Pin-happy Hawkeyes lone Big Ten survivor at National Duals
IOWA CITY, Ia. – You could say Iowa coasted to a 44-3 win the quarterfinal round of the National Duals. But that would be short-changing the Hawkeyes' newfound aggressiveness on the mat.
Iowa recorded five pins – it recorded four total in going unbeaten in nine Big Ten Conference duals this season – to steamroll the Mocs and set up a 3 p.m. Saturday showdown with No. 5-ranked Cornell at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Cory Clark got the pin parade started for Iowa at 133 pounds, shortly after fifth-ranked teammate Thomas Gilman was upended in the dual's opening bout, 3-1 in overtime, against No. 8 Sean Boyle.
Clark pinned 14th-ranked Nick Soto in 4 minutes, 15 seconds, setting off a chain reaction of falls. Michael Kelly at 157, Mike Evans at 174, Sammy Brooks at 184 and Bobby Telford at heavyweight also heard six-point mat-slaps go in their favor.
At 149, Brandon Sorensen also won by technical fall to help the Hawkeyes finish their business while the three other duals had two to three weights to go.
"It's like a wildfire. As soon as someone starts the flame, it can spread," Telford said. "It's up to you to put gas on the fire. Yeah, you feed off your teammates. You always want your teammates to do well. In the end, you're out on the mat, you've got to do what you do best."
The Hawkeyes were the only Big Ten team to survive Saturday's early session. No. 3 Ohio State was upset by Lehigh, 21-18; No. 12 Illinois was beaten by No. 2 Missouri, 23-13; and No. 4 Minnesota was KO'd by Cornell, 19-17.
Two marquee wrestlers were defeated on other mats. Two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado was well-handled by Missouri's top-ranked Alan Waters, 6-2, at 125 pounds. And at 157, Minnesota's No. 1 Dylan Ness went down, 7-3, to Cornell's No. 6 Brian Realbuto.
The Iowa-Cornell and Missouri-Lehigh winners will meet at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tickets for the finals, which will be shown live on the Big Ten Network, are $20 apiece.
QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
#1 Iowa 44, Chattanooga 3
125 - Sean Boyle (Chattanooga) over Thomas Gilman (Iowa) SV-1 3-1
133 - Cory Clark (Iowa) over Nick Soto (Chattanooga) Fall 4:16
141 - Josh Dziewa (Iowa) over Mike Pongracz (Chattanooga) Dec 4-2
149 - Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) over Jacob Murphy (Chattanooga) TF 20-4
157 - Mike Kelly (Iowa) over Austin Sams (Chattanooga) Fall 4:32
165 - Nick Moore (Iowa) over Justin Lampe (Chattanooga) Dec 11-6
174 - Michael Evans (Iowa) over Sean Mappes (Chattanooga) Fall 4:44
184 - Sam Brooks (Iowa) over McCoy Newberg (Chattanooga) Fall 1:53
197 - Nathan Burak (Iowa) over Scottie Boykin (Chattanooga) Dec 7-4
Hwt - Bobby Telford (Iowa) over Jared Johnson (Chattanooga) Fall 2:50
#5 Cornell 19, #4 Minnesota 17
125 - Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) over Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) TF 18-2
133 - Christopher Dardanes (Minnesota) over Mark Grey (Cornell) Dec 7-4
141 - Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) over David Logan (Cornell) Maj 19-10
149 - Christopher Villalonga (Cornell) over Jake Short (Minnesota) Dec 2-1
157 - Brian Realbuto (Cornell) over Dylan Ness (Minnesota) Dec 9-3
165 - Dylan Palacio (Cornell) over Nicholas Wanzek (Minnesota) TF 18-2
174 - Logan Storley (Minnesota) over George Pickett (Cornell) Dec 7-5
184 - Gabriel Dean (Cornell) over Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) Dec 10-4
197 - Scott Schiller (Minnesota) over Jace Bennett (Cornell) Dec 7-1
Hwt - Michael Kroells (Minnesota) over Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell) Maj 10-1
#2 Missouri 23, #12 Illinois 13
125 - Alan Waters (Missouri) over Jesse Delgado (Illinois) Dec 6-2
133 - Zane Richards (Illinois) over Zach Synon (Missouri) Dec 9-2
141 - Lavion Mayes (Missouri) over Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) Maj 11-3
149 - Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) over Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois) Dec 6-3
157 - Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) over Joseph LaVallee (Missouri) Maj 17-6
165 - Jackson Morse (Illinois) over Mike England (Missouri) Dec 4-3
174 - John Eblen (Missouri) over Zach Brunson (Illinois) Fall 0:50
184 - Lazarus Reyes (Illinois) over Willie Miklus (Missouri) SV-1 3-1
197 - J`Den Cox (Missouri) over Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois) Maj 15-3
Hwt - Devin Mellon (Missouri) over Brooks Black (Illinois) TB-1 5-1
#11 Lehigh 21, #3 Ohio State 18
125 - Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) over Scott Parker (Lehigh) Dec 10-3
133 - Mason Beckman (Lehigh) over Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State) Dec 1-0
141 - Logan Stieber (Ohio State) over Randy Cruz (Lehigh) Fall 4:52
149 - Drew Longo (Lehigh) over Randall Languis (Ohio State) TB-1 2-1
157 - Mitchell Minotti (Lehigh) over Josh Demas (Ohio State) Dec 3-1
165 - Bo Jordan (Ohio State) over Marshall Peppelman (Lehigh) TF 22-6
174 - Santiago Martinez (Lehigh) over Mark Martin (Ohio State) Dec 4-2
184 - Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) over Kenny Courts (Ohio State) Fall 3:30
197 - Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) over Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) Maj 9-1
Hwt - Douglas Vollaro (Lehigh) over Nick Tavanello (Ohio State) SV-2 4-2