs. – No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) vs. No. 2 Cory Clark (Iowa)
141 lbs. – No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 14 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming)
149 lbs. – No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa)
157 lbs. – No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State)
165 lbs. – No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 2 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin)
174 lbs. – No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 11 Myles Martin (Ohio State)
184 lbs. – No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) vs. No. 7 Timothy Dudley (Nebraska)
197 lbs. – No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) vs. No. 2 J’den Cox (Missouri)
285 lbs. – No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) vs. No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State)

Semifinal Results
125 pounds
No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) fall No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State), 7:37 SV1
No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. No. 15 David Terao (American), 8-2

133 pounds
No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) fall No. 4 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma), 0:21
No. 2 Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. No. 3 Zane Richards (Illinois), 4-3

141 pounds
No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers), 8-3
No. 14 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) dec. No. 2 Joey McKenna (Stanford), 5-3

149 pounds
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) fall No. 5 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan), 4:49
No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. No. 11 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State), 4-2

157 pounds
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) dec. No. 4 Ian Miller (Kent State), 7-5 SV1
No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) tech. fall No. 15 Chad Walsh (Rider), 19-4

165 pounds
No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 14-4
No. 2 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. No. 3 Bo Jordan (Ohio State), 5-4

174 pounds
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) dec. No. 12 Nathan Jackson (Indiana), 4-3
No. 11 Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State), 8-2

184 pounds
No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. No. 13 Pete Renda (North Carolina State), 9-4
No. 7 Timothy Dudley (Nebraska) maj. dec. No. 14 Willie Miklus (Missouri), 12-4

197 pounds
No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) dec. No. 4 Nathan Burak (Iowa), 4-2
No. 2 J’den Cox (Missouri) fall No. 3 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 6:29

285 pounds
No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) dec. No. 5 Adam Coon (Michigan), 3-2
No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) dec. No. 3 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech), 10-6