NCAA Wrestling Championships Summary 2016

Session VI: The Finals--Penn State dominated the finals with 5 finalists, but only two winners; they easily outdistanced Runner-Up Oklahoma State by 25.5 points, 123 to 97.5. The Cowpokes also had two champions, and 6 All-Americans. Penn State has now won 5 team titles in the past six year, and shows no signs that their wrestling dynasty is over with Cael Sanderson guiding the team. Nico Megaludis of Penn State finally got the monkey off his back by defeating Thomas Gilman of Iowa for the 125 Championship, 6-3; he gained an early takedown, and took control early in the first period. It was nice to see the Four-Time All-American finally about to rise to the top of the podium after 5 seasons of hard work; his redshirt year paid off. Nashon Garrett of Cornell also took control early with a takedown, and defeated Cory Clark of Iowa, 7-6, after Clark could only earn points on 3 escapes and 3 points on stall calls. Dean Heil of Oklahoma State and Bryce Meredith of Wyoming staged a thrilling, 3-2, win for Heil with several tight scramble situations with Meredith showing an incredible defense. At 149, Zain Retherford of Penn State showed why he was the 2016 NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler as he also took control early with a takedown, and built over 3 minutes in riding time in a 10-1 thumping over a very strong wrestler in Brandon Sorenson of Iowa. The Hawkeyes were shut out in their 3 finals appearances, and had to settle for 5th place, one point behind the 4th place Virginia Tech Hokies, who also earned 6 All-Americans. Isaiah Martinez of Illinois and Jason Nolf of Penn State also staged a thrilling final bout, as Martinez gained an early takedown, but Nolf came back to tie the score at 3-3; later, late in the 3rd period, Martinez scored the winning points on a throw by takedown with 12 seconds to go as he won, 6-5, to repeat at 157 lbs. Four-Time All-American Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State won his 3rd NCAA Championship title in a row and extended his unbeaten streak to 82 with a convincing 6-3 win over Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin. Myles Martin of Ohio State shocked the crown of 17,000+ and perhaps himself in a methodical unraveling of Bo Nickal of Penn State who beat Martin three times this season; the highlight of the bout was a six point throw by Martin on the edge of the mat while he trailed, 4-3, and put himself into a 9-4 advantage in the second period. Martin went on the win, 11-9, in a frenzied "Gable-Owings" like atmosphere. It was the first time a #11 seed has won a title since 1979. At 184, Gabe Dean repeated as Champion as he must have shot on Tim Dudley at least 15-20 times, but only finished twice in a 5-2 win over Tim Dudley of Nebraska who had zero offense; the lack of more stall calls against Dudley by the referee was disappointing. At 197, J'Den Cox of Missouri also repeated his 2014 title with a late edge takedown late in the third period during 1-1 bout, and secured a minute riding time in a 4-2 win over Morgan McIntosh of Penn State. The event concluded with a bang in one of the best wrestled heavyweight bouts in its history as Nick Gwiazdowski had his 88 bout unbeaten streak come to an end in his quest for a 3rd NCAA title by Kyle Snyder of Ohio State, 7-5, in sudden victory overtime. It looked like Gwiazdowski had the bout won late in the 3rd period, 5-3, but Snyder managed to capitalize on a tying takedown with 11 seconds to go. The two wins by the Buckeyes in the finals moved them up to 3rd place ahead of Virginia Tech and Iowa. The Hokies had their best ever finish at this tournament. Missouri finished 6th, Nebraska 7th, and Cornell 8th; both Illinois and Michigan tied for 9th with 50.5 points. The Big Ten Conference earned 13 of the 20 finalists, and 31 of the 80 All-Americans while the Big 12 earned 3 finalists and 13 All-Americans. The ACC had 11 podium placers, and both the EIWA and MAC had 10 each. There were 5 unseeded wrestlers who earned All-American honors including Michigan's Conor Youtsey. Wrestlers who wrestled scholastically in Pennsylvania sent 12 to the podium, Ohio earned 10 All-Americans, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, and New Jersey earned 6 All-American each. The Michiganders were Adam Coon, Gabe Dean, Justin Oliver, Alec Pantaleo, Leland Weatherspoon, and Conor Youtsey.

Session V: Conor Youtsey lost to Nathan Tomasello, 10-1, so he'll go for 5th. Alec Pantaleo was pinned by Lavion Mayes at 2:39 so he'll also go for 5th. Adam Coon pinned Ahmaveer Dhesi of Oregon State in 48 seconds so he'll go for 3rd. Youtsey earns 5th place by medical forfeit from #9 Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa. #1 Tomaselo edged #15 David Terao, 5-3, for 3rd place at 125, and Ryan Millhof of Oklahoma beat Connor Schram of Stanford, 1-0, for 7th. #4 Cody Brewer of Oklahoma earned 3rd place over #3 Zane Richards of Illinois, 9-4, Eric Montoya of Nebraska defeated Jordan Conaway of Penn State, 7-4, for 5th place, and Earl Hall of Iowa State beat Jade Rauser of Utah Valley by technical fall, 17-1. At 141, #2 Joey McKenna won the Battle of New Jersey over #4 Anthony Ashnault, 7-6, for 3rd place, Chris Mecate of Old Dominion beat Solomon Chishko of Virginia Tech in the Battle of Virginia for 5th place, 5-3, and Joey Ward of North Carolina beat Randy Cruz of Lehigh in Sudden Victory, 3-1, for 7th place. Alec Pantaleo was pinned by Mike DePalma of Kent State so Alec ends up in 6th place, but what a great job by Alec earning his first All-American honors. One thing for sure, you can bet he'll be back up on the podium two more times in 2017 and 2018. What a great talent he is! Justin Oliver of Central Michigan earns 7th place over George Martinez of Boise State, 5-1. Lavion Mayes earned revenge from an earlier, 3-2, loss to Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State by defeating him, 3-2, for 3rd place. At 157, Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech beat Dylan Palacio of Cornell, 4-1, for 3rd place, Chad Walsh of Rider took a medical forfeit from Ian Miller of Kent State for 5th place, and Jo Joe Smith beat Thomas Gantt of North Carolina State, 6-3, for 7th place. At 165, Bo Jordan of Ohio State came back to defeat Daniel Lewis of Missouri, 9-7, for 3rd place, Steven Rodriques of Illinois bested David McFadden of Virginia Tech, 8-5, for 5th place, and Austin Wilson of Nebraska beat Anthony Perrotti of Rutgers for 7th place, 4-2. At 174, Zach Epperly of Virginia Tech beat Casey Kent of Penn, 8-4, for 3rd place, Nathan Jackson of Indiana beat Leland Weatherspoon of Iowa State, 5-2, for 5th place, and Cody Walters of Ohio University beat Alex Meyer of Iowa, 4-3, for 7th place. At 184, Pete Renda of North Carolina State beat Nolan Boyd of Oklahoma State by technical fall, 18-3, Matt Miller of Neavy beat Willie Miklus of Missouri, 4-2, for 5th place, and Nathaniel Brown of Lehigh beat Sam Brooks of Iowa, 9-3, for 7th place. At 197, Brett Pfarr of Minnesota edged Nathan Burak of Iowa, 2-1, for 3rd place, Patrick Downey of Iowa State pinned Jared Vaught of Virginia Tech at 3:48 for 5th place, and Conner Hartmann of Duke beat Brett Harner of Princeton, 11-2, for 7th place. At 285, Adam Coon finally beat Ty Walz after three tries this season after a 1-1 regulation bout, he pinned Walz after getting a takedown on a counter in Sudden Victory at 7:57. Ahmarveer Dhesi of Oregon State pinned Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State at 1:29 for 5th place, and Michael Kroells of Minnesota beat Max Wessell of Lehigh, 5-2, for 7th place. Penn State clinched their 4th team title in 5 years with 114 points. Oklahoma State was second with 89.5 points. Virginia Tech moved all the way up to 3rd with 82 points; the Hokies will be rooting for all three of Iowa's finalists to lose since they only trail in 4th by one point. Ohio State sits in 5th place with 78 points. MAC Champion, Missouri, is in 6th with 70.5 points. Cornell is now 7th with 59 points, but they couldn't move up even if both their finalists win as expected. Nebraska is 8th with 58 points. Michigan ended the session in 9th place on the strength of Coon's pin with 50.5 points. In order to stay in the Top 10, Illinois Martinez would have to lose in the 157 lbs. final to Nolf of Penn State, and Gwiazdowski would have to lose to Snyder of Ohio State. Wyoming is in 18th place, their highest finish since 1996 when they placed 15th; if Meredith upsets Heil, they could finish in a tie with Kent State at 16th. Updated Brackets Team Scores

Iowa's Thomas Gilman got the crowd going win a BIG PIN over defending NCAA Champion Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State

Session IV: The session began with a bang as Iowa's #4 Thomas Gilman brought the 17,000 spectators at Madison Square Garden to their feet with a thunderous roar when he pinned #1 seeded and defending NCAA Champion Nathan Tomasello at 7:37 of Sudden Victory Overtime after a humdrum, 1-1, draw in regulation. In the other semi at 125, #3 Nico Megaludis of Penn State easily handled #15 David Terao of American, 8-2. Michigan's Unseeded Conor Youtsey upset Missouri's #8 Barlow McGhee in Sudden Victory, 5-3, and then beat #10 Connor Schram of Stanford, 4-3, in tiebreaker, to move into a consolation matchup with Tomasello on Saturday for who gets to wrestle for 3rd place. Youtsey has won 3 overtime thrillers in consolation to advance after a first round upset over #6 Eddie Klimara of Oklahoma State, 7-6, with a comeback 3rd period win. #9 Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa made fast work of #5 Ryan Millhof of Oklahoma with a pin at 1:03 as he'll meet Terao on Saturday for the opportunity to meet the Youtsey-Tomasello winner. Millhoff will wrestle Schram for 7th place.

Nashon Garrett of Cornell pins defending NCAA Champion Cody Brewer of Oklahoma in 21 seconds

At 133, the crowd was again well pleased with a shocking first period pin by #1 Nashon Garrett of Cornell over defending NCAA Champion #4 Cody Brewer of Oklahoma in 21 seconds. If you went to get a hot dog, you missed it. #2 Cory Clark of Iowa outfought #3 Zane Richards of Illinois, 4-3, to earn a spot with the dangerous Garrett in the finals. Clark finished second to Brewer in the 2015 finals. #5 Jordan Conaway of Penn State will wrestle Richards for who goes for 3rd or 5th as will Brewer who'll get #7 Eric Montoya of Nebraska. #8 Earl Hall of Iowa State will wrestled Unseeded Jade Rauser of Utah Valley for 7th place; Montana's Rauser won four in a row in consolations after a first round loss to Clark. At 141, #1 Dean Heil of Oklahoma State easily handled #4 Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers, 8-3, to earn the finals against the surprising #14 Bryce Meredith of Wyoming who upset #2 Joey McKenna of Stanford, 5-3. Meredith, a Sophomore, transferred from North Carolina State back to his home state; he is originally from Cheyenne. Meredith beat the #3 seed, Kevin Jack of North Carolina State and #6 Micah Jordan of Ohio State prior to McKenna. #12 Chris Mecate of Old Dominion wrestles McKenna for 3rd or 5th as does #7 Solomon Chishko of Virginia Tech who gets Ashnault. #8 Joey Ward of North Carolina will wrestle #16 Cruz of Lehigh for 7th place after Cruz ousted Jordan and Ward eliminated Jack. At 149, #1 Zain Retherford of Penn State pinned #5 Alec Pantaleo of Michigan at 4:49, and #2 Brandon Sorenson of Iowa earned a 4-2 win over #11 Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State to both earn a rematch showdown from the Big Ten Finals. Pantaleo will wrestle #3 Lavion Mayes of Missouri and Collica gets #10 Mike DePalma of Kent State for the 3rd or 5th place bouts. #9 Justin Oliver of Central Michigan wrestles #12 George Martinez of Boise State for 7th place. DePalma eliminated #4 Matt Cimato of Drexel, and Martinez eliminated #7 Jake Sueflohn of Nebraska; DePalma also won 4 consolation bouts in a row after losing a major decision to Sueflohn. At 157, #1 Isaiah Martinez and #4 Ian Miller of Kent State gave the crowd what they were hoping to see, back and forth action throughout the bout with several lead changes; finally, Martinez won 7-5 in Sudden Victory Overtime. #2 Jason Nolf methodically worked his way to a technical fall win, 19-4, at 5:14 over #15 Chad Walsh of Rider in the other semi. The matchups for 3rd or 5th place, #9 Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech will wrestle Walsh, and Miller gets #9 Dylan Palacio of Cornell who won 4 in a row in consolations after losing to #12 Brian Murphy of Michigan. Murphy was eliminated, 3-2, by #2 Thomas Gantt of North Carolina State who will wrestle #6 Jo Jo Smith of Oklahoma State for 7th place.

The Jordan Cousins are close in talent, but Isaac continues to gain the edge

At 165, #1 Alex Dieringer easily handled #4 Daniel Lewis of Missouri, 14-4, and #2 Isaac Jordan again defeated his cousin, #3 Bo Jordan of Ohio State, 5-4, to set up the predicted final. Dieringer now has an 81 bout winning streak entering his final. Bo Jordan wrestles #14 David McFadden of Virginia Tech, and Lewis gets #6 Steven Rodriques of Illinois for 3rd or 5th place bouts. #7 Anthony Perrotti of Rutgers wrestles #10 Austin Wilson of Nebraska for 7th place. Most Michigan fans believe that had Logan Massa not redshirted, he would be somewhere on the podium at this event possibly in the finals. At 174, #1 Bo Nickal of Penn State eaked out a 4-3 win holding off #12 Nathan Jackson of Indiana as he avenged an earlier, 7-6, dual meet loss to Jackson. Three of Martin's six losses this season have been to Nickal including a pin at the Big Ten Championships so Nickal will be a huge favorite in the final. Weatherspoon will wrestle Zac Epperly of Virginia Tech, and Jackson drew Unseeded Casey Kent of Penn for the opportunity to wrestle for 3rd or 5th place on Saturday. Kent also won 4 in a row in consolations including 3 by pin; he did not compete last season due to injury. #13 Alex Meyer will wrestle #7 Cody Walters of Ohio University for 7th place. One of the most unfortunate injuries of the event occured in the quarterfinal bout between Jackson and Jaedan Bernstein of Navy when Bernstein was concussed, and finished the bout despite the injury; he had to medical forfeit out of the tournament to Epperly after such a great start with wins over Mayer and Gordon Wolf of Lehigh.

Tim Dudley of South Carolina has a shot at Gabe Dean of Michigan in the 184 Final

At 184, #1 Gabe Dean of Cornell handled #5 Pete Renda of North Carolina State, 9-4, and #7 Tim Dudley of Nebraska majored #13 Willie Miklus of Missouri, 12-4. Renda takes on #9 Matt Miller of Navy, and Miklus gets #8 Nolan Boyd of Oklahoma State in the 3rd or 5th place ladder. Miller also won 4 consolation bouts in a row, and got his second first period pin in consolations over #2 Sammy Brooks of Iowa after Brooks eliminated #4 Domenic Abounader of Michigan, 13-7. Brooks wrestles #10 Nathan Brown of Lehigh for 7th place. Brown eliminated #6 Zac Zavatsky of Virginia Tech to earn podium honors for the second time. Boyd eliminated #6 Blake Stauffer of Arizona State for his first podium appearance. At 197, #1 Morgan McIntosh earned his usual yeoman like win, 4-2, over #4 Nathan Burak of Iowa while #2 J'Den Cox pinned #3 Brett Pfarr of Minnesota at 6:39 after leading 6-2 so all the seeds held true at this weight. An exception was Unseeded Patrick Downey of Iowa State who upset Jared Vaught of Virginia Tech, 6-2 in the opening round, and #11 Phil Wellington of Ohio University by pin in overtime at 8:45 in the second round, and #7 Brett Harner of Princeton in consolations, 3-2, to advance to the 3rd or 5th place bout with intrastate rival, Burak. Haught came back to win 4 in a row in consolations to match up with Pfarr in the other bout for 3rd or 5th. Harner will wrestle #5 Conner Hartmann of Duke for 7th place.

At 285, #1 Nick Gwiazdowski held off #5 Adam Coon, 3-2, in a rematch of the 2015 Final, and #2 Kyle Snyder of Ohio State defeated #3 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech, 10-6, in an active, athletic bout in the other semi. Gwiazdowski has an 88 bout winning streak at stake in the final against Snyder. Coon wrestles #7 Ahmaveer Dhesi, and Walz gets #4 Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State for the 3rd or 5th place pairings. #8 Max Wessell of Lehigh wrestles #9 Michael Kroells of Minnesota for 7th place. Penn State eneded the session with 5 finalists and 6 on the All-American podium. Oklahoma State was 34.5 points behind in 2nd also with 6 All-Americans, but only 2 finalists. Iowa had 3 finalists and 6 All-Americans, but was 2 points behind the Cowpokes. Virginia Tech wrestled well in consolations and also has 6 on the podium, but no finalists as they are 8 points behind Iowa in 4th place. Ohio State is in 5th with 2 finalists, but only 4 on the podium after wrestling really well early in the tournament. Missouri also had 4 on the podium with a finalist in Cox as they sit in 6th place. Nebraska, Cornell, North Carolina State, Illinois, Michigan, Lehigh, and Iowa State earned 3 All-Americans each, but only Nebraska, the Wolfback, and Illinois have finalists. The Big Red of Cornell have two finalists. A team can earn an additional 4 points if their finalist wins.The Wolverines fell out of the Top 10 in 11th place with 39 points. What a job in coaching by Michigander Kevin Jackson who has Iowa State back in the Top 15! Bracket Update Team Scores

Session III: It is a totally wide open team race, anything can happen. I'm looking for Oklahoma State to have a great session with 7 quarterfinalists. They have a chance for several upsets to put themselves smack into title contention with the quarterfinal bouts head to head with Penn State, #9 Chandler Rogers vs. #1 Bo Nickal at 174 lbs., #6 Jo Jo Smith vs. #3 Jason Nolf at 157 lbs. plus Nolan Boyd vs. Gabe Dean of Cornell at 184 lbs. Boyd is the only one to defeat Dean as he took a 14-9 decision last month. Other Cowpokes who need to raise their level include #11 Anthony Collica who takes on #3 Lavion Mayes of Missouri at 149 lbs., and #4 Austin Marsden who takes on #5 Adam Coon of Michigan at 285 lbs. #1 Dean Heil take on dangerous Joey Ward of North Carolina who beat him in a dual. This will be a big session for the Cowpokes after Klimara and Harding were eliminated yesterday, and Preston Weigel is still fighting in consolations. Penn State is looking to power Nico Megaludis, Jordan Conaway Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, Bo Nickal, and Morgan McIntosh into the semi-finals as they hope to seize control of the team race with six quarterfinalists, but they lost Matt McCutcheon yesterday in consolations and still have Geno Morelli alive. Ohio State's hopes are vested in their five quarterfinalists: Nathan Tomasello, Micah Jordan, Bo Jordan, Myles Martin, and Kyle Snyder; they hope to earn the semi-finals with Johnni DiJulius still in consolations after Jake Ryan and Kenny Courts were eliminated yesterday. It looks to be a wide open three team race for the title. Other teams with 5 quarterfinalists include Nebraska and Iowa. Michigan could have been in the hunt for the team championship with a healthy Davonte Mahomes or Taylor Massa at 174 with Logan Massa at 165. Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Missouri have 4 quarterfinalists each. According to Jason Bryant of Amateur Wrestling News, 44 of 250 bouts (17.6%) had lower seeded wrestlers defeating higher seeds, and 133 lbs. was the only weight where all eight top seeds advanced to the quarterfinals. #11 Myles Martin of Ohio State eased past Unseeded Big Twelve Champion Leland Weatherspoon of Iowa State, 8-2, in the other semi.

Session III is about to begin at 11:00 a.m. with Quarterfinals! Up first for Michigan is Conor Youtsey vs. Nico Megaludis of Penn State on Mat 5. Conor with a great shot, almost TD. 0-0 first period. Nico escapes in 1 second, 1-0. Takedown Megaludis, 3-0. Megaludis rides tough, and builds 1:22 in riding time. Why did Youtsey choose down? He gets ridden the whole period, 4-0, Megaludis to the semis vs. David Terao of American who won by pin. Gilman will meet Tomasello as expected in the other semi. #2 Joey Dance of Virginia Tech was eliminated by Brandon Jeske of Old Dominion, 4-3. Brent Fleetwood of Central Michigan was also eliminated. Michigander Freddie Rodriquez wins his consolation bout over Elijah Oliver of Indiana, 18-9. Another Michigander, Tim Lambert, wrestling for Nebraska, eliminated Sean Fausz of North Carolina State, 7-2. Very entertaining bout with Cody Brewer of Oklahoma and Jordan Conway of Penn State; Oklahoma lodged two protests in a 5-3 lead for Brewer after two periods, and Brewer wins, 8-4. Brewer will get Nashon Garrett of Oklahoma in the semis. It's be another rematch with Zane Richards and Cory Clark in the 133 semi. Cory Keener of Central Michigan was eliminated, 12-6, by Dom Forys of Pitt. Big score with a 6 point move, TD and NF, in the 3rd period by Dean Heil of Oklahoma State, to move him to the semis, 8-3, over Joey Ward. Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers moves on to the semis, 5-4, over Chris Mecate. #14 Bryce Meredith upsets #4 Micah Jordan of Ohio State, 5-2. Meredith gets Joey McKenna in one semi and Ashnault gets Heil. Brian Murphy and Ian Miller are coming up, they met at last year's NCAAs with Miller winning 8-4. Pantaleo and Cimato are underway on Mat 4. Double by Alex at the 1:30 mark, 2-0. Escape by Cimato after 13 seconds, and Alex tries a couple more shots, but Cimato blocks. Alex chooses neutral in the 2nd, and moves a double to a single, and pins Cimato at 3:49!!!!! He'll move to the semis. Alec gets a third bout with Zain Retherford of Penn State in the semis; Retherford pinned Jordan Oliver at 2:13. Brandon Sorenson and Jake Sueflohn are in O.T. It looks like I was right, Oklahoma State puts their second into the semis with #11 Anthony Collica upsetting #3 Lavion Mayes of Missouri, 3-2. Collica gets Brandon Sorenson, Oklahoma State vs. Iowa at 149. Murphy gets taken down by Miller at the 1:00 mark, 2-0. After a blood timeout, Miller builds his riding time to 1:53 as the period ends. Murphy's out, but Miller gets another takedown, 4-1. Murphy reverses, but Miller escapes, 5-3. McFarland throws the protest for video review, wants back points on reversal. Lost the protest, 3rd period, Miller chooses down. Murphy rides him out, but loses, 6-3, with Miller earning a point riding time. A little bit of choppiness at the end between the two. Jason Nolf and Jo Jo Smith are 2-2 in the 2nd period. Nolf wins, 11-3. It's be Miller-Martinez and Nolf vs. #15 Chad Walsh of Rider who won, 11-10, over #7 Cody Pack of South Dakota State. Dieringer vs. Lewis in one semi at 165, and it looks like the Jordan cousins will duel in the other. Here it comes! Watch closely the 174 bout with Chandler Rogers vs. Bo Nickal! This bout could turn the team title towards the Cowpokes if they can pull an upset. All the drama of the session will be on Mat 3 with Rogers-Nickal and Boyd-Dean. Nickal draws first blood with a takedown, and then a 4 point near fall, 6-0. Smith challenged the back point call, but it stands. Rogers escapes in the 2nd, 6-1. Nickal has 1:39 in riding time. Nickal is out in the 3rd, 7-1, with just over a minute to go. It's all Nickal! He is now ahead 12-3 decision. Nickal wins 15-4. Myles Martin of Ohio State and Napoleon's Leland Weatherspoon are two other semifinalists at 174. Nathan Jackson of Indiana is the 4th semifinalist, can he repeat his 7-6 win over Nickal from the dual meet? Luke Smith of Central Michigan was eliminated by Dylan Palacio of Cornell in consolations, and Mike Ottinger of the Chippewas was also eliminated. No drama for Penn State, they just win. Oklahoma State loses at 174 and 184 so the Nittany Lions maintain their 15 point lead over the Cowpokes. Michigan is in 7th place with 24 points. Gabe Dean avenges loss over Nolan Boyd, 10-4. Tim Dudley beat Brooks despite his mullet haircut, 9-6. Pete Renda of North Carolina State is also a semifinalist along with Willie Miklus of Missouri. Dom Abounader is up with the 184s, and Max Huntley with the 197s; however, all eyes are on Adam Coon in his quarterfinal bout with Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State who beat him the last time they met, 7-4. Coon will wrestle on Mat 4. Morgan McIntosh will have a rematch with Iowa's Nathan Burak in one semifinal at 197, the other will be Brett Pfarr of Minnesota vs. J'Den Cox of Missouri. Abounader and Coon will be wrestling at the same time. Penn State takes a commanding 21.5 point lead with 5 semifinalists. Adam has his takedown, 2-0. Marsden is out, 2-1. Abounader is out, 1-0. Coon chooses down with 30 seconds in riding time. Abounader-Griego is 1-1 in 3rd. Coon is out, 3-1. Overtime for Domenic. 3rd period for Coon ahead, 3-1. Marsden down. Abounader riding in tiebreaker. Abounader with a reversal wins, 3-1. Coon finally gives Marsden the escape, 3-2, with 47 seconds in riding time. Coon wins, 3-2, so he is our second semifinalist joining Pantaleo. Every wrestler making the semis earns All-American status, and this is Adam's second year in a row. Max Huntley is eliminated on disqualification due to stalling in his bout with Sprinkle of Lock Haven. Abounader came back to win a second tiebreaker, 3-2, over #12 Hayden Zilmer of North Dakota State; he'll go again tonight in the Round of 12 against #2 Sam Brooks of Iowa, and the winner gets All-American status on the podium. Ditto with Brian Murphy who will wrestle Thomas Gantt of North Carolina State as well as Conor Youtsey who wrestles #8 Barlow McGhee of Missouri. Snyder will get Walz at 285, and Coon will try to best Gwiazdowski. Coon ready for rematch. At the end of the final consolation session, Penn State's lead is 14.5 points over Ohio State, 68.5 to 54. Iowa has climbed above Oklahoma State to 3rd, 48.5 to 46. Missouri sits 5th with 42.5, Nebraska resides in 6th with 45.5, North Carolina State is 7th with 32.5, Michigan is 8th with 32, Virginia Tech is 9th with 30.5, and Cornell rounds out the Top Ten with 28.5. Penn State has 5 semi-finalist, Iowa and Ohio State have 4 each, Oklahoma State and Missouri have 3 each, Michigan, Cornell, and North Carolina State have 2 each. Bracket Update Team Scores

Anthony Collica upsets 2014 NCAA Champion Jason Tsirtsis

Session II: Session II has begun! Youtsey-Macri, Pantaleo-Martinez (Boise St.), Murphy-Palacio, Abounader-Renda, Huntley-Harner, Coon-Larson, and Bruno-Martinez (Air Force) will be the upcoming Wolverine bouts. Coon handled Larson pretty easily in the November dual with Oklahoma. Youtsey behind Macri, 5-4, in 3rd period. It is now 5-5 as Youtsey got out 2 seconds before Macri would get riding time advantage. O.T. Youtsey with a sudden victory takedown, 7-5, on the the quarterfinals for Conor. #15 David Terao of American upsets #2 Joey Dance of Virginia Tech, 5-3. Another big upset, #14 Meredith of Wyoming takes down #3 Kevin Jack of North Carolina State, 5-4. Murphy and Palacio will wrestle on Mat 1. Pantaleo and Martinez go scoreless in 1st period, and Martinez goes ahead, 1-0, wiht an escape in the 2nd. Pantaleo gets a takedown, 3-1, and Martinez is out, 3-2. Stalling must have been called on Martinez. Wow! Great double by Pantaleo, 5-2. Alec is out in the 3rd, 6-2. Another textbook double by Alec, 8-2. Pantaleo advances to the quarters, 8-3. Murphy with a huge defense on a single, gets a takedown plus near fall and Palacio gets a reversal, 4-2. Now, Murphy reverses, 6-2, as we go to the 2nd. Murphy gets reversed, 6-4. Chippewa Justin Oliver advances to the quarters with a 9-7 sudden victory over All-American B.J. Clagon. Murphy cautioned on the bottom, and 2nd period ends with Palacio accumulating 56 seconds of riding time. Murphy chooses down for the last period. Murphy out, 7-4, but Palacio has riding time, 1:02. Murphy in on a shot, but Palacio get the takedown, 7-6. Murphy's got to get out with a minute to go. Palacio cuts him, 8-6. Murphy wins, 8-7, on the the quarters. Abounader and Renda coming up on Mat 6. #12 Nate Jackson of Indiana upsets #5 Zac Brunson of Illinois, 10-1. #15 Chad Walsh of Rider upsets #2 undefeated Thomas Gantt of North Carolina State, 10-8. #12 Connor Brennan of Rider upsets #5 Max Rohskopf of North Carolina State, 4-2, in sudden victory overtime. Here comes Dom! Nice shot by Dom, but no finish. 0-0 first, Dom is down. Renda's got legs in and riding tough, Dom getting a taste of his own medicine. Dom is out, 1-0, and Renda has 57 in riding time. Stalemate called after Dom just missed a takedown. Renda down in 3rd. Dom called for stalling on top. Dom reversed, 2-1, with 38 to go. Renda called for stalling, 24 to go. Dom has to get out. He's out, 2-2. O.T. Renda wins in sudden victory, 4-2. Dom shot, but couldn't finish. Harner takes down Huntley, 2-0. Harner working a mean wing on Huntley. Harter pins Max. Coon is up next! Adam with a quick takedown. Adam riding touch with legs. Now, Adam working a wing. Adam almost gets Turk, but ends period with 2:32 in riding time. Adam out in 4 seconds, 3-0. Adam manhandled Larson down, 5-0. Larson out, 5-1. Adam gets a stall point with Larson backing out, 6-1. Last period, Larson chooses down. Adam tried for a cradle, he's really working hard on top. Coon finally lets him go, but gets another stall point, 7-2. Coon gets another takedown, 9-2, with 4:12 in riding time. Adam is into the quarters with a 10-2 win. He'll face Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State. Bruno gets taken down by Martinez of Air Force, 2-0. Bruno is out, 2-1. Penn State has the lead with 27.5, Oklahoma State and Ohio State are tied for 2nd with 24 points, Nebraska earned 20 points, Iowa, Virginia Tech and Missouri are tied for 5th with 17.5 points, and Michigan is 8th with 15 points. 68 teams have scored. Bruno is out in the 2nd, 2-2. Martinez has 42 seconds in riding time. Blood stop with 14 seconds left in the 2nd period. Martinez escapes, 3-2. Rossi has to get a takedown to win and avoid elimination with a minute to go. Martinez eliminates Bruno, 3-2. Rossi had a great chance, but couldn't finish. Cory Keener and Brent Fleetwood of Central Michigan stay alive at 133 and 125 in consolations, but Javier Gasca of Michigan State, their only qualifier, is eliminated. Chippewa Zach Horan is eliminated by forfeit, but Luke Smith eliminated Jake Ryan of Ohio State in consolations. Nick Barber of Eastern Michigan eliminated All-American Dan Neff of Lock Haven. Sean Mapps of Tennessee-Chattanooga eliminated #2 Brian Realbuto of Cornell, 6-5, in consolations. Two tough consolation bouts await Dom Abounader and Max Huntley tomorrow morning as Dom gets Corey Greigo of Oregon State who eliminated #3 Vic Avery of Edinboro last night, and it looks like Max gets Phil Sprenkle of Lock Haven who ousted #9 Reuben Franklin of Cal.St.-Bakersfield in consolations. In the quarters tomorrow, Youtsey vs. #2 Megaludis of Penn State, Pantaleo has #4 Matt Cimato of Drexel, Murphy has tough #4 Ian Miller of Kent State, and Coon has #4 Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State. Session II Scores Updated Brackets

Lehigh's Wolf upsets Iowa's Meyer

Session I: NCAA's have begun!!! Bruno vs. Richardson in pigtails, 0-0 after 1. Rossi is out in 10 seconds, 1-0. Shot by Bruno, but defended by Richardson. To the 3rd, 1-0. Richardson out in 25 seconds, 1-1. Bruno with 3 shots in a row, no calls. O.T. Good shot by Richardson, no finish. Stalemate after good shot by Bruno. Wow, what a finish to the first o.t., with both wrestlers almost scoring. Bruno rides out Richardson for 30 seconds. Bruno out, and wins on tiebreaker, 2-1. Youtsey and Klimara up next! Klimara with a quick takedown, 2-0. Youtsey out, but 44 seconds riding time for Klimara. Another takedown for Klimara, 4-1, with 50 seconds to go in the 1st period. First period ends with 1:39 riding time for Klimara. Youtsey escapes 7 seconds into the 2nd. 4-2. Conor pushing he pace. Klimara begs for blood time, and gets it with 15 seconds to go. Klimara warned for stalling, Youtsey almost gets takedown before period ends, 4-2. Klimara out, and has 1:44 in riding time; however, Youtsey gets a point for stalling, 4-3. Youtsey goes ahead, 5-4, with a takedown. Klimara let up, 5-5. Inside trip by Youtsey for takedown, 7-5. Now, Conor is riding tough. He has negated riding time. Referee stops bout with 14 to go. Youtsey called for stalling with 8 seconds to go. It's over! Youtsey upsets Klimara again, 7-6. Only other upsets so far are Dalton Marcri over Ronnie Rios so that is who Conor will wrestle next. Also, a mild upset with Sean Russell of Edinboro over #12 Paul Petrov of Bucknell, 9-8, in overtime. Rossi's next opponent is #9 Mack McGuire of Kent State. Unseeded Jimmy Guilbon of Penn State is manhandling #5 Matt Manley of Missouri. Cory Keener of Central Michigan with a great match against Jordan Conaway of Penn State before barely losing, 6-5. I'm picking the upset with Chippewa Zach Horan to shortly face off against #2 Joey McKenna of Stanford (Borrelli vs. Borrelli). Unseeded Danny Sabatello of Purdue is hanging tough with #3 Kevin Jack of North Carolina State. Michigander #13 Steve Bleise of Chelsea wrestling for Northern Illinois was upset by Seth Gross of South Dakota St. Here we go! Bruno vs. McGuire. 0-0 first, Rossi stopped a long double from McGuire. McGuire riding tough on top, Bruno called for stalling. Blood time, 1:02 to go in 2nd. Bruno with a reversal, 2-0. McKenna and Horan are in O.T. , 1-1, after Horan lost the video review on a late 3rd period takedown. Bruno and McGuire are now tied, 2-2, as McGuire has 36 seconds in riding time. Bruno and McGuire are now in O.T., 2-2. Stalemate in overtime, almost takedown by McGuire. Pantaleo and Short have started at 149, 0-0, after the 1st. Bruno chooses down in tiebreaker. McGuire rides Bruno out, now he must hold him down for 30. McGuire escapes with 4 seconds to go for a 3-2 win over Bruno. Wow, Pantaleo rode Short out in the 2nd, still 0-0. Pantaleo out, 1-0. McKenna edged Horan in tiebreaker, 2-1. Oklahoma State with a miserable first round so far, both Klimara and Harding lost, but Heil won. Pantaleo with a takedown after a long Short shot didn't work, 3-0, and it is a 4-0 final with riding time. Alec advances. In a battle of returning All-Americans, B.J. Clagon of Rider edges Evan Henderson of North Carolina, 3-1. A couple of good bouts at 149 with #3 Lavion Mayes edging Davion Jeffries of Oklahoma, 3-2, and #11 Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State edging Joey Delgado of Oregon State, 11-8. Brian Murphy is now wrestling Justin Staudenmayer of Brown. HUGE UPSET with Victor Lopez pinning returning All-American Daniel Neff of Lock Haven at 2:55. Murphy with a takedown, 2-0. Murphy out, 3-0. In a battle of the coach's sons, Jake Ryan is leading Joe Smith, 7-4, after the 1st Period. They are now in O.T., 9-9. Smith wins with a takedown in sudden victory, 11-9. Murphy has now built 1:16 in riding time with 1:00 to go. Murphy ends it, 4-0, with ride out. Penn State leads the team scores with 11 points, Michigan is tied for 5th with 4 points. Murphy will wrestle Dylan Palacio of Cornell in the next round giving Michigan its second Cornell opponent. ESPN3 is calling the Cowpokes, Oklahome State! Abounader, Huntley, and Coon are up next for Michigan! Unseeded Gordon Wolf of Lehigh just upset #13 Alex Meyer of Iowa, 10-9! Unseeded Casey Kent of Penn upset #8 Zach Epperly of Virginia Tech, 3-2.

Matt Reed of Oklahoma surprised Blaise Butler of Missouri

Mr. Inconsistent, Matt Reed of Oklahoma is all over #3 Blaise Butler of Missouri, 8-0, in the first period; he is ahead, 13-4 in the 2nd period, and 15-6 in the 3rd period. It looks like Jadaen Bernstein of Navy is about to pull an upset over #4 Ethan Ramos of North Carolina as he is ahead, 7-3, now 9-5 in the 3rd period, and the bout is over, 13-8, for Bernstein. That is another team having a miserable opening round, North Carolina. 174 easily has the most upsets with Bernstein, Reed, Wolf, and Kent upsetting seeded guys; HERE is another with Napoleon's Leland Weatherspoon upsetting #2 Brian Realbuto of Cornell, 7-4.

Napoleon's Lelund Weatherspoon of Iowa State upset #2 Brian Realbuto of Cornell

Abounader with an early takedown, 2-0, and riding Koepke tough. Dom is out, 3-0, plus 1:08 in riding time and another takedown, 5-0. Dom now has 2:35 in riding time after 2, and Koepke does something smart in choosing neutral for the last period. Dom with another takedown, will win 8-0, with over 3 minutes in riding time.Another upset as Tom Sleigh of Bucknell beats Matt McCutcheon of Penn State, 4-3. Got to love it, NO RESPECT! ANOTHER UPSET!!! Joe Ariola of Buffalo beats #3 Vic Avery of Edinboro, 7-4. Penn State leads Ohio State, 14 to 13.5, and Michigan is 9th with 6 points. Huntley coming up on Mat 3! Michigander, Shawn Scott, of Northern Illinois takes down #9 Reuben Franklin of Cal.St.-Bakersfield, 8-5, after winning his pigtail. Huntley up 7-3 after the first period over Barnes of Army, now 8-3 with an escape in the 2nd. Noon and Burak are in O.T. Coon is ahead of Gillen at 285, 4-2, now 8-3, in the 1st period. Max holds on for an 8-4 win. Coon is now up, 10-5, in the 2nd. Coon wins by fall at 4:22. Iowa's #11 Stoll was upset by unseeded Boyce Coldwell of Gardner-Webb; he and Meyer were both in my brackets making the semis. Iowa really is not wrestling well so far. At the end of the session, Ohio State leads Penn State, 16.5 to 15 in team scores. Nebraska is in 3rd with 13, Iowa has 11, Michigan, Missouri, and Oklahoma State are tied for 5th with 10 points each. North Carolina State and Virginia Tech round out the Top 10 with 9 points each. 59 teams scored at least one point in the opening session. Here is how my first round bracket picks went including pigtails (77.65%):

Navy's Jaeden Bernstein surprised #4 All-American Ethan Ramos of North Carolina

NCAA Championships Wrestling Preview for 2016

NCAA Wrestling Rankings By Conference for 2016