While other universities participate in some abomination of a postseason, throwing a ball through a hoop-shaped cylinder, the two largest schools in Iowa will be getting down and dirty at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Consider this your open thread for Thursday. Iowa State comes in ranked second, behind archrival Iowa. Iowa's matchups are below the fold.
133 pounds
Thursday Morning
#5 Andrew Long [RS FR] (23-6) vs. Ryan Mango (Stanford) [FR] (24-13)
Thursday Night
vs. #12 Ben Kjar (Utah Valley State) [RS JR] (30-8) OR Steven Keith (Harvard) [FR] (20-10)
Previous Meetings-2010
NO Previous Meetings with Mango, Kjar or Keith
If Iowa State wants any chance at a title this year, Long has to bulldoze through on Thursday, and he has to do it big. Long's last two wins have been by fall, and two of the last three before that by tech fall. Long needs to be an early source of points for the Clones.
133 pounds
Thursday Morning
#10 Nick Fanthorpe [SR] (16-7) vs. Cortland Choate (Brown) [FR] (12-11)
Thursday Night
vs. #7 Mike Grey (Cornell) [JR] (35-6) OR Ben Ashmore (Arizona State) [RS JR] (18-12)
Previous Meetings-2010
1-0 vs. Grey (W-D, 6-3)
1-0 vs. Ashmore (W-MD, 12-3)
Fanthorpe can be another source of early points for ISU. He shouldn't have much trouble during the morning match, and he's beaten each of his two possible opponents for Thursday night. Fanthorpe finished 7th last year, so he needs to shake off some of the negative thoughts from this year and wrestle up to his capabilities.
141 pounds
Thursday Morning
Dalton Jensen [SO] (13-14) vs. #4 Reece Humphrey (Ohio State) [RS JR] (29-3)
Thursday Night
vs. Michael Mangrum (Oregon State) [RS FR] (28-10) OR Mike Koehnlein (Nebraska) [JR] (18-15)
Previous Meetings-2010
0-1 vs. Humphrey (L-D, 6-5)
2-1 vs. Koehnlein (W-D, 11-6; L-D, 4-2; W-MD, 11-2)
Jensen will likely have to be a source of points in wrestlebacks this year - he's talented but inexperienced. However, don't write him off early, as he lost to Humphrey by just one point at the National Duals, holding an early 3-2 lead in the match. Jensen and Koehnlein are very familiar with each other, with Jensen having a big win at the Big 12 Championships.
149 pounds
Thursday Morning
#7 Mitch Mueller [SR] (25-8) vs. Frank Gayeski (Liberty) [RS SR] (26-6)
Thursday Night
vs. #10 Barrett Abel (UC Davis) [RS JR] (21-7) OR Anthony D'Alie (Central Michigan) [RS SR] (17-6)
Previous Meetings-2010
NO Previous Meetings with Gayeski, Abel or D'Alie
Mueller, who went 3-2 last year at the NCAA Championships, is another guy that needs to make some early magic for the Clones. He has two winnable matchups and should advance into the quarterfinals.
157 pounds
Thursday Morning
Andrew Sorensen [RS SO] (26-7) vs. Anthony Jones (Michigan State) [JR] (12-17)
Thursday Night
vs. #3 Jesse Dong (Virginia Tech) [SO] (34-3) OR Joseph Booth (Drexel) [RS FR] (21-7)
Previous Meetings-2010
NO Previous Meetings with Jones, Dong or Booth
Sorenson lucks out a bit with a first round matchup against a below-.500 wrestler, but it'll get a lot more difficult in a hurry. Hope for a big win Thursday morning and then pray Thursday night.
165 pounds
Thursday Morning
#4 Jon Reader [JR] (22-4) vs. Chris Brown (Old Dominion) [RS SR] (29-3)
Thursday Night
vs. Matt Kaylor (Binghamton) [RS SO] (29-3) OR Robby Neill (Navy) [JR] (24-14)
Previous Meetings-2010
NO Previous Meetings with Brown, Kaylor or Neill
Reader will face two unseeded wrestlers tomorrow and he needs to capitalize with bonus points.
174 pounds
Thursday Morning
Duke Burk [SR] (17-13) vs. #10 Jordan Blanton (Illinois) [SO] (14-7)
Thursday Night
vs. #7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) [RS FR] (21-5) OR Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) [RS FR] (18-10)
Previous Meetings-2010
1-0 vs. Blanton (W-D, 9-8)
Burk has had a dismal year, but is coming off a third place showing at the Big 12 Championships and owns a win over his first round opponent. Upset or not, Burk needs to beat Blanton again to try and pick up a few points.
184 pounds
Thursday Morning
Jerome Ward [RS SO] (18-9) vs. #1 Kirk Smith (Boise State) [JR] (25-0)
Thursday Night
vs. Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) [SO] (16-11) OR Nathan Schiedel (Binghamton) [RS FR] (30-7)
Previous Meetings-2010
NO Previous Meetings with Smith, Rutt or Schiedel
Ward gets a difficult draw, but he's familiar with Smith, losing to him twice last year by 3-1 decisions. Unfortunately, after a hot start, WArd has cooled off drastically towards the end of the year. The hope with Ward is that he is not eliminated tomorrow.
197 pounds
Thursday Morning
#1 Jake Varner [SR] (26-0) vs. Matt Casperson (Boise State) [RS JR] (18-15)
Thursday Night
vs. Riley Orozco (CSU Baker) [RS JR] (18-15) OR Lamar Brown (Rutgers) [RS SR] (25-9)
Previous Meetings-2010
NO Previous Meetings with Casperson, Orozco or Brown.
Varner is 90-4 in his last 94 matches, has not lost yet this year and doesn't need to start now.
285 pounds
Thursday Morning
#1 David Zabriskie [SR] (21-2) vs. Eric Bugenhagen (Wisconsin) [RS JR] (16-18)
Thursday Night
vs. Eddie Bordas (Rider) [SR] (32-7) OR Eric Nye (Arizona State) [RS SR] (21-13)
Previous Meetings
1-0 vs. Nye (W-D, 3-1)
Zabriskie also gets two unseeded opponents on Thursday. He wrestles dangerously, so he needs to avoid the upset. Bonus points would be surprising and welcomed.
Iowa's matches:
125 pounds:
#3 Matt McDonough [RS FR] (32-1) vs. Erin Morrill (Edinboro) [RS JR] (31-7) OR Jason Lara (Oregon State) [RS SO] (33-7)
133 pounds:
#2 Daniel Dennis [RS SR] (18-3) vs. Kevin Smith (Buffalo) [RS SO] (27-11)
141 pounds:
#6 Montell Marion [RS SO] (23-5) vs. Cole VonOhlen (Air Force) [FR] (31-7)
149 pounds:
#2 Brent Metcalf [RS SR] (31-1) vs. Trenton Washington (Northern Iowa) [RS SO] (15-3)
157 pounds:
Jake Kerr [RS JR] (11-9) vs. Tejovan Edwards [SO] (14-11)
165 pounds:
#7 Ryan Morningstar [RS SR] (26-6) vs. Donald Jones (West Virginia) [RS SR] (20-10)
174 pounds:
#2 Jay Borschel [RS JR] (32-0) vs. Scott Giffin (Penn) [RS JR] (23-5)
184 pounds:
#9 Phil Keddy [RS SR] (23-7) vs. Michael Salopek (Virginia) [RS FR] (27-8)
197 pounds:
#9 Chad Beatty [RS SR] (14-3) vs. Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State) [RS SO] (25-7)
285 pounds:
#5 Dan Erekson [RS SR] (12-0) vs. Clayton Jack (Oregon State) [RS SO] (34-9)
Loading comments...