By Courtney Baumann | [email protected]
ST. LOUIS – It’s here, folks, the big one, the thing everyone has been waiting for, the wrestling national tournament.
Getting its start with Session I at 11 this morning, Iowa has already seen its ups and downs. Two of the nine wrestlers have dropped to the consolation bracket, while Cash Wilcke pulled out the first upset of the day as an unseeded wrestler.
After one round of matches in each weight class, Iowa sits in fourth with 12 team points, behind Penn State (16 points), Oklahoma State (15 points), and Ohio State (14 points).
Here’s what has happened so far in the tournament, and here’s what’s next.
125: The only top-seeded Hawkeye of the tournament, Gilman proved himself yet again, improving to 29-0 on the season with a 19-6 major decision over Central Michigan’s Brent Fleetwood. Gilman’s next task will be tonight in Session II when he faces No. 16 seed Nathan Kraisser of Campbell. Kraisser is 26-7 on the season, though recently dropping four spots in the national rankings to No. 18.
133: Cory Clark started the 2017 tournament seeded No. 4, the lowest seed he’s received since taking over in the 133 position in 2015. Regardless, Clark went out and won his match to move on to the next round. He faced Stanford’s Connor Schram, an unseeded 14-5 wrestler. The senior won by a 4-0 decision, and will take on Pat D’Arcy of Princeton tonight. D’Arcy upset No. 13 Earl Hall of Iowa State during Session I.
141: Stealing the ninth and last 141 spot for nationals at the Big Ten tournament, Topher Carton came into NCAAs unseeded and needing to win one more match than everyone else in his weight class. Carton won that first match of the day over Campbell’s Joshua Heil, but dropped the next one to Virginia’s sixth-seeded George DiCamillo, 13-4. The senior was the first Hawkeye to fall to the consolation bracket, where he will continue to compete for third place. His first test during Session II will be Wisconsin’s Cole Martin, who Carton beat by major decision during the regular season.
149: Brandon Sorensen, who also received a lower seed than he’s been used to in the past made sure to make his presence known right off the bat today when he pinned Matthew Zovistoski of Appalachian State in 2:11 to add a few points to Iowa’s team score. While Sorensen is competing in a loaded side of the bracket with Big Ten foes Zain Retherford and Micah Jordan, he will first see Wisconsin’s Andrew Crone, who he beat by a 9-5 decision earlier this season.
157: Michael Kemerer, Iowa’s second-highest seeded wrestler of the tournament, also tacked on some bonus points for the Hawkeyes with his 14-3 major decision over familiar face Jake Danishek of Indiana. HIs first time at the tournament, the redshirt freshman said he felt some nerves heading into the first match, but once he made the first contact on the mat it all “went away.” Kemerer will move on to the next round and see Chase Delande of Edinboro, who he has also seen before. The two wrestlers first met up in the National Duals, where Kemerer won by a 16-6 major decision.
165: After being selected for an at-large bid for the tournament by the NCAA Wrestling Division I Committee, unseeded Joey Gunther could not earn the win in the first round over No. 13 seed Brandon Womack. Gunther lost a 12-3 major decision, and will begin Session II in the consolation bracket. He will get the chance to continue on in the tournament when he faces Lorenzo De La Riva tonight.
174: Senior Alex Meyer, a No. 11 seed, won his Session I match with a 6-1 decision over Boise State wrestler Austin Dewey. Meyer will move into even more unknown territory when he faces No. 6 Ryan Preisch of Lehigh tonight in the next round.
184: Sammy Brooks defeated Nicholas Gravina for the second time this season during Session I, this time by a 7-3 decision over the Rutgers wrestler. Gravina, who was No. 11 in the country at the time of the last match, has since dropped out of the national rankings and went into the national tournament unseeded. Brooks, the No. 3 seed, will move on to the next round to see No. 14 seed Dakota Greer. When Brooks and Greer squared off at the National Duals, Brooks won a 14-4 major decision.
197: Redshirt freshman Cash Wilcke was not even supposed to be in the national tournament, but earned a bid after an injury disqualified another wrestler. Wilcke, who came in unseeded, upset the No. 13 seed Tom Sleigh with a takedown :12 into sudden victory. There is still a long road ahead, as Wilcke next have to face Virginia Tech’s Jared Haught, who entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed and the No. 4 ranked guy in the country.
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