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Penn State and Ohio State push seven wrestlers to semifinals at Big Ten Championships

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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling

Video: 2017 Big Ten Championships Athlete and Coach Interviews

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After an action-packed first session at the 2017 Big Ten Championships, defending conference champions Penn State hold a narrow two-point lead over Ohio State heading into tonight’s semifinal round.

The top-ranked Nittany Lions and sixth-ranked Buckeyes both advanced seven wrestlers to the semifinals set for 6 p.m. (ET) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on the campus of Indiana University.

After sitting idle for much of the first round with six wrestlers receiving byes, Penn State surged in the quarterfinals, scoring falls from Zain Retherford at 149 pounds, Jason Nolf at 157 pounds, Mark Hall at 174 pounds, Bo Nickal at 184 pounds and Nick Nevills at 285 pounds.

Also moving on to the semifinals for Penn State with decision wins were Vincenzo Joseph at 165 pounds and Matt McCutcheon at 197 pounds.

“We’re excited and everyone is down there rooting on the guys as soon as they’re done, they’re sitting on the floor watching. I think that’s part of our team, they’re out there competing for each other. Everyone looked great. It’s pretty exciting when you get that many pins in-a-row,” McCutcheon said.

A pair of No. 2 seeds for Penn State fell short of the semifinals. Freshman Nick Suriano weighed-in at 125 pounds, but elected to injury default out of the tournament. Jimmy Gulibon was upset in the 149-pound quarterfinals by Javier Gasca III of Michigan State, losing by fall in the third period.

Led by NCAA champions Nathan Tomasello, Myles Martin and Kyle Snyder, Ohio State kept itself within striking distance of Penn State.

Martin picked up a 12-7 win over NCAA finalist Tim Dudley of Nebraska in the premier match of the morning session. He will now see Nickal in the 184-pound semifinals in a rematch of the 174-pound NCAA finals from last year.

The Olympic and World champion Snyder cruised to a 26-9 technical fall over No. 8 seed Razohnn Gross of Rutgers to advance to the 285-pound semifinals.

Bo Jordan, the top seed at 174 pounds, narrowly escaped his quarterfinal bout against Indiana’s Devin Skatzka. Jordan trailed the majority of the match, but pushed ahead with a takedown and ride-out late in the third period to win, 10-8.

No. 5 seed Luke Pletcher scored a mild upset over No. 4 seed Colton McCrystal of Nebraska in the quarterfinals, 6-4, to set a match against defending Big Ten champion Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers in the 141-pound semifinals.

Underclassmen Micah Jordan and Kollin Moore also secured semifinal berths for the Buckeyes on Saturday morning, Jordan at 149 pounds and Moore at 197 pounds.

Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan all pushed five wrestlers into tonight’s semifinals.

Advancing to the semis for the Hawkeyes were NCAA finalists Thomas Gilman, Cory Clark and Brandon Sorensen, in addition to Big Ten champion Sammy Brooks and freshman Michael Kemerer. Iowa currently sits in third place overall, 12.5 points behind Ohio State.

“Roller coaster is a tournament, but you got to ride them and want to stay high, but we got a lot of matches to go,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “It’s early in the tournament and there is a lot to still be fighting for.”

2.5 points behind Iowa, Minnesota picked up quarterfinal wins from Mitch McKee, Tommy Thorn, Jake Short, Brett Pfarr and Michael Kroells.

McKee knocked off No. 2 seed Eric Montoya of Nebraska by major decision, 11-3, in the 133-pound quarterfinals. The Gopher trailed 3-0 going into the third before unleashing several turns on top to secure the win.

Michigan sits in fifth place, trailing Minnesota by five points. The Wolverines pulled off three of the morning’s biggest upsets with Conor Youtsey, Stevan Micic and Brian Murphy knocking off higher-seeded wrestlers in the quarterfinals.

The No. 5 seed at 125 pounds, Youtsey downed No. 4 seed Ethan Lizak of Minnesota 5-3 with a takedown in the first sudden victory period. In the first round, Youtsey avoided being upset himself after hitting a cement mixer on Travis Piotrowski of Illinois to force overtime. He won the opener 10-8 in sudden victory.

Micic, seeded fifth at 133 pounds, reversed a regular season loss to Zane Richard of Illinois in grand fashion in the quarterfinals. Micic downed the Illini All-American by major decision, 12-4.

Coming in as the No. 6 seed at 157 pounds, Murphy edged No. 3 seed Tyler Berger of Nebraska in sudden victory, 3-1.

Logan Massa, the No. 2 seed at 165 pounds, and Myles Amine, the No. 4 seed at 174 pounds, also found a home in the semifinals for the Wolverines.

All 10 No. 1 seeds advanced to the Big Ten semifinals with relative ease. Moreover, six of the ten weight classes will feature the top-four seeds in the semis.

The second session of the Big Ten Championships will begin at 6 p.m. (ET) with BTN Plus streaming all the action.

For complete brackets and match-by-match results of the event visit Trackwrestling.com.

2017 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 4-5 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.

Team Standings
1. Penn State 70
2. Ohio State 68
3. Iowa 55.5
4. Minnesota 52
5. Michigan 47
6. Illinois 28.5
6. Wisconsin 28.5
8. Nebraska 26
9. Indiana 20
10 Michigan State 19
11. Rutgers 17.5
12. Maryland 16.5
13. Purdue 7
14. Northwestern 4

Semifinal Matchups
125 pounds
No. 1 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Conor Youtsey (Michigan)
No. 3 Tim Lambert (Nebraska) vs. No. 7 Elijah Oliver (Indiana)

133 pounds
No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) vs. No. 5 Stevan Micic (Michigan)
No. 3 Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. No. 7 Mitch McKee (Minnesota)

141 pounds
No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State)
No. 3 Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) vs. No. 7 Javier Gasca III (Michigan State)

149 pounds
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Alfred Bannister (Maryland)
No. 3 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa)

157 pounds
No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Jake Short (Minnesota)
No. 6 Brian Murphy (Michigan) vs. No. 2 Michael Kemerer (Iowa)

165 pounds
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. No. 4 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State)
No. 3 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) vs. No. 2 Logan Massa (Michigan)

174 pounds
No. 1 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan)
No. 3 Zac Brunson (Illinois) vs. No. 2 Mark Hall (Penn State)

184 pounds
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Myles Martin (Ohio State)
No. 3 Nathan Jackson (Indiana) vs. No. 2 Sammy Brooks (Iowa)

197 pounds
No. 1 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) vs. No. 4 Matt McCutcheon (Penn State)
No. 3 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska) vs. No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State)

285 pounds
No. 1 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) vs. No. 4 Michael Kroells (Minnesota)
No. 3 Nick Nevills (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin)

Quarterfinal Results
125 pounds
No. 1 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) fall No. 8 Jose Rodriguez (Ohio State), 5:37
No. 5 Conor Youtsey (Michigan) dec. No. 4 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 5-3 SV1
No. 3 Tim Lambert (Nebraska) dec. No. 6 Johnny Jimenez (Wisconsin), 6-3
No. 7 Elijah Oliver (Indiana) dec. Ben Thorton (Purdue), 5-3

133 pounds
No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) dec. No. 9 Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers), 6-4
No. 5 Stevan Micic (Michigan) maj. dec. No. 4 Zane Richards (Illinois), 12-4
No. 3 Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. No. 6 Bill Rappo (Maryland), 5-0
No. 7 Mitch McKee (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 2 Eric Montoya (Nebraska), 11-3

141 pounds
No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) maj. dec. No. 8 Cole Martin (Wisconsin), 9-1
No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. No. 4 Colton McCrystal (Nebraska), 6-4
No. 3 Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) dec. No. 6 Christopher Carton (Iowa), 8-4
No. 7 Javier Gasca III (Michigan State) fall No. 2 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State), 6:20

149 pounds
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) fall Nick Trimble (Michigan State), 4:46
No. 4 Alfred Bannister (Maryland) dec. No. 5 Kenny Theobold (Rutgers), 2-1
No. 3 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) dec. No. 6 Andrew Crone (Wisconsin), 3-1
No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. No. 7 Eric Barone (Illinois), 2-0

157 pounds
No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) fall No. 9 TJ Ruschell (Wisconsin), 5:59
No. 4 Jake Short (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 5 Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois), 11-2
No. 6 Brian Murphy (Michigan) dec. No. 3 Tyler Berger (Nebraska), 3-1 SV1
No. 2 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 7 John Van Brill (Rutgers), 14-6

165 pounds
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) fall No. 8 Drew Hughes (Michigan State), 0:58
No. 4 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) dec. No. 5 Joseph Gunther (Iowa), 8-3
No. 3 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. No. 6 Nick Wanzek (Minnesota), 10-3
No. 2 Logan Massa (Michigan) tech. fall No. 7 Dustin Williams (Nebraska), 24-9

174 pounds
No. 1 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) dec. No. 8 Devin Skatzka (Indiana), 10-8
No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 5 Alex Meyer (Iowa), 11-6
No. 3 Zac Brunson (Illinois) dec. No. 11 Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin), 7-1
No. 2 Mark Hall (Penn State) fall No. 7 Jacob Morrissey (Purdue), 0:30

184 pounds
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) fall No. 8 Hunter Ritter (Wisconsin), 3:42
No. 4 Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. No. 5 Tim Dudley (Nebraska), 12-7
No. 3 Nathan Jackson (Indiana) dec. No. 6 Emery Parker (Illinois), 6-4
No. 2 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) fall No. 10 Bobby Steveson (Minnesota), 4:08

197 pounds
No. 1 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 8 Christian Brunner (Purdue), 17-7
No. 4 Matt McCutcheon (Penn State) dec. Matt Correnti (Rutgers), 3-2
No. 3 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska) dec. No. 6 Jacob Berkowitz (Northwestern), 10-4
No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) dec. No. 7 Cash Wilke (Iowa), 10-5

285 pounds
No. 1 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) tech. fall No. 8 Razohnn Gross (Rutgers), 26-9
No. 4 Michael Kroells (Minnesota) dec. Conan Jennings (Northwestern), 3-1
No. 3 Nick Nevills (Penn State) fall No. 6 Brooks Black (Illinois), 4:46
No. 2 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) dec. No. 7 Youssif Hemida (Maryland), 7-4

All photos taken by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling

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