NCAA SESSION III NOTES: Pennsylvania leads with eight of its products in 2019 NCAA semifinals
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Jason Nolf of Penn State, a Pennsylvania native who stayed in the home state for college, is among eight semifinalists from the Keystone State. Photo by Larry Slater.
With the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh, it seems appropriate that the Keystone State has produced the most NCAA semifinalists this year. With eight wrestlers who originally hailed from Pennsylvania competing in their home state, the host state has one more wrestler in the semifinals than neighboring rival New Jersey.
Here is the breakdown of the states, and the semifinalists they produced. (Note: Those who attended prep school out of state are counted to the state from where their family resides)
1. Pennsylvania (8) Spencer Lee (Iowa), Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), Jason Nolf (Penn State), Hayden Hidlay (NC State), Kaleb Young (Iowa), Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), Josh Shields (Arizona State), Jordan Wood (Lehigh)
2. New Jersey (7)- Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern), Nick Suriano (Rutgers), Joey McKenna (Ohio State), Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers), Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech), Myles Martin (Ohio State), Anthony Cassar (Penn State)
3. Ohio (3): Matt Kolodzik (Princeton), Micah Jordan (Ohio State), Kollin Moore (Ohio State)
4. (tie) Texas (2): Jack Mueller (Virginia), Bo Nickal (Penn State)
4. (tie) New York (2): Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell)
4. (tie): Oklahoma (2): Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), Derek White (Oklahoma State)
4. (tie): Indiana (2): Stevan Micic (Michigan), Nick Lee (Penn State)
4. (tie) Missouri (2): Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), Daniel Lewis (Missouri)
4. (tie): Illinois (2): Austin O’Connor (North Carolina), Pat Brucki (Princeton)
4. (tie) California (2): Evan Wick (Wisconsin), Zahid Valencia (Arizona State)
4. (tie) Minnesota (2): Mark Hall (Penn State), Gable Steveson (Minnesota)
4. (tie): Michigan (2): Myles Amine (Michigan), Max Dean (Cornell)
13. (tie): Oregon (1): Tyler Berger (Nebraska)
13. (tie): Iowa (1): Drew Foster (UNI)
13. (tie): Georgia (1): Chip Ness (North Carolina)
13. (tie): Kansas (1): Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State)
Speaking of Jersey, Rutgers and Princeton have memorable efforts: While neither of these New Jersey colleges will be in the hunt for an NCAA trophy, these two colleges (which share a Regional Training Center), are making history for their wrestling programs.
Rutgers has two athletes in the NCAA finals for the first time ever, with Nick Suriano (133) and Anthony Ashnault (141) advancing to Friday night’s semifinals. Ashnault, by winning his quarterfinal, becomes the first Scarlet Knight to become a four-time NCAA All-American. Earlier this week, Ashnault became the first No. 1 seed at the NCAA Championships in program history.
Princeton also has two semifinalists for the first time, with Matthew Kolodzic (149) and Patrick Brucki (197). When the Tigers had three in the quarterfinals, including freshman Patrick Glory (125), it was only the second time in history, going back to 1978.
Ashnault and Kolodzic will wrestle each other in the semifinals. In their dual meet battle, Ashnault got the victory,10-2. Speaking of that dual meet, it was very competitive, with Rutgers winning 19-18. And the two schools, which are a short drive apart, share a Regional Training Center, the New Jersey RTC, which is coached by multiple World Team member Reece Humphrey.
Big Ten leads Semifinalists with 21 in semifinals – It should be no surprise, based upon the conference performances historically, that the Big Ten has advanced the most athletes into the 2019 NCAA semifinals. Here is the tally this year:
1. Big Ten – 21
2. (tie) ACC – 5
2. (tie) Big 12 – 5
2. (tie) EIWA – 5
5. (tie) Pac 12 – 2
5. (tie) MAC - 2
Mueller burns redshirt to help team – One of the most interesting interviews among the quarterfinal winners was Jack Mueller of Virginia, who initially had no intention of wrestling in the NCAA Championships this year. Mueller planned on a redshirt year and actually spent his fall wrestling freestyle, placing fifth at the U23 World Championships in Bucharest, Romania at 57 kg. According to Mueller, the decision had all to do with helping his team rather than a desire to compete in Pittsburgh this year. Mueller’s teammate Louie Hayes was having difficulty making 125 pounds, and the team felt it would be stronger with Mueller in the lineup. It was his love for team and teammates that brought Mueller out of redshirt after the holidays.
Six Junior World champions in the quarterfinals, with five advancing – The NCAA Championships is a great showcase of talent and many of the top Olympic hopefuls in the nation, who have already had a tremendous number of medals for the USA at the age-group levels. There were six past Junior World champions in the quarterfinals, and five advanced to the semifinals. One of the quarterfinals featured a pair of Junior World champions, when Gable Steveson of Minnesota, who won his Junior World title for the USA, beat Amar Dhesi of Oregon State, who won a Junior World title for Canada. The other semifinalists with Junior World titles are Spencer Lee of Iowa, Daton Fix of Oklahoma State, Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech and Mark Hall of Penn State. Lee and Hall were two-time Junior World champions. Add in Cadet World champions, and Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis joins the party. (Steveson has two Cadet World titles, and Hall and Fix also won Cadet titles. Of the 20 semifinalists, 11 have been age-group World medalists. FloWrestling’s Willie Saylor, who loves to do the math, counted 43 athletes in the tournament who have competed on a USA Wrestling age-group World Team.
Transfer watch: Four transfers made the semifinals: Yesterday we reported that 12 transfers reached the quarterfinals. Of that group, four have reached the semifinals. They are:
No. 2 at 133 – Stevan Micic of Michigan (from Northwestern)
No. 3 at 133 – Nick Suriano of Rutgers (from Penn State)
No. 2 at 141 – Joey McKenna of Ohio State (from Stanford)
No. 1 at 285 – Derek White of Oklahoma State (from Nebraska)
How host Pitt did in Round Three – We have been tracking the local team in the tournament, the Pitt Panthers, who started with five qualifiers. Three remain alive in the consolation rounds, with a chance to become All-Americans
Quarterfinals at 133 – No. 4 Micky Phillippi – lost dec. to Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 3-1
Consolation at 157 – No. 12 Taleb Rahmani – dec. Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State), 7-1; pin Griffin Parriott (Purdue), 7:20
Quarterfinals at 184 – No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi – lost dec. to Max Dean (Cornell), 6-0
Consolations at 285 – No. 8 Demetrius Thomas – lost dec. to Ian Butterbrodt (Brown), 15-7 (eliminated)
Lower seeds beating higher seeds in the quarterfinals: As the tournament has progressed, fewer lower seeds are beating higher seeds. Here are the lower seeds who won the quarterfinals:
125 – No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) DEC No. 4 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 4-1
133 - No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) DEC No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh), 3-1
149 - No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) DEC No. 4 Brock Mauller (Missouri), 5-3
149 - No. 6 Austin O'connor (North Carolina) DEC No. 3 Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 3-1 SV
157 - No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) DEC No. 4 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan), 5-3 SV
157 - No. 6 Kaleb Young (Iowa) DEC No. 3 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 7-5 SV
165 – No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) DEC No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa), 3-1
184 - No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) DEC No. 10 Samuel Colbray (Iowa State), 6-4 SV
184 - No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) DEC No. 3 Zack Zavatsky Blacksburg, VA (Virginia Tech), 6-2
With the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh, it seems appropriate that the Keystone State has produced the most NCAA semifinalists this year. With eight wrestlers who originally hailed from Pennsylvania competing in their home state, the host state has one more wrestler in the semifinals than neighboring rival New Jersey.
Here is the breakdown of the states, and the semifinalists they produced. (Note: Those who attended prep school out of state are counted to the state from where their family resides)
1. Pennsylvania (8) Spencer Lee (Iowa), Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), Jason Nolf (Penn State), Hayden Hidlay (NC State), Kaleb Young (Iowa), Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), Josh Shields (Arizona State), Jordan Wood (Lehigh)
2. New Jersey (7)- Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern), Nick Suriano (Rutgers), Joey McKenna (Ohio State), Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers), Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech), Myles Martin (Ohio State), Anthony Cassar (Penn State)
3. Ohio (3): Matt Kolodzik (Princeton), Micah Jordan (Ohio State), Kollin Moore (Ohio State)
4. (tie) Texas (2): Jack Mueller (Virginia), Bo Nickal (Penn State)
4. (tie) New York (2): Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell)
4. (tie): Oklahoma (2): Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), Derek White (Oklahoma State)
4. (tie): Indiana (2): Stevan Micic (Michigan), Nick Lee (Penn State)
4. (tie) Missouri (2): Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), Daniel Lewis (Missouri)
4. (tie): Illinois (2): Austin O’Connor (North Carolina), Pat Brucki (Princeton)
4. (tie) California (2): Evan Wick (Wisconsin), Zahid Valencia (Arizona State)
4. (tie) Minnesota (2): Mark Hall (Penn State), Gable Steveson (Minnesota)
4. (tie): Michigan (2): Myles Amine (Michigan), Max Dean (Cornell)
13. (tie): Oregon (1): Tyler Berger (Nebraska)
13. (tie): Iowa (1): Drew Foster (UNI)
13. (tie): Georgia (1): Chip Ness (North Carolina)
13. (tie): Kansas (1): Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State)
Speaking of Jersey, Rutgers and Princeton have memorable efforts: While neither of these New Jersey colleges will be in the hunt for an NCAA trophy, these two colleges (which share a Regional Training Center), are making history for their wrestling programs.
Rutgers has two athletes in the NCAA finals for the first time ever, with Nick Suriano (133) and Anthony Ashnault (141) advancing to Friday night’s semifinals. Ashnault, by winning his quarterfinal, becomes the first Scarlet Knight to become a four-time NCAA All-American. Earlier this week, Ashnault became the first No. 1 seed at the NCAA Championships in program history.
Princeton also has two semifinalists for the first time, with Matthew Kolodzic (149) and Patrick Brucki (197). When the Tigers had three in the quarterfinals, including freshman Patrick Glory (125), it was only the second time in history, going back to 1978.
Ashnault and Kolodzic will wrestle each other in the semifinals. In their dual meet battle, Ashnault got the victory,10-2. Speaking of that dual meet, it was very competitive, with Rutgers winning 19-18. And the two schools, which are a short drive apart, share a Regional Training Center, the New Jersey RTC, which is coached by multiple World Team member Reece Humphrey.
Big Ten leads Semifinalists with 21 in semifinals – It should be no surprise, based upon the conference performances historically, that the Big Ten has advanced the most athletes into the 2019 NCAA semifinals. Here is the tally this year:
1. Big Ten – 21
2. (tie) ACC – 5
2. (tie) Big 12 – 5
2. (tie) EIWA – 5
5. (tie) Pac 12 – 2
5. (tie) MAC - 2
Mueller burns redshirt to help team – One of the most interesting interviews among the quarterfinal winners was Jack Mueller of Virginia, who initially had no intention of wrestling in the NCAA Championships this year. Mueller planned on a redshirt year and actually spent his fall wrestling freestyle, placing fifth at the U23 World Championships in Bucharest, Romania at 57 kg. According to Mueller, the decision had all to do with helping his team rather than a desire to compete in Pittsburgh this year. Mueller’s teammate Louie Hayes was having difficulty making 125 pounds, and the team felt it would be stronger with Mueller in the lineup. It was his love for team and teammates that brought Mueller out of redshirt after the holidays.
Six Junior World champions in the quarterfinals, with five advancing – The NCAA Championships is a great showcase of talent and many of the top Olympic hopefuls in the nation, who have already had a tremendous number of medals for the USA at the age-group levels. There were six past Junior World champions in the quarterfinals, and five advanced to the semifinals. One of the quarterfinals featured a pair of Junior World champions, when Gable Steveson of Minnesota, who won his Junior World title for the USA, beat Amar Dhesi of Oregon State, who won a Junior World title for Canada. The other semifinalists with Junior World titles are Spencer Lee of Iowa, Daton Fix of Oklahoma State, Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech and Mark Hall of Penn State. Lee and Hall were two-time Junior World champions. Add in Cadet World champions, and Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis joins the party. (Steveson has two Cadet World titles, and Hall and Fix also won Cadet titles. Of the 20 semifinalists, 11 have been age-group World medalists. FloWrestling’s Willie Saylor, who loves to do the math, counted 43 athletes in the tournament who have competed on a USA Wrestling age-group World Team.
Transfer watch: Four transfers made the semifinals: Yesterday we reported that 12 transfers reached the quarterfinals. Of that group, four have reached the semifinals. They are:
No. 2 at 133 – Stevan Micic of Michigan (from Northwestern)
No. 3 at 133 – Nick Suriano of Rutgers (from Penn State)
No. 2 at 141 – Joey McKenna of Ohio State (from Stanford)
No. 1 at 285 – Derek White of Oklahoma State (from Nebraska)
How host Pitt did in Round Three – We have been tracking the local team in the tournament, the Pitt Panthers, who started with five qualifiers. Three remain alive in the consolation rounds, with a chance to become All-Americans
Quarterfinals at 133 – No. 4 Micky Phillippi – lost dec. to Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 3-1
Consolation at 157 – No. 12 Taleb Rahmani – dec. Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State), 7-1; pin Griffin Parriott (Purdue), 7:20
Quarterfinals at 184 – No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi – lost dec. to Max Dean (Cornell), 6-0
Consolations at 285 – No. 8 Demetrius Thomas – lost dec. to Ian Butterbrodt (Brown), 15-7 (eliminated)
Lower seeds beating higher seeds in the quarterfinals: As the tournament has progressed, fewer lower seeds are beating higher seeds. Here are the lower seeds who won the quarterfinals:
125 – No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) DEC No. 4 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 4-1
133 - No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) DEC No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh), 3-1
149 - No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) DEC No. 4 Brock Mauller (Missouri), 5-3
149 - No. 6 Austin O'connor (North Carolina) DEC No. 3 Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 3-1 SV
157 - No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) DEC No. 4 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan), 5-3 SV
157 - No. 6 Kaleb Young (Iowa) DEC No. 3 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 7-5 SV
165 – No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) DEC No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa), 3-1
184 - No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) DEC No. 10 Samuel Colbray (Iowa State), 6-4 SV
184 - No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) DEC No. 3 Zack Zavatsky Blacksburg, VA (Virginia Tech), 6-2
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