By Courtney Baumann | [email protected]
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – After the first rousing session of the 2017 Big Ten wrestling championships, all 10 Iowa wrestlers are still alive. Five of them are headed for the semifinals, while the rest have dropped down to the consolation bracket and try to fight back for a third place finish.
“There’s rollercoasters in tournaments, so you gotta ride them. You want to stay high, but we got a lot of matches to go, starting a couple hours from now,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said. “I like when you’re winning big and doing things you’re supposed to be doing – wrestling sharp and smart. It’s early in the tournament and there’s a lot to still be fighting for, whichever side of the bracket you’re on. That’s the bottom line here.”
Here’s what happened, and here’s what’s next:
125: Thomas Gilman pinned Ohio State’s Jose Rodriguez in 5:37. Surprise. Being the No. 1 seed, the two-time All-American received a first-round bye and has only wrestled once today. In the semifinals, Gilman will face Michigan’s Conor Youtsey, who upset Minnesota’s Ethan Lizak. Sorry Hawkeye fans, there won’t be a Gilman/Lizak rematch. We all know how fun the last one was.
Also, Penn State’s Nick Suriano medically forfeited the tournament. Just a little interesting tidbit.
133: Cory Clark is 2-0 on the day and is also headed to the semifinals after wins over Penn State’s Triston Law and Maryland’s Bill Rappo. Clark’s first match ended as a 12-3 major decision, and he won the second 5-0 with almost five minutes of riding time. The defending Big Ten champ will take on Mitch McKee tonight. McKee upset No. 2 seed Eric Montoya, who defeated Clark in a 9-6 decision just a few weeks ago in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
141: After a swift 12-4 major decision over No. 11 seeded Cole Weaver, Topher Carton could not respond to No. 3 seed Tommy Thorn. Carton is now 0-2 against Thorn this year now that he lost an 8-4 decision in the quarterfinals. Carton will scrap with Maryland’s Ryan Diehl tonight in the consolation bracket.
149: Brandon Sorensen became the third Iowa wrestler to move on to the semifinals with a 2-0 decision over No. 7 seed Eric Barone. Sorensen’s two points came off an escape in the third period and riding time. In his first match, Sorensen earned the team some bonus points with a first period fall on Northwestern’s Shayne Oster. Up next for Sorensen will be Micah Jordan, who the junior eked out a 2-0 over back in January.
157: No. 2 seed Michael Kemerer earned bonus points with a major decision over John Van Brill. Shortly after the referee raised Kemerer’s hand, Nebraska’s Tyler Berger lost in an upset to No. 6 seed Brian Murphy, so the redshirt freshman will get Murphy tonight in the semifinals.
165: Redshirt freshman Joey Gunther won a 3-2 decision in his first match of the day, but could not make his way to the semifinals. Gunther lost an 8-3 decision to Penn State’s Vincenzo Joseph. He is set to face Cody Burcher tonight in the consolation round, who he is 1-0 against this season.
174: All-American Alex Meyer dropped to the consolation bracket after losing to No. 4 seed Myles Amine for the second time this season. When Iowa traveled to Michigan, Amine won a 6-5 decision, then repeated the win today with an 11-6 decision. Meyer won his first match by technical fall, 19-3, over Michigan State’s Drew Barnes. Coming up tonight, the senior will face Rutgers’s Jordan Pagano, who lost in an upset in the first round.
184: Sammy Brooks made his presence known as the defending Big Ten champion with a first round bye followed by pinning No. 10 seed Bobby Steveson in 3:08. Brooks was the final Hawkeye in Session I to move on to the semifinals. He will wrestle Indiana’s Nathan Jackson, who he beat 10-5 in the third place match of the Midlands Championships. Brooks sat out Iowa’s dual meet with Indiana.
197: First-time Big Ten tournament-er Cash Wilcke will wrestle Jackson Striggow tonight in the consolation bracket. Wilcke won his first match of the day by major decision over Michigan State’s Wesley Maskill, but fell in the second to Nebraska’s Aaron Studebacker, 10-4.
285: The only Hawkeye to lose in the first round, Steven Holloway received a bye in the consolation bracket to stay alive for Session II. Holloway took Razhonn Gross to two tiebreaker rounds before giving up a couple of takedowns and losing 7-4. The redshirt freshman will see No. 7 seed Youssif Hemida tonight for his second match.
Current team standings:
- Penn State – 70.0
- Ohio State – 68.0
- Iowa – 55.5
- Minnesota – 52.0
- Michigan – 47.0
- Illinois – 28.5
- Wisconsin 28.5
- Nebraska – 26.0
- Indiana –20.0
- Michigan State – 19.0
- Rutgers – 17.5
- Maryland – 16.5
- Purdue – 7.0
- Northwestern – 4.0