Putting nine in the quarterfinals, Ohio State takes 7.5 point lead over Penn State at the NCAA Championships
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Luke Pletcher of Ohio State lifts the leg of Korbin Meyers of Edinboro in their 133-pound match at the NCAA Championships. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers are Warriors.
NCAA Championships video interviews
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio State finished day one of the NCAA Championships with a 19-1 record, pushing nine wrestlers into the quarterfinals and taking a 7.5 point lead over defending champion Penn State. The Buckeyes had 36 points, while the Nittany Lions were at 28.5 points.
“We looked a lot better tonight than this morning,” Ryan said. “It was a good day, 19 out of 20. No question (wrestling in Ohio gives his guys a boost.) This was circled on the calendar two years ago. When in the round of 16, seven out of 10 guys picked up bonus points, it’s a good day.”
Securing a pin for the Buckeyes in the round was No. 7 seed Micah Jordan, who stopped Markus Scheidel of Columbia in 3:10
2015 NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello got the maximum amount of bonus points by winning an injury default over Arizona State’s Ryan Millhof at 125 pounds. The match was close early, but Tomasello opened up his offense and Millhof could not complete the match.
No. 4 seed Joey McKenna, the transfer from Stanford, scored his second technical fall of the day, stopping Lehigh’s Luke Karam 15-0 at 141 pounds. Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA champion Kyle Snyder also put on a scoring exhibition in a 23-8 technical fall over Jere Heino of Campbell.
Add in major decisions by No. 6 Bo Jordan (174) and No. 2 Myles Martin (184) and Ohio State was able to create a little separation from the top challengers.
The only Buckeye to lose on the day was No. 13 Te’shan Campbell, who fell to No. 4 seed Chad Walsh of Rider, by an 8-0 major decision.
Tomasello, a senior seeking his fourth NCAA All-American honor, was excited about the team’s effort.
“I’m very happy. Coach Ryan has built this program around great leadership and the coaches have been awesome. It shows at nationals. Our guys are competing hard,” said Tomasello.
Penn State was in third, trailing first-session leader Iowa, for most of the second session. To move into second place, the team went an impressive nine-for-nine in their evening matches.
The Nittany Lions took a half-point lead at heavyweight when No. 3 seed Nick Nevills used his 16 seconds of advantage time in the tiebreaker in overtime to defeat No. 14 Michael Boykin of NC State at heavyweight, 4-4. His win gave Cael Sanderson’s team seven athletes in Friday morning’s quarterfinals.
Just before the Nevills win, Iowa lost its No. 5 seeded heavyweight Sam Stoll, who fell to No. 12 Youssif Hemida of Maryland, 7-2.
Penn State added two wins in the consolations by Corey Keener at 133 and No. 8 seed Nick Lee at 141 pounds and was able to maintain the lead over the Hawkeyes. Iowa had one in the consolations, Joe Gunther at 174 pounds, who lost his bout to Josef Johnson of Harvard.
Bonus points have been a tradition for the Nittany Lions at the NCAA Championships under coach Cael Sanderson and that continued on Thursday night. Two-time NCAA champion Zain Retherford secured a fall over Alfred Bannister of Maryland at 141 pounds in 2:29. 2017 NCAA champion Mark Hall added a technical fall over Dylan Lydy of Purdue at 174 pounds. A major decision was added by No. 5 Shakur Rasheed, who stopped North Carolina’s Daniel Chaid, 14-3 at 197.
“I’ve been wrestling really well, getting to my attacks and every time I get in on a leg I finish. I’m just making the most of my opportunity and wrestling as hard as I can. I just have to wrestle as hard as I can and things will take care of themselves,” said Hall.
But still, five of the Nittany Lion wins were by decision, including 2017 NCAA champions Jason Nolf at 157 and Vincenzo Joseph at 165. Nolf, who was injured late in the season and did not complete the Big Ten Championships after two wins, defeated Jordan Ellingwood of Central Michigan, 10-4. Joseph beat Brandon Ashworth of Wyoming, 3-1, in his second round bout. These two athletes have been big bonus point producers during their careers.
Iowa took a few big losses in the session and finished with 27 points, 1.5 points behind Penn State. In addition to Stoll’s loss, No. 2 seed and 2017 NCAA runner-up Brandon Sorensen fell at at 149 pounds to the No. 15 seed Ronnie Perry of Lock Haven, 3-2. For the round, the Hawkeyes dropped five matches, putting just three into the quarterfinals.
The Hawkeyes remain in the team hunt because of bonus points, as No. 6 seed Michael Kemerer at 157 and No. 5 seed Alex Marinelli at 165 pounds scored their second pins of the day. Kemerer pinned Paul Fox of Stanford in 4:52, while Kemerer put away Minnesota’s Nick Wanzek in 6:15. Freshman star and three-time age-group World champion Spencer Lee, the No. 3 seed, added an 18-0 technical fall over Luke Welch of Purdue.
“Stoll froze at the end. I think the guy scared him when he picked him up, took him out of bounds and ran through him. He wrestled from the front headlock. We have to do a better job there. We have come a long ways in that position, but we kind of reverted back. With Sorensen, you strategize against the guy, and we let him hang. We were kind of off the whole time, timing-wise, I thought. We have to come back strong tomorrow. This is a three day tournament and this is day one. In session two, we didn’t do well,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands.
Rounding out the top five teams were fourth-place Michigan in fourth with 23 and fifth-place NC State with 20 points.
All 12 of the past NCAA champions in this loaded field were able to advance to the quarterfinals. To make that happen, 2014 NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis of Arizona State, a transfer from Northwestern, needed an upset victory over his former school at 149 pounds, and he did just that, beating No. 7 seed and 2017 Junior World silver medalist Ryan Deakin of Northwestern, 4-3.
“It was a little weird. (Coach) Storniolo is usually the guy I am giving my clothes to and smacking my hands with. The trainer is who I am usually getting a drink from. They were there, but I was doing it with my new team. I am happy with what is going on with my career now,” said Tsirtsis.
The four wrestlers going for a third career NCAA title advanced on Thursday, including Retherford, Snyder, Dean Heil of Oklahoma State at 141 pounds and Isaiah Martinez of Illinois at 165 pounds.
The quarterfinals are in Friday morning’s session, which begins at 11:00 a.m. ET.
The attendance for the second session was 18,680 making the two session attendance in the Quicken Loans Arena at 37,340 fans.
NCAA DIV. I CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Cleveland, Ohio
Quarterfinal pairings
125
No. 1 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) vs. No. 9 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State)
No. 4 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) vs. No. 12 Louie Hayes (Virginia)
No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. No. 6 Nicholas Piccininni (Oklahoma State)
No. 2 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) vs. No. 7 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley)
133
No. 1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) vs. No. 8 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming)
No. 4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) vs. Tariq Wilson (NC State)
No. 3 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) vs. No. 6 Scott Parker (Lehigh)
No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) vs. No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Drexel)
141
No. 1 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) vs. unseeded Sa`Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan)
No. 4 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 12 Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
No. 3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. No. 6 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State)
No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) vs. No. 7 Brock Zacherl (Clarion)
149
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State)
No. 4 Troy Heilmann (North Carolina) vs. No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State)
No. 3 Grant Leeth (Missouri) vs. No. 11 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton)
No. 10 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) vs. No. 15 Ronald Perry (Lock Haven)
157
No. 1 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) vs. No. 8 Tyler Berger (Nebraska)
No. 5 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) vs. No. 13 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State)
No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 6 Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
No. 7 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 15 John Van Brill (Rutgers)
165
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. No. 9 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven)
No. 4 Chad Walsh (Rider) vs. No. 5 Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) vs. No. 11 Isaiah White (Nebraska)
No. 2 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 10 Evan Wick (Wisconsin)
174
No. 1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) vs. No. 8 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy)
No. 4 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) vs. No. 5 Myles Amine (Michigan)
No. 3 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. No. 6 Bo Jordan (Ohio State)
No. 2 Mark Hall (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa)
184
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 9 Maxwell Dean (Cornell)
No. 4 Pete Renda (NC State) vs. No. 5 Domenic Abounader (Michigan)
No. 3 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) vs. No. 6 Zach Zavatsky (Virginia Tech)
No. 2 Myles Martin (Ohio State) vs. unseeded Chip Ness (North Carolina)
197
No. 1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) vs. unseeded Kyle Conel (Kent State)
No. 4 Michael Macchiavello (NC State) vs. No. 5 Shakur Rasheed (Penn State)
No. 3 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 6 Willie Miklus (Missouri)
No. 2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) vs. unseeded Chris Weiler (Lehigh)
285
No. 1 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) vs. No. 9 Derek White (Oklahoma State)
No. 4 Jacob Kasper (Duke) vs. No. 12 Youssif Hemida (Maryland)
No. 3 Nick Nevills (Penn State) vs. No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State)
No. 2 Adam Coon (Michigan) vs. No. 7 Nathan Butler (Stanford)
Team Standing after Session Two
1. Ohio State 36.0
2. Penn State 28.5
3. Iowa 27.0
4 Michigan 23.0
5 NC State 20.0
6 Missouri 19.0
7 Cornell 15.0
7 Oklahoma State 15.0
9 Lehigh 14.5
9 Virginia Tech 14.5
11 Rutgers 14.0
12 South Dakota State 11.0
12 Wisconsin 11.0
14 Arizona State 10.0
14 Lock Haven 10.0
14 Pittsburgh 10.0
NCAA Championships video interviews
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio State finished day one of the NCAA Championships with a 19-1 record, pushing nine wrestlers into the quarterfinals and taking a 7.5 point lead over defending champion Penn State. The Buckeyes had 36 points, while the Nittany Lions were at 28.5 points.
“We looked a lot better tonight than this morning,” Ryan said. “It was a good day, 19 out of 20. No question (wrestling in Ohio gives his guys a boost.) This was circled on the calendar two years ago. When in the round of 16, seven out of 10 guys picked up bonus points, it’s a good day.”
Securing a pin for the Buckeyes in the round was No. 7 seed Micah Jordan, who stopped Markus Scheidel of Columbia in 3:10
2015 NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello got the maximum amount of bonus points by winning an injury default over Arizona State’s Ryan Millhof at 125 pounds. The match was close early, but Tomasello opened up his offense and Millhof could not complete the match.
No. 4 seed Joey McKenna, the transfer from Stanford, scored his second technical fall of the day, stopping Lehigh’s Luke Karam 15-0 at 141 pounds. Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA champion Kyle Snyder also put on a scoring exhibition in a 23-8 technical fall over Jere Heino of Campbell.
Add in major decisions by No. 6 Bo Jordan (174) and No. 2 Myles Martin (184) and Ohio State was able to create a little separation from the top challengers.
The only Buckeye to lose on the day was No. 13 Te’shan Campbell, who fell to No. 4 seed Chad Walsh of Rider, by an 8-0 major decision.
Tomasello, a senior seeking his fourth NCAA All-American honor, was excited about the team’s effort.
“I’m very happy. Coach Ryan has built this program around great leadership and the coaches have been awesome. It shows at nationals. Our guys are competing hard,” said Tomasello.
Penn State was in third, trailing first-session leader Iowa, for most of the second session. To move into second place, the team went an impressive nine-for-nine in their evening matches.
The Nittany Lions took a half-point lead at heavyweight when No. 3 seed Nick Nevills used his 16 seconds of advantage time in the tiebreaker in overtime to defeat No. 14 Michael Boykin of NC State at heavyweight, 4-4. His win gave Cael Sanderson’s team seven athletes in Friday morning’s quarterfinals.
Just before the Nevills win, Iowa lost its No. 5 seeded heavyweight Sam Stoll, who fell to No. 12 Youssif Hemida of Maryland, 7-2.
Penn State added two wins in the consolations by Corey Keener at 133 and No. 8 seed Nick Lee at 141 pounds and was able to maintain the lead over the Hawkeyes. Iowa had one in the consolations, Joe Gunther at 174 pounds, who lost his bout to Josef Johnson of Harvard.
Bonus points have been a tradition for the Nittany Lions at the NCAA Championships under coach Cael Sanderson and that continued on Thursday night. Two-time NCAA champion Zain Retherford secured a fall over Alfred Bannister of Maryland at 141 pounds in 2:29. 2017 NCAA champion Mark Hall added a technical fall over Dylan Lydy of Purdue at 174 pounds. A major decision was added by No. 5 Shakur Rasheed, who stopped North Carolina’s Daniel Chaid, 14-3 at 197.
“I’ve been wrestling really well, getting to my attacks and every time I get in on a leg I finish. I’m just making the most of my opportunity and wrestling as hard as I can. I just have to wrestle as hard as I can and things will take care of themselves,” said Hall.
But still, five of the Nittany Lion wins were by decision, including 2017 NCAA champions Jason Nolf at 157 and Vincenzo Joseph at 165. Nolf, who was injured late in the season and did not complete the Big Ten Championships after two wins, defeated Jordan Ellingwood of Central Michigan, 10-4. Joseph beat Brandon Ashworth of Wyoming, 3-1, in his second round bout. These two athletes have been big bonus point producers during their careers.
Iowa took a few big losses in the session and finished with 27 points, 1.5 points behind Penn State. In addition to Stoll’s loss, No. 2 seed and 2017 NCAA runner-up Brandon Sorensen fell at at 149 pounds to the No. 15 seed Ronnie Perry of Lock Haven, 3-2. For the round, the Hawkeyes dropped five matches, putting just three into the quarterfinals.
The Hawkeyes remain in the team hunt because of bonus points, as No. 6 seed Michael Kemerer at 157 and No. 5 seed Alex Marinelli at 165 pounds scored their second pins of the day. Kemerer pinned Paul Fox of Stanford in 4:52, while Kemerer put away Minnesota’s Nick Wanzek in 6:15. Freshman star and three-time age-group World champion Spencer Lee, the No. 3 seed, added an 18-0 technical fall over Luke Welch of Purdue.
“Stoll froze at the end. I think the guy scared him when he picked him up, took him out of bounds and ran through him. He wrestled from the front headlock. We have to do a better job there. We have come a long ways in that position, but we kind of reverted back. With Sorensen, you strategize against the guy, and we let him hang. We were kind of off the whole time, timing-wise, I thought. We have to come back strong tomorrow. This is a three day tournament and this is day one. In session two, we didn’t do well,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands.
Rounding out the top five teams were fourth-place Michigan in fourth with 23 and fifth-place NC State with 20 points.
All 12 of the past NCAA champions in this loaded field were able to advance to the quarterfinals. To make that happen, 2014 NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis of Arizona State, a transfer from Northwestern, needed an upset victory over his former school at 149 pounds, and he did just that, beating No. 7 seed and 2017 Junior World silver medalist Ryan Deakin of Northwestern, 4-3.
“It was a little weird. (Coach) Storniolo is usually the guy I am giving my clothes to and smacking my hands with. The trainer is who I am usually getting a drink from. They were there, but I was doing it with my new team. I am happy with what is going on with my career now,” said Tsirtsis.
The four wrestlers going for a third career NCAA title advanced on Thursday, including Retherford, Snyder, Dean Heil of Oklahoma State at 141 pounds and Isaiah Martinez of Illinois at 165 pounds.
The quarterfinals are in Friday morning’s session, which begins at 11:00 a.m. ET.
The attendance for the second session was 18,680 making the two session attendance in the Quicken Loans Arena at 37,340 fans.
NCAA DIV. I CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Cleveland, Ohio
Quarterfinal pairings
125
No. 1 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) vs. No. 9 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State)
No. 4 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) vs. No. 12 Louie Hayes (Virginia)
No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. No. 6 Nicholas Piccininni (Oklahoma State)
No. 2 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) vs. No. 7 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley)
133
No. 1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) vs. No. 8 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming)
No. 4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) vs. Tariq Wilson (NC State)
No. 3 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) vs. No. 6 Scott Parker (Lehigh)
No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) vs. No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Drexel)
141
No. 1 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) vs. unseeded Sa`Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan)
No. 4 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 12 Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
No. 3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. No. 6 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State)
No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) vs. No. 7 Brock Zacherl (Clarion)
149
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State)
No. 4 Troy Heilmann (North Carolina) vs. No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State)
No. 3 Grant Leeth (Missouri) vs. No. 11 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton)
No. 10 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) vs. No. 15 Ronald Perry (Lock Haven)
157
No. 1 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) vs. No. 8 Tyler Berger (Nebraska)
No. 5 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) vs. No. 13 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State)
No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 6 Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
No. 7 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 15 John Van Brill (Rutgers)
165
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. No. 9 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven)
No. 4 Chad Walsh (Rider) vs. No. 5 Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) vs. No. 11 Isaiah White (Nebraska)
No. 2 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 10 Evan Wick (Wisconsin)
174
No. 1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) vs. No. 8 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy)
No. 4 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) vs. No. 5 Myles Amine (Michigan)
No. 3 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. No. 6 Bo Jordan (Ohio State)
No. 2 Mark Hall (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa)
184
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 9 Maxwell Dean (Cornell)
No. 4 Pete Renda (NC State) vs. No. 5 Domenic Abounader (Michigan)
No. 3 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) vs. No. 6 Zach Zavatsky (Virginia Tech)
No. 2 Myles Martin (Ohio State) vs. unseeded Chip Ness (North Carolina)
197
No. 1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) vs. unseeded Kyle Conel (Kent State)
No. 4 Michael Macchiavello (NC State) vs. No. 5 Shakur Rasheed (Penn State)
No. 3 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 6 Willie Miklus (Missouri)
No. 2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) vs. unseeded Chris Weiler (Lehigh)
285
No. 1 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) vs. No. 9 Derek White (Oklahoma State)
No. 4 Jacob Kasper (Duke) vs. No. 12 Youssif Hemida (Maryland)
No. 3 Nick Nevills (Penn State) vs. No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State)
No. 2 Adam Coon (Michigan) vs. No. 7 Nathan Butler (Stanford)
Team Standing after Session Two
1. Ohio State 36.0
2. Penn State 28.5
3. Iowa 27.0
4 Michigan 23.0
5 NC State 20.0
6 Missouri 19.0
7 Cornell 15.0
7 Oklahoma State 15.0
9 Lehigh 14.5
9 Virginia Tech 14.5
11 Rutgers 14.0
12 South Dakota State 11.0
12 Wisconsin 11.0
14 Arizona State 10.0
14 Lock Haven 10.0
14 Pittsburgh 10.0
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