NCAA Wrestling Championships Summary 2015

Ohio State became the 6th Big Ten Team to win a NCAA Wrestling Championship; a Big Ten team has won the team title the past 9 seasons

First Round Summary

The 2015 NCAA Championships started in great fashion with 10 returning All-Americans defeated in the first round as Ohio State went out to an early team lead with 13.5 points winning 7 of 10 bouts. Penn State won all 7 bouts to earn 2nd place with 11.5 points, Cornell won 6 of 9 bouts to finish in a tie for 3rd with the host, Missouri Tigers, who were 8 of 10 for 11 points. Both Michigan and Iowa won 6 of 10 bouts to finish in a tie for 5th with Nebraska 10 points as the Cornhuskers won 6 of 9 bouts. Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech tied for 8th with 9 points as the Cowpokes took 6 of 9 and the Hokies won 6 of 8 bouts. Illinois and Minnesota each won 6 bouts to finish in 10th and 11 places respectively. Unseeded Scott Patrick of Davidson upset #11 Brett Pfarr of Minnesota, 8-6, giving the Wildcats their first win at this tournament since 1968. The highest seed to go down was #2 Michael Moreno of Iowa State who lost to Jim Wilson of Stanford, 7-5; Wilson placed 8th at 165 lbs. #3 Bobby Telford of Iowa, a returning All-American in 2014, lost to Spencer Myers of Maryland, an All-American, in 2013, 7-5. Unseeded Joe Latham of Oregon State edged #4 John Eblen of Missouri, 6-4. Unseeded Kevin Jack of North Carolina State upset #6 Josh Dziewa of Iowa, 6-3; Jack placed 5th at 141 lbs. Unseeded Lou Mascola of Maryland stunned #5 Cody Pack of South Dakota State, 10-9. Unseeded Garrett Shaner of Stanford astonished #6 Alec Pantaleo of Michigan, 11-10. Iowa State had three seeded wrestlers defeated in the first round, Gabe and Mike Moreno plus Tanner Weatherman. In all, My first round picks were: 14-2 at 125, 11-5 at 133, 14-2 at 141, 10-6 at 149, 13-3 at 157 and 13-3 at 165, 12-4 at 174, 11-5 at 184, a paltry 9-7 at 197 and 15-1 at 285. Overall, my pick were 122 of 160 for 76.25% in an absolutely wild first round.

Second Round Summary

Ohio State maintained a slim two point lead, 23 to 21, over their Big Ten Co-Champion, Iowa, as both teams placed 5 wrestlers each into the quarterfinals. Oklahoma State was 3rd and Penn State 4th with 19.5 and 18.5 points as both teams also had 5 quarterfinalists. Missouri and Nebraska tied for 5th with 18 points each and 3 quarterfinalists. Cornell was only a half point behind also with 3 quarterfinalists. Illinois earned 4 quarterfinalists, but sat in 8th with 16 points. Michigan and Virginia Tech were tied for 9th place with 15 points was the Hokes had 5 quarterfinalist compared to the Wolverines three. Unseeded Zeke Moisey of West Virginia scored the biggest upset of the round with a 5-2 decision over #2 Nashon Garrett of Cornell, a returning NCAA Runner-Up. Two #14 seeds, Dean Heil of Oklahoma State and Matt McCutcheon of Penn State, defeated #3 seeds, Lavion Mayes of Missouri and Blake Stauffer of Arizona State, 3-1, in sudden victory overtime bouts at 141 lbs. and 184 lbs. #13 Cooper Moore of Northern Iowa pinned #4 Nick Sulzer of Virginia at 2:19, and #13 Victor Avery of Edinboro won on tiebreaker over #4 Jack Dechow of Old Dominion. #13 Cody Brewer of Oklahoma won a major decision over #4 Johnni DiJulius of Ohio State, 9-1, and #13 C.J. Cobb of Penn stunned #4 Brandon Sorenson of Iowa, 4-3. David Terao of American bested Two-Time NCAA Champion, Jesse Delgado, 4-2. Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech took out his second seeded wrestler, #8 John Boyle of American, after disposing of #9 Joey LaVallee of Missouri, 5-2, in the first round; Brascetta gained . Overall, my second round picks were 58 of 80 for 72.5%.

Third and Quarterfinal Round Summary

The Ohio State Buckeyes gained 5 Semi-Finalist and a 17 point team lead over the Iowa Hawkeyes, 64.5 to 47.5, after a rugged quarterfinal round. Missouri was 2.5 points behind Iowa matching the Hawkeyes with 3 Semi-Finalists. Cornell wrestled to 4th with 41.5 points with 2 in the Semis, and Edinbori was a point behind with 3 Semi-Finalists. Nebraska earned 36.5 points, and Oklahoma State was in 7th with 36 points; the Cornhuskers only had one Semi-Finalist left, but the Cowpokes earned 2 Semi-Finalists. Penn State earned 33.5 points, and Minnesota was 9th with 29.5 points; both earned 2 Semi-Finalists. Michigan and Illinois were tied for 10th with 26.5 points and one Semi-Finalist.

The biggest controversy of the tournament erupted in this round after the wild 3rd period of the quarterfinal bout between #2 Brian Realbuto of Cornell and #6 Ian Miller of Kent State. Miller led 2-1 after the first period, and 4-3 after the second period; he built an 8-4 lead with a reversal and his third takedown of the bout with 56 seconds to go. An escape and takedown by Realbuto narrowed the gap to 8-7 with 24 seconds to go. Realbuto cut Miller to make the score 9-7, and then got a takedown to tie the bout up as time expired, 9-9. The bout was immediately rushed into overtime, but neither the scoring table nor the referees checked the score to recognize the 1:33 in riding time that Miller earned for a 10-9 win. Realbuto won in sudden victory overtime, 11-9, in 13 seconds. After the controversy, the NCAA issued a statement stating that coaches needed to be responsible to challenge any scoring errors in a bout.

Upsets continued with Unseeded Zeke Moisey of West Virginia defeating Eddie Klimara of Oklahoma State, 5-2. Unseeded Kevin Jack of North Carolina State upsetting #4 Devin Carter of Virginia Tech, 10-8. #1 Robert Kokesh of Nebraska was edged, 3-2, by #8 Tyler Wilps of Pittsburgh. #2 Max Thomusseti of the Panthers was stunned, 7-4, by #7 Nate Brown of Lehigh after beating him twice during the season. Unseeded Kenny Courts of Ohio State boosted the Buckeye title hopes with a sudden overtime victory, 7-5, over #14 Matt McCutcheon of Penn State. #15 Ethan Ramos of North Carolina was leading #7 Pierce Harger of Northwestern, 8-3, when the bout ended on a medical forfeit. In the consolation round, #4 John Eblen of Missouri lost to Zach Brunson of Illinois on a head butt after defeating him in the bout.

Fourth and Semi-Final Round Summary

Ohio State was in position for the team title as they ended Friday evening with a 13.5 point advantage of Iowa, 86.5 to 73; the Buckeyes moved three into the finals, Tomasello, Stieber and Snyder, compared to only one wrestler for the Hawkeyes, Cory Clark. Cornell and Edinboro came through with two finalists each, and 66.5 and 64.5 points respectively. Missouri placed 5th and Penn State 6th with one finalist each, 60 and 58 points. Michigan moved into 8th with 51 points, and one finalist. Minnesota and Nebraska tied for 9th, but neither squad had a finalist.

The pin by Zeke Moisey of West Virginia of #6 Thomas Gilman of Iowa in 52 seconds started the session off with a "bang" at 125 lbs. Cody Brewer of Oklahoma earned his third major decision in a row, 15-3, over #1 Chris Dardanes of Minnesota at 133 lbs. #3 David Habat of Edinboro, ruined #2 Jason Tsirtsis chances of a repeat, 3-2, at 149 lbs. Another Gopher, Dylan Ness, 2014 NCAA Runner-Up, was forced to default with as shoulder injury to #2 Brian Realbuto of Cornell at 157 lbs. #6 Adam Coon of Michigan reversed the outcome of his Big Ten Semi-Final loss to #2 Mike McMullan of Northwestern in sudden victory overtime, 3-1, with a scramble that few have seen in the heavyweight class.

In the consolation round, the famous "Round of 12" was wrestled off. Some of the great battles to make All-American and a place on the podium included Michigan's unseeded Conor Youtsey defeating #3 Joey Dance of Virginia Tech in sudden victory overtime, 3-1, after losing to Dance in the same round in 2014 at 125 lbs. At 149 lbs., unseeded Daniel Neff of Lock Haven hit a granby roll to reverse #11 Tywon Claxton of Ohio University, 7-5, in tiebreaker to give the Bald Eagles their first All-American since 2007. Unseeded Willie Miklus of Missouri defeated #5 Tyler Meeks of Oregon State, a returning All-American, 13-7; also, #6 Hayden Zillmer of North Dakota State eliminated #2 Max Thomusseit of Pittsburgh, 7-1, at 184 lbs. #10 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech eliminated #4 Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State, 2-1, at 285 lbs.

Fifth Round Consolation Final Summary

Ohio State clinched the team title after this round with a 94 to 84 lead on Iowa. Edinboro placed 3rd with 75.5 points. Missouri was in 4th ahead of Cornell, 69.5 to 67.5. Penn State was 6th with 63.5, Oklahoma State was 7th with 61, Minnesota moved up to 8th with 59.5, Nebraska was in 9th with 59, and Virginia Tech held on to 10th place with 56 points.

#9 A.J. Schopp of Edinboro gave #1 Chris Dardanes of Minnesota his second defeat of the tournament, 4-3, at 133 lbs. for 3rd place. #15 Freshman B.J. Clagon of Rider defeated #5 Senior Chris Villalonga of Cornell, 6-3, at 149 lbs. for 5th place. #12 Brian Crutcher of Oklahoma State rode out #3 Mike Evans of Iowa in tiebreaker for a 2-1 win at 174 lbs.

Finals Summary

The finals began with a very entertaining bout between old rivals, Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State and Zeke Moisey of West Virginia, both with freshman eligibility; the third period saw Moisey throwing a "cement mixer" to narrow the gap to 6-4, but Tomassello recovered to end it, 9-5. Oklahoma's #13 Cody Brewer was very impressive with 5 takedowns over #3 Cory Clark of Iowa inn a 11-8 win; Brewer sailed to the finals with three major decisions and a pin. Only one bout went overtime, and at 149 #1 Drake Houdashelt edged #3 David Habat of Edinboro with a 3-1 sudden victory. Only one bout was decided by pin, and Iowa State's #3 Kyven Gadson threw #4 Kyle Snyder of Ohio State at 4:24. The highest scoring heavyweight bout since 1988 saw #1 Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State repeat over #6 Adam Coon of Michigan, 7-6. Three bouts were easily decided at 157 lbs., 165 lbs. and 141 lbs. with #1 Isaiah Martinez of Illinois majoring #2 Brian Realbuto of Cornell, 10-2, #1 Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State easily handling #6 Taylor Walsh of Indiana, 14-7, and #1 Logan Stieber of Ohio State manhandling #2 Mitchell Port of Edinboro, 11-5. The most controversial final was decided by a locked hands violation at 6:59 of the bout between #2 Matt Brown of Penn State over #8 Tyler Wilps of Pittsburgh, 5-4, after two video replay reviews. In the other final, #1 Gabe Dean of Cornell outlasted #7 Nate Brown of Lehigh, 6-2, at 184 lbs.

125 lbs.

There is no doubt that Zeke Moisey was the surprise wrestler of the championships; he was the first unseeded wrestler in the finals since 2003.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Nathan Tomasello, NCAA Champion 125 lbs.

133 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Cody Brewer, NCAA Champion 133 lbs.

141 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Logan Stieber, now is one of four wrestlers to earn a coveted 4th NCAA Title; he was the most dominant wrestler for 2015, and a 2016 Olympic candidate.

149 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Drake Houdashelt, 5th last season, #1 Ranked Two Seasons in a Row.

157 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Isaiah Martinez, undefeated as a Redshirt Freshman and 2015 Big Ten Champion

165 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Alex Dieringer goes for his 2nd NCAA Championship

174 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Matt Brown

184 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Sophomore Gabe Dean, a Lowell, Michigan Native is a Two-Time EIWA Champion and returning All-American

197 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Kyven Gadson

285 lbs.

Predicted vs. Actual Placewinners

Nick Gwiazdowski

Team