No. 1 seed Morgan McIntosh advanced to the semifinals by pinning Nebraska's Aaron Studebaker in the quarterfinals at 197 pounds (Photo/Juan Garcia)Nico Megaludis (125), Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157), Bo Nickal (174) and Morgan McIntosh (197) punched their tickets to the semifinals for the Nittany Lions.
"We're doing great," said McIntosh, who entered the tournament undefeated and seeded No. 1. "It's fun to see all those guys doing well and achieving their goals. We're all excited. Guys are wrestling well. We have some good momentum going into the semis. Tonight is going to be exciting. Our team is just having a lot of fun."
Ohio State and Iowa both posted 4-1 records in the quarterfinals.
Oklahoma State had the most quarterfinalists with seven, but went 3-4 in the round. The Cowboys did pick up a key upset at 149 pounds with No. 11 Anthony Collica knocking off No. 3 Lavion Mayes of Missouri.
"That dude is pretty solid, strong," said Collica. "I just had to keep wrestling hard, stay in good position and I came out on top."
Nebraska had a tough quarterfinal round, going 1-4. The Cornhuskers currently sit in sixth place with 35.5 points.
Top-ranked heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State dominated Lehigh's Max Wessel in the quarterfinals (Photo/Juan Garcia)"I feel confident that I have the best coaches, best training partners in the world at Ohio State. I feel like I'm constantly improving with Tervel Dlagnev and the whole coaching staff. I feel good about tonight. I'm excited to wrestle and excited to challenge myself and see if I can score more points."
Nine wrestlers seeded outside the top 10 advanced to tonight's semifinals, including unseeded Lelund Weatherspoon of Iowa State at 174 pounds. He becomes ISU's first unseeded All-American since John Thorn in 1983. In addition, two No. 15 seeds and two No. 14 seeds advanced to the semifinals.
Tonight's session is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.
Below is a weight-by-weight synopsis of what transpired in the quarterfinals.
125:
Defending NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State cruised to the semifinals with a 10-4 decision over No. 9 Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa. He'll meet Iowa's Thomas Gilman in the semifinals. Gilman of Iowa handled Oklahoma's Ryan Millhof 16-5 in the semifinals. On the bottom side of the bracket, Nico Megaludis blanked Michigan's Conor Youtsey 4-0. Tonight he will face surprise semifinalist, No. 15 seed David Terao, who advanced to the semifinals by pinning Stanford's Connor Schram. With the match tied at 2-2 in the third period, Terao used a headlock to throw Schram and secure the pin.
133:
The top two seeds, Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) and Cory Clark (Iowa), both earned shutout victories to advance to the semifinals. Garrett blanked No. 8 Earl Hall of Iowa State 5-0, while Clark topped Nebraska's Eric Montoyo 4-0. Tonight Garrett will meet defending NCAA champion Cody Brewer of Oklahoma, who earned an 8-4 victory over Penn State's Jordan Conaway. Clark will face Zane Richards of Illinois in a rematch of the Big Ten finals.
141:
No. 1 Dean Heil avenged his only loss of the season, beating North Carolina's Joey Ward 8-3. Heil broke open a 1-1 match in the third period with a takedown and four nearfall points to go up 7-1. Ward would add a late reversal, but it was too little too late. Heil will battle local favorite Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers, a four-time undefeated New Jersey state champion, who advanced with a 5-4 victory over Old Dominion's Chris Mecate. Second-seeded Joey McKenna controlled Solomon Chishko of Virginia Tech from start to finish, winning 6-1. His semifinal opponent will be No. 14 seed Bryce Meredith of Wyoming, who won 5-2 over No. 6 Micah Jordan of Ohio State.
149:
No. 1 Zain Retherford of Penn State continued his domination, pinning No. 9 Justin Oliver in the first period to advance to the semifinals. He will now face Michigan's Alex Pantaleo, who also advanced to the semifinals with a pin. Pantaleo's pin came in the second period over fourth-seeded Matt Cimato of Drexel. Retherford has pinned Pantaleo twice this season in two meetings. On the bottom side of the bracket, No. 2 Brandon Sorensen of Iowa needed a second sudden victory period to defeat Nebraska's Jake Sueflohn 4-2. He will now meet Oklahoma State's Anthony Collica, who edged Missouri's Lavion Mayes 3-2.
157:
Two of the nation's top wrestlers, Isaiah Martinez of Illinois and Jason Nolf of Penn State, moved one step closer to a potential third meeting on Saturday night with victories on Friday. Martinez picked up a 6-3 victory over two-time All-American Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech. Nolf pulled away late against Oklahoma State's Joe Smith to win 11-3. The match was tied 2-2 late in the second period before Nolf scored a takedown to go up 4-2 after two periods. The PSU freshman poured it on in the third period to pick up a major decision. The surprise of the bracket was No. 15 Chad Walsh reaching the semifinals with an 11-10 victory over No. 7 Cody Pack of South Dakota State. Kent State's Ian Miller punched his ticket to the semifinals with a 6-3 win over All-American Brian Murphy of Michigan State.
165:
The top four seeds at 165 pounds advanced to the semifinals. Two-time NCAA champion Alex Dieringer rolled to an 11-5 victory over Iowa State's Tanner Weatherman in a rematch of the Big 12 finals. With the victory, Dieringer becomes Oklahoma State's 14th four-time All-American. He will now face Missouri's Daniel Lewis, who blanked Rider's Connor Brennan 4-0 in the quarterfinals. Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin and Bo Jordan of Ohio State were winners on the bottom side of the bracket. Isaac used a first-period takedown to pace him to a 3-1 victory over Nebraska's Austin Wilson. Bo was much more dominant in the quarterfinals, earning a 10-2 major decision over Rider's Connor Brennan. The Jordan cousins will meet for the fourth time in their college careers tonight, with Isaac holding a 3-0 advantage in the series.
174:
No. 1 Bo Nickal of Penn State broke open his quarterfinal match early against Oklahoma State's Jordan Rogers, picking up a takedown and four-point nearfall points to go up 6-0. Rogers earned an escape in the second period to make it 6-1. Nickal then pulled away in the third period to earn a 12-4 major decision. Nickal's semifinal opponent will be Indiana's Nate Jackson, the only wrestler to defeat him this season. Jackson won 6-4 in the quarterfinals over unseeded Jadaen Bernstein of Navy. Winners on the bottom half of the bracket, which was turned upside down early, were true freshman Myles Martin of Ohio State, seeded No. 11, and unseeded Lelund Weatherspoon of Iowa State. Martin's quarterfinal victory came over Oklahoma's Matt Reed, 2-0. Weatherspoon knocked off No. 7 Cody Walters of Ohio 5-3.
184:
Returning NCAA champion Gabe Dean of Cornell avenged his only loss of the season, beating Oklahoma State's Nolan Boyd 10-4. Dean had two first-period takedowns and added a takedown in each of the final two periods. He will face NC State's Pete Renda, who advanced by edging No. 5 Zack Zavatsky of Virginia Tech 4-3. Nebraska's T.J. Dudley won the rubber match against Big Ten champion Sammy Brooks of Iowa 9-6. Dudley's semifinal opponent will be surprise semifinalist Willie Miklus of Missouri, who came through as the No. 14 seed.
197:
The top four seeds advanced to tonight's semifinals. The top two seeds, Morgan McIntosh of Penn State and J'den Cox of Missouri, were especially dominant in the quarterfinals, winning by scores of 16-4 and 6-0 respectively. Iowa's Nathan Burak used a takedown in each of the final two periods to beat Duke's Connor Hartmann 5-2. Minnesota's Brett Pfarr dominated Iowa State's Pat Downey 12-3 to reach the semifinals.
285:
Two-time NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State continues to roll as he picked up a 9-1 major decision over Lehigh's Max Wessel. He will now meet Michigan's Adam Coon in the semifinals in a rematch of last year's NCAA finals match at heavyweight. Coon won narrowly, 3-2, over Oklahoma State's Austin Marsden. On the bottom side of the bracket, No. 2 Kyle Snyder dominated No. 7 Amarveer Dhesi of Oregon State 16-5 in a battle of past Junior World champions. Tonight Snyder will meet third-seeded Ty Walz of Virginia Tech. Walz advanced by beating Brooks Black of Illinois 4-1.
Team Standings
1. Penn State 68.5
2. Ohio St. 54
3. Iowa 48.5
4. Oklahoma St. 46
5. Missouri 42.5
6. Nebraska 35.5
7. NC State 32.5
8. Michigan 32
9. Virginia Tech 30.5
10. Cornell 28.5
11. Illinois 28
12. Oklahoma 24.5
13. Rutgers 22
14. Lehigh 19.5
15. Iowa St. 19
16. Kent St. 18.5
17. Wyoming 17.5
18. Minnesota 16
18. Rider 16
18. Stanford 16
21. Wisconsin 13
22. American 12.5
23. Indiana 12
23. Oregon St. 12
25. Bucknell 10
25. Edinboro 10
Semifinal Matchups
125:
No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) vs. No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa)
No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) vs. No. 15 David Terao (American)
133:
No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) vs. No. 4 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma)
No. 2 Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. No. 3 Zane Richards (Illinois)
141:
No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 4 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers)
No. 2 Joey McKenna (Stanford) vs. No. 14 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming)
149:
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. No. 5 Alex Pantaleo (Michigan)
No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) vs. No. 11 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State)
157:
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. No. 4 Ian Miller (Kent State)
No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 15 Chad Walsh (Rider)
165:
No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri)
No. 2 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) vs. No. 3 Bo Jordan (Ohio State)
174:
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 12 Nate Jackson (Indiana)
No. 11 Myles Martin (Ohio State) vs. Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State)
184:
No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) vs. No. 13 Pete Renda (NC State)
No. 7 T.J. Dudley (Nebraska) vs. No. 14 Willie Miklus (Missouri)
197:
No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Nathan Burak (Iowa)
No. 2 J'den Cox (Missouri) vs. No. 3 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota)
285:
No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) vs. No. 5 Adam Coon (Michigan)
No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) vs. No. 3 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech)
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