NCAA SESSION I NOTES: Micic, Rasheed strong in return to mat after pulling out at Big Tens
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
VIDEO PLAYLIST: NCAA Championships interviews
Stevan Micic of Michigan battles Mason Pengilly of Stanford in the opening round of the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh. Photo by Richard Immel.
No. 2 seeds who pulled out at Big Tens – There are a pair of top favorites who did not complete the Big Ten Championships, yet drew the No. 2 seeds in their weight classes: Steven Micic of Michigan at 133 and Shakur Rasheed of Penn State at 184. The first round was the first indication of how they are doing physically. Both looked pretty strong.
Micic beat Mason Pengilly of Stanford, 15-7, while Rasheed scored an 11-2 major decision over Kevin Parker of Princeton. Both seemed to be moving well and both were scoring points.
Micic pulled out of the Big Tens in the semifinals, when he did not face Ohio State’s Luke Pletcher. Rasheed wrestled all the way through to the championship match at Big Tens, when he did not face Myles Martin of Ohio State.
After his win over Pengilly, Micic talked extensively about his knee injury, what he thought about having to drop out from the Big Tens, and how he felt during his first-round victory. He also mentioned how an injury during last year’s international season kept him from competing for Serbia at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in October. Below is his interview:
Second-ever Pittsburgh-hosted NCAA Championships – For all of the rich history of wrestling at Pitt and in Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh has only hosted the NCAA Div. I Championships one previous time, 62 years ago, in 1957. Pitt had three individual champions in that meet, Hall of Famer Ed Perry (123), plus Tom Alberts (167) and Ron Schirf (191). Some of the other big names in the meet were future Olympic champion Doug Blubaugh of Oklahoma State (167), legendary Dan Hodge of Oklahoma (177) and the first African American NCAA champion Simon Roberts of Iowa (167). It will be interesting to find some people who attended that event who are here this weekend. We will note any of them that we meet here.
This led to a joke from Pitt coach Keith Gavin, who was hired on the day that it was announced that Pittsburgh would host the 2019 NCAA’s. “When it was announced, I didn't really think too much about it. There was a lot going on at the time. I kind of played it off like I did this and got it here, but that wasn't the case,” said Gavin, using some of his famed subtle humor.
Recruiting Western Pennsyvlania is a big deal: At the NCAA coaches press conference on Wednesday, all five of the coaches noted any of their team members who have some connection to the Western Pennsylvania area. When asked specifically about recruiting here, Gavin and Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan gave their perspective.
“For us, it's really important. If we're not getting guys around here, we're going to struggle,” said Gavin. “So one of our advantages is certainly location. We're very close to northeast Ohio, too, and that's another strong area. It's probably the most important thing we do.”
“Pennsylvania is a great state for wrestling. This region, we have three on our team from this region… Recruiting is a huge part of compiling a team that's got a chance to compete for a title every year. It's a great region and we've got to be in this region,” said Ryan.
If you really want to follow the Western PA guys, or anybody with a connection to the state of Pennsylvania, you will want to visit PA Power Wrestling (papowerwrestling.com). They put together a “Pittsburgh National Fan Guide” and has a team of journalists who will post updates and features all three days and beyond. In case you didn’t do the math, there are 53 Pennsylvania natives who qualified to compete here this weekend, by far the most of any state in the nation.
How Pitt did in Round One – The local team from Pitt went 4-1 in the first round in front of their home fans, with both top eight seeds winning, No. 4 Micky Phillippi at 133 and No. 8 Demetrius Thomas at 285 winning.
133 – No. 4 Micky Phillippi – dec. No. 29 Gary Joint (Fresno State), 4-2
157 – No. 12 Taleb Rahmani – dec. No. 21 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma), 7-1
184 – No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi – dec. No. 20 Will Summer (Utah Valley), 11-4
197 – No. 23 Kellan Stout – lost to No. 10 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech), 11-4
285 – No. 8 Demetrius Thomas – dec. No. 25 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State), 11-7
Brother and sister – It was announced yesterday that 2018 World silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt was named USA Wrestling’s 2018 Women’s Wrestler of the Year. She will receive her trophy tonight at a USA Wrestling function here in Pittsburgh. However, she is in Pittsburgh for another reason today. Her brother Drew Hildebrandt of Central Michigan, the No. 13 seed, beat No. 20 Gabe Townsell of Stanford in the first round, 6-0.
Brothers in arms – The Russell brothers from Lawrenceville, Ga., Sean Russell of Minnesota and Codi Russell of Appalachian State, had different results. Sean, the Edinboro transfer with a No. 6 seed and past All-American, beat Dack Punke of Missouri, 16-6. Codi fell to No. 7 Austin DeSanto of Iowa, by disqualification.
Seven No. 33 wrestlers beat No. 32 opponents - The mildest of upsets happen when at No. 33 wrestler beats a No. 32 wrestler in the pigtail round. In the first year that every wrestler in the event is seeded, the first seven of the No. 33 wrestlers beat their No. 32 opponent.
125 - No. 33 Trey Chalifoux (Army West Point) dec. No. 32 Willy Girard (Bloomsburg), 6-4
133 – No. 33 Zack Trampe (Binghamton) maj. dec. No. 32 Devan Turner (Oregon State), 18-6
141 - No. 33 Pete Lipari (Rutgers) dec. No. 32 Christopher Sandoval (Northern Colorado), 7-5
149 - No. 33 Malik Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 32 Tanner Smith (Chattanooga), 9-2
157 - No. 33 Ben Anderson (Duke) dec. No. 32 Alexander Klucker (Lock Haven), 4:39
165 - No. 33 Joseph Smith (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 32 Tyler Morland (Northwestern), 10-5
174 - No. 33 Devin Kane (North Carolina) pin No. 32 Jake Covaciu (Indiana), 4:32
All of the other upsets – Considering every match now has seeds, the lower seeds beating higher seeds in first round action are listed below.
The highest seed knocked off was No. 5 Mason Parris of Michigan, who lost No. 28 Sam Stoll of Iowa, 8-5. There were a pair of No. 7 seeds beaten. No. 26 Dakota Geer of Oklahoma State beat No. 7 Nick Reenan of NC State, while No. 26 Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech stopped No. 7 Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State.
133 - No. 24 David Fehlman (Lock Haven) DEC No. 9 Charles Tucker (Cornell), 7-2
141 - No. 19 Sa'derian Perry (Old Dominion) DEC No.14 Jamel Morris (NC State), 5-1
141 - No. 22 Max Murin (Iowa) DEC No. 14 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin), 3-2
141 - No. 23 Sam Turner (Wyoming) DEC No. 10 Nicholas Gil (Navy), 4-2
149 - No. 26 Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech) DEC No. 7 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State), 3-1 SV
149 – No. 20 Thomas Thorn (Minnesota) DEC No. 13 Anthony Artalona (Penn), 5-4
149 - No. 19 Cole Martin (Wisconsin) DEC No. 14 Requir Van der merwe (Stanford), 8-6
157 - No. 20 Luke Weiland (Army) DEC No. 13 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri), 4-0
157 - No. 19 Griffin Parriott (Purdue) DEC No. 14 Zachary Hartman (Bucknell), 6-4
165 – No. 24 Cael Mccormick (Army) F No. 9 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley), 2:27
165 – No. 21 Te'shan Campbell (Ohio State) DEC No. 12 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel), 6-0
174 - No. 20 Spencer Carey (Navy) DEC No. 13 Brit Wilson (Northern Illnois), 10-5
174 – No. 22 Ben Harvey (Army) DEC No. 11 Dylan Lydy (Purdue), 8-3
184 - No. 19 Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) DEC No. 14 Dylan Wisman (Missouri), 7-5
184 – No. 26 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) DEC No. 7 Nick Reenan (NC State), 6-0
197 - No. 24 Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) DEC No. 9 Benjamin Honis (Cornell), 8-5
197 – No. 21 Thomas Lane (California Poly) DEC No. 12 Rocco Caywood (Army), 8-3
197 - No. 18 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) DEC No. 15 Randall Diabe (Appalachian State), 4-3
285 – No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) DEC No. 5 Mason Parris (Michigan), 8-5
285 – No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) DEC No. 13 Matt Voss (George Mason), 3-1 SV
285 - No. 19 Brian Andrews (Wyoming) DEC No. 14 AJ Nevills (Fresno State), 9-2
Stevan Micic of Michigan battles Mason Pengilly of Stanford in the opening round of the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh. Photo by Richard Immel.
No. 2 seeds who pulled out at Big Tens – There are a pair of top favorites who did not complete the Big Ten Championships, yet drew the No. 2 seeds in their weight classes: Steven Micic of Michigan at 133 and Shakur Rasheed of Penn State at 184. The first round was the first indication of how they are doing physically. Both looked pretty strong.
Micic beat Mason Pengilly of Stanford, 15-7, while Rasheed scored an 11-2 major decision over Kevin Parker of Princeton. Both seemed to be moving well and both were scoring points.
Micic pulled out of the Big Tens in the semifinals, when he did not face Ohio State’s Luke Pletcher. Rasheed wrestled all the way through to the championship match at Big Tens, when he did not face Myles Martin of Ohio State.
After his win over Pengilly, Micic talked extensively about his knee injury, what he thought about having to drop out from the Big Tens, and how he felt during his first-round victory. He also mentioned how an injury during last year’s international season kept him from competing for Serbia at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in October. Below is his interview:
Second-ever Pittsburgh-hosted NCAA Championships – For all of the rich history of wrestling at Pitt and in Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh has only hosted the NCAA Div. I Championships one previous time, 62 years ago, in 1957. Pitt had three individual champions in that meet, Hall of Famer Ed Perry (123), plus Tom Alberts (167) and Ron Schirf (191). Some of the other big names in the meet were future Olympic champion Doug Blubaugh of Oklahoma State (167), legendary Dan Hodge of Oklahoma (177) and the first African American NCAA champion Simon Roberts of Iowa (167). It will be interesting to find some people who attended that event who are here this weekend. We will note any of them that we meet here.
This led to a joke from Pitt coach Keith Gavin, who was hired on the day that it was announced that Pittsburgh would host the 2019 NCAA’s. “When it was announced, I didn't really think too much about it. There was a lot going on at the time. I kind of played it off like I did this and got it here, but that wasn't the case,” said Gavin, using some of his famed subtle humor.
Recruiting Western Pennsyvlania is a big deal: At the NCAA coaches press conference on Wednesday, all five of the coaches noted any of their team members who have some connection to the Western Pennsylvania area. When asked specifically about recruiting here, Gavin and Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan gave their perspective.
“For us, it's really important. If we're not getting guys around here, we're going to struggle,” said Gavin. “So one of our advantages is certainly location. We're very close to northeast Ohio, too, and that's another strong area. It's probably the most important thing we do.”
“Pennsylvania is a great state for wrestling. This region, we have three on our team from this region… Recruiting is a huge part of compiling a team that's got a chance to compete for a title every year. It's a great region and we've got to be in this region,” said Ryan.
If you really want to follow the Western PA guys, or anybody with a connection to the state of Pennsylvania, you will want to visit PA Power Wrestling (papowerwrestling.com). They put together a “Pittsburgh National Fan Guide” and has a team of journalists who will post updates and features all three days and beyond. In case you didn’t do the math, there are 53 Pennsylvania natives who qualified to compete here this weekend, by far the most of any state in the nation.
How Pitt did in Round One – The local team from Pitt went 4-1 in the first round in front of their home fans, with both top eight seeds winning, No. 4 Micky Phillippi at 133 and No. 8 Demetrius Thomas at 285 winning.
133 – No. 4 Micky Phillippi – dec. No. 29 Gary Joint (Fresno State), 4-2
157 – No. 12 Taleb Rahmani – dec. No. 21 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma), 7-1
184 – No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi – dec. No. 20 Will Summer (Utah Valley), 11-4
197 – No. 23 Kellan Stout – lost to No. 10 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech), 11-4
285 – No. 8 Demetrius Thomas – dec. No. 25 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State), 11-7
Brother and sister – It was announced yesterday that 2018 World silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt was named USA Wrestling’s 2018 Women’s Wrestler of the Year. She will receive her trophy tonight at a USA Wrestling function here in Pittsburgh. However, she is in Pittsburgh for another reason today. Her brother Drew Hildebrandt of Central Michigan, the No. 13 seed, beat No. 20 Gabe Townsell of Stanford in the first round, 6-0.
Brothers in arms – The Russell brothers from Lawrenceville, Ga., Sean Russell of Minnesota and Codi Russell of Appalachian State, had different results. Sean, the Edinboro transfer with a No. 6 seed and past All-American, beat Dack Punke of Missouri, 16-6. Codi fell to No. 7 Austin DeSanto of Iowa, by disqualification.
Seven No. 33 wrestlers beat No. 32 opponents - The mildest of upsets happen when at No. 33 wrestler beats a No. 32 wrestler in the pigtail round. In the first year that every wrestler in the event is seeded, the first seven of the No. 33 wrestlers beat their No. 32 opponent.
125 - No. 33 Trey Chalifoux (Army West Point) dec. No. 32 Willy Girard (Bloomsburg), 6-4
133 – No. 33 Zack Trampe (Binghamton) maj. dec. No. 32 Devan Turner (Oregon State), 18-6
141 - No. 33 Pete Lipari (Rutgers) dec. No. 32 Christopher Sandoval (Northern Colorado), 7-5
149 - No. 33 Malik Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 32 Tanner Smith (Chattanooga), 9-2
157 - No. 33 Ben Anderson (Duke) dec. No. 32 Alexander Klucker (Lock Haven), 4:39
165 - No. 33 Joseph Smith (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 32 Tyler Morland (Northwestern), 10-5
174 - No. 33 Devin Kane (North Carolina) pin No. 32 Jake Covaciu (Indiana), 4:32
All of the other upsets – Considering every match now has seeds, the lower seeds beating higher seeds in first round action are listed below.
The highest seed knocked off was No. 5 Mason Parris of Michigan, who lost No. 28 Sam Stoll of Iowa, 8-5. There were a pair of No. 7 seeds beaten. No. 26 Dakota Geer of Oklahoma State beat No. 7 Nick Reenan of NC State, while No. 26 Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech stopped No. 7 Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State.
133 - No. 24 David Fehlman (Lock Haven) DEC No. 9 Charles Tucker (Cornell), 7-2
141 - No. 19 Sa'derian Perry (Old Dominion) DEC No.14 Jamel Morris (NC State), 5-1
141 - No. 22 Max Murin (Iowa) DEC No. 14 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin), 3-2
141 - No. 23 Sam Turner (Wyoming) DEC No. 10 Nicholas Gil (Navy), 4-2
149 - No. 26 Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech) DEC No. 7 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State), 3-1 SV
149 – No. 20 Thomas Thorn (Minnesota) DEC No. 13 Anthony Artalona (Penn), 5-4
149 - No. 19 Cole Martin (Wisconsin) DEC No. 14 Requir Van der merwe (Stanford), 8-6
157 - No. 20 Luke Weiland (Army) DEC No. 13 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri), 4-0
157 - No. 19 Griffin Parriott (Purdue) DEC No. 14 Zachary Hartman (Bucknell), 6-4
165 – No. 24 Cael Mccormick (Army) F No. 9 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley), 2:27
165 – No. 21 Te'shan Campbell (Ohio State) DEC No. 12 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel), 6-0
174 - No. 20 Spencer Carey (Navy) DEC No. 13 Brit Wilson (Northern Illnois), 10-5
174 – No. 22 Ben Harvey (Army) DEC No. 11 Dylan Lydy (Purdue), 8-3
184 - No. 19 Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) DEC No. 14 Dylan Wisman (Missouri), 7-5
184 – No. 26 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) DEC No. 7 Nick Reenan (NC State), 6-0
197 - No. 24 Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) DEC No. 9 Benjamin Honis (Cornell), 8-5
197 – No. 21 Thomas Lane (California Poly) DEC No. 12 Rocco Caywood (Army), 8-3
197 - No. 18 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) DEC No. 15 Randall Diabe (Appalachian State), 4-3
285 – No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) DEC No. 5 Mason Parris (Michigan), 8-5
285 – No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) DEC No. 13 Matt Voss (George Mason), 3-1 SV
285 - No. 19 Brian Andrews (Wyoming) DEC No. 14 AJ Nevills (Fresno State), 9-2
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