InterMat Staff

Penn State captured its fourth straight NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) PITTSBURGH -- Penn State clinched the team title at the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh Saturday, with three Nittany Lions earning individual championships ... hours before any of them took to the mat for the finals. The trio of Penn State wrestlers to win titles in Pennsylvania's second-largest city were Jason Nolf at 157 pounds, Bo Nickal at 197, and, at 285, Anthony Cassar. It was Cassar's first national crown; Nolf and Nickal each claimed their third national titles, joining Nittany Lion alums Ed Ruth and Zain Retherford in the three-timer club. Penn State won the 2019 NCAA team title with 137.5 points. Ohio State placed second with 96.5 points, with Oklahoma State placing third with 84 points. Iowa and Michigan were fourth and fifth in the final team standings, with 76 and 62.5 points, respectively. It is the fourth straight championship for Penn State, and eighth since Cael Sanderson became head coach in April 2009. Add in the team title that the Nittany Lions won at the 1953 NCAAs in their home gym, Rec Hall, and the program now has nine championships ... placing it just behind the wrestling programs at Oklahoma State and University of Iowa, with 34 and 23 team titles, respectively. "I'll just say we're very happy and proud of this team," Sanderson said at the conclusion of the 2019 NCAAs. "Some great competition individually and team-wise. And so being able to win a national championship is very special and something that we're excited about. "We're also excited about the future, happy that our seniors got to go out on top. And that's something that's important to us. And we know we've had some really special guys, guys like Bo and Jason, both three-time national champs, really, really just special, special people, special kids and super happy and proud of them." Big news beyond Penn State ... There were other headlines to come out of the 2019 NCAA finals. For starters, freshman Mekhi Lewis -- the No. 8 seed at 165 pounds for Virginia Tech -- made history by upsetting two-time defending champ Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State (going for his third title). Lewis became the first NCAA mat champ for the Hokies. Rutgers also claimed its first two national champs in Nick Suriano at 133 pounds, and Anthony Ashnault at 149 pounds. Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis claimed his second straight NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Two sophomores -- Iowa's Spencer Lee, and Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis -- each successfully defended their 2018 NCAA titles at 125 pounds and 141 pounds, respectively ... winning two national championships just two years out of high school. Another defending champ -- Zahid Valencia of Arizona State -- repeated his winning ways at 174, defeating Penn State's Mark Hall for the second straight year. Weight-by-weight recap The evening's action -- and Penn State's winning ways in the finals -- began at 285 pounds, with second-seeded Anthony Cassar defeating top-seeded Derek White of Oklahoma State, 10-1. There was no scoring in the first period. White scored an escape in the second period, but then Cassar piled up the points with a takedown, then four nearfall points near the end of the period to make the score 6-1. In the third, Cassar scored an escape, followed by a takedown. With riding time, the final score was 10-1. After the match, Cassar said, "I always look inside. If I don't get something I wanted, it's because of me. I'm in the best school, the best program, the best facilities, the best coaches, everything I have to be a champion. So if I'm not a champion, it's my fault. I'm not going to go somewhere else and achieve that. So I've looked inside. I have to make more changes and figure it out, because everything around me was doing it right. It was me." At 125 pounds, Iowa's Spencer Lee earned his second national title just two years out of high school, beating No. 5 seed Jack Mueller of Virginia, 5-0. Lee scored a takedown in the first minute of the first period; towards the end of the period, Mueller was warned for stalling. In the second, Lee got a one-point escape, then Mueller was assessed a penalty point. In the third, Lee scored a second takedown with about 30 seconds left for the shutout win. With two titles in two years, Lee was asked if he's working towards getting four titles. "I don't really care about being a four-time I'm not a three-time national champ ... I'm focused on what's next," said Lee. That's going to be summer wrestling and we'll see how that goes. And gotta get healthy and everything, whatever, you know how it is ... That's pretty much it, just focusing on the next thing. Can't worry about four-time champ national because you can't win four if you don't win three, and I haven't won three yet." No. 3 seed Nick Suriano made history by becoming the first NCAA wrestling champ in the nearly 90-year history of Rutgers wrestling ... winning the 133-pound crown by being awarded a takedown in the second sudden victory period to defeat top-seeded Daton Fix of Oklahoma State. The Scarlet Knight tied up the match in regulation with an escape, 1-1, sending things into overtime. In the first overtime session, Fix led 2-1; Suriano scores an escape of his own to knot the score again to take the match into the second sudden victory. Suriano scores a takedown, winning the match 4-2. Suriano was asked to comment on his history-making first title for Rutgers. "Yeah, I'm just telling my family, I heard Goodale, Coach Goodale yell, and it made me so happy, man. Honestly, when I heard Coach Goodale yell and cheer me on, it was a dream. "I saw Donny, I saw my coaches. And man I am blessed. It's an honor to bring history to Rutgers where it belongs. It's an honor, a blessing ..." At 141 pounds, Cornell's top-seeded Yianni Diakomihalis earned his second consecutive title with a 6-4 overtime win over No. 2 seed Joey McKenna of Ohio State. In the closing seconds of regulation, the Big Red champ got a takedown to knot the score. Diakomihalis got a takedown in sudden victory for the win. How does Diakomihalis stay so poised in situations such as the NCAA finals? "It's one thing that I've kind of grown up with and my coaches instill in me is that I will never allow myself to lose. And I always can and will find a way to win a match. And I genuinely believe in myself. And I think that's what does it for me." Antony Ashnault rides Micah Jordan in the NCAA finals match at 149 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Anthony Ashnault became Rutgers' second-ever national champ. The top seed at 149 got a 9-4 win over Ohio State's Micah Jordan, the No. 2 seed. Ashnault scored takedowns in the second and third period ... then seemingly put the match out of reach with four nearfall points after the second TD. When asked about the possibility that he might have hung up the headgear rather than wrestle this past season, Ashnault replied, "I had two surgeries, I was out for about six months, not wrestling at all. And at a time when I was going through it I didn't know if this was in my cards. Did a lot of soul searching. And at the end of the day I know I loved wrestling. "And it was just a chance to get out there and compete again. It wasn't about winning the title at the time. It was just like being a little kid again, and enjoying the sport and falling back in love with it." In the 157-pound title match, No. 1 seed Jason Nolf completed his season with a perfect 31-0 record ... and wrapped up his Penn State career with his third national crown. Nolf got the 10-2 win over No. 2 seed Tyler Berger of Nebraska. The first period was a scoringpalooza, with the Nittany Lion scoring eight points -- including a very early takedown and backpoints. "It's definitely a blessing to be part of such a great team," Nolf said in his post-finals press conference. "Sometimes you can take it for granted and kind of expect that it's going to happen. But at the beginning, at the end of the day, you've got to go work hard for it, and everybody individually has to do their part." In the next match, Vincenzo Joseph was looking to become Penn State's fourth three-time NCAA champ ... but Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis had other plans at 165 pounds. The No. 8 seed Hokie put the second-seeded defending champ in a cradle at the edge of the mat in the second period ... then added a takedown in the third period to earn a 7-1 win, and the distinction of being the first NCAA champ for the Blacksburg, Va. engineering school ... a matter that came up in the question-and-answer session after the match. "It means a lot, because Virginia Tech wrestling has been really good," Lewis said. "It's just that we never really had good finals, good end results. So to be the first one is really special. It means a lot to me. Just so happy that I'm a part of the program." At 174, defending champ Zahid Valencia of Arizona State -- the No. 3 seed -- got a 4-3 win over Penn State's top-seeded Mark Hall. The Nittany Lion scored the first takedown in the first period, while the Sun Devil got an escape to make it 2-1. In the second period, Hall took down and scored an escape ... only to have Valencia get a takedown. Valencia got an escape in the third period to make it 4-3. Hall was a three-time NCAA finalist in the space of three years, winning the title in 2017 but losing to Valencia the last two years. Valencia was asked about his post-match, on-the-mat celebration. "I think a lot of people know what he did after he beat me during the year. He did the air guitar. So I thought I'd do it right back and just smash it, smash it in front of his face. Just a little fun." By winning the 184-pound crown, Drew Foster became the first NCAA champ for Northern Iowa since 2000. The No. 6 seeded Panther scored first with a takedown in the first period, but Cornell's Max Dean -- seeded fifth -- managed to go ahead 3-2. However, Foster got another takedown towards the end of the third period to get the 6-4 win (with riding time). What does Foster have planned for the future? "I've already had it planned out to where I want to be sticking around," said Foster. "I have to do my student teaching this fall to complete graduation. So I'm going to be sticking around and helping out with the program and being part of PWC." In the last bout of the night, top-seeded Bo Nickal secured his third national title for Penn State at 197 with a 5-1 win over No. 2 seed Kollin Moore of Ohio State, with takedowns in the first and third periods. In talking about concluding his college career, Nickal said, "It's really been blessing after blessing. Since the first time I stepped foot on campus it's been incredible. And there's so many people that have just put so much time and effort and energy into me -- and my coaches my trainers and countless others. And I'm incredibly grateful for it. And being able to go through it with a guy like Jason Nolf is something that's amazing and a true blessing. And that's a guy I know I can count on, and I know we're going to be friends for a long time to come." Nittany Lions: defining a dynasty In January, this writer wrote a feature the top college wrestling programs in Divisions I, II and III that might be worthy of being called a "dynasty." First, let's define the word. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a dynasty as "a sports franchise which has a prolonged run of successful seasons." Here's what Wikipedia says: "In sports, a dynasty is a team or individual that dominates their sport or league for an extended length of time ..." Among Division I mat programs, five -- Oklahoma State, Iowa, Iowa State, Penn State, and University of Oklahoma -- have seven or more national team titles earned since the first NCAA championships took place in 1928. Penn State wrestling now has eight. The idea of a Penn State wrestling dynasty has gotten more coverage this week. In his coverage of the team clinching its team title Saturday morning, Mark Wogenrich of the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call provided some perspective by laying out the numbers for where the Nittany Lions stand among Division I college wrestling dynasties: "The championship is Penn State's eighth in nine years, coming close to matching Iowa's run in the 1970s and '80s. The Hawkeyes won nine consecutive championships from 1978-86 and 11 in a 12-year span. "Oklahoma State won nine during a 10-tournament span from 1937-49 and eight from 1954-68. Penn State's first NCAA title, in 1953, preceded that last Cowboys' run. "Penn State won its ninth team title overall, moving into third place behind Oklahoma State (34) and Iowa (23). Penn State had been tied with Iowa State, the team Cael Sanderson coached for three years before taking over the Lions in 2010." It's one thing for a writer in Pennsylvania to make a case for Penn State wrestling = dynasty. How about when a sportswriter nearly 900 miles away in Iowa does it? Earlier this week, Cody Goodwin -- who covers wrestling for the Des Moines Register -- wrote a feature for USA Today Sports with this attention-getting headline: "Most dominant dynasty going in college sports? It's not Alabama football. It's Penn State wrestling." Goodwin took the Penn State dynasty argument beyond college wrestling with this statement: "One could easily argue no sports team -- professional or otherwise -- has been as dominant as Penn State wrestling in the past decade. Not Alabama football. Not Connecticut women's basketball. Not the Golden State Warriors. Not even the New England Patriots." Attendance, by the numbers The 2019 NCAAs will go down in the history books for being well-attended. On Saturday, 18,436 fans took in the action during the medal round of Session 5 ... while 18,950 witnessed the finals, the fifth-highest attendance ever for a Session 6. Total attendance for the first Pittsburgh-hosted NCAAs since 1957: 109,405, which ranks as the sixth-greatest total in NCAA history. Medal match results 125: 1st: Spencer Lee (Iowa) dec. Jack Mueller (Virginia), 5-0 3rd: Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. Vito Arujau (Cornell), 8-3 5th: Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) pinned Pat Glory (Princeton), 5:29 7th: RayVon Foley (Michigan State) dec. Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 7-4 133: 1st: Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), 4-2 SV 3rd: Stevan Micic (Michigan) dec. Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 6-1 5th: Austin DeSanto (Iowa) dec. John Erneste (Missouri), 11-6 7th: Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) dec. Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State), 8-5 141: 1st: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec. Joey McKenna (Ohio State), 6-4 SV 3rd: Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) dec. Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 2-0 5th: Nick Lee (Penn State) pinned Mitch McKee (Minnesota), 3:22 7th: Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) maj. dec. Chad Red (Nebraska), 11-3 149: 1st: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. Micah Jordan (Ohio State), 9-4 3rd: Austin O`Connor (North Carolina) dec. Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 7-5 5th: Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. Brock Mauller (Missouri), 10-6 7th: Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) dec. Pat Lugo (Iowa), 11-9 157: 1st: Jason Nolf (Penn State) maj. dec. Tyler Berger (Nebraska), 10-2 3rd: Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) dec. Hayden Hidlay (NC State), 5-3 5th: Kaleb Young (Iowa) dec. Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 7-5 7th: Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State) dec. Larry Early (Old Dominion), 3-2 165: 1st: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), 7-1 3rd: Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) dec. Evan Wick (Wisconsin), 6-5 5th: Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. Josh Shields (Arizona State), 8-4 7th: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec. Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa), 9-3 174: 1st: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) dec. Mark Hall (Penn State), 4-3 3rd: Myles Amine of (Michigan) dec. Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 4-3 5th: David McFadden (Virginia Tech) dec. Mikey Labriola (Nebraska), 4-3 7th: Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Devin Skatzka (Minnesota), 5-1 184: 1st: Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. Max Dean (Cornell), 6-4 3rd: Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. Ryan Preisch (Lehigh), 5-3 5th: Emery Parker (Illinois) dec. Chip Ness (North Carolina), 11-5 7th: Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) dec. Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), 5-4 197: 1st: Bo Nickal (Penn State) dec. Kollin Moore (Ohio State), 5-1 3rd: Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) dec. Patrick Brucki (Princeton), 7-1 5th: Josh Hokit (Fresno State) dec. William Miklus (Iowa State), 7-2 TB1 7th: Jacob Warner (Iowa) dec. Ben Honis (Cornell), 8-4 285: 1st: Anthony Cassar (Penn State) maj. dec. Derek White (Oklahoma State), 10-1 3rd: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) dec. Jordan Wood (Lehigh), 4-0 5th: Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) dec. Youssif Hemida (Maryland), 5-2 7th: Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) dec.Trent Hillger (Wisconsin), 3-1

1. Penn State 137.5 2. Ohio State 96.5 3. Oklahoma State 84 4. Iowa 76 5. Michigan 62.5 6. Missouri 62 7. Cornell 59.5 8. Minnesota 53.5 9. Rutgers 51.5 10. Nebraska 51 11. Virginia Tech 50 12. Arizona State 42 13. Lehigh 40.5 13. Northern Iowa 40.5 15. Princeton 35 16. Iowa State 32 17. NC State 31.5 18. Lock Haven 29 19. North Carolina 28.5 20. Oregon State 28 21. Wisconsin 27 22. Northwestern 26 23. Virginia 20.5 24. Duke 19 25. Oklahoma 18.5 26. Illinois 16 27. Maryland 13 28. Central Michigan 12.5 29. Fresno State 11.5 29. Purdue 11.5 29. Utah Valley 11.5 32. Old Dominion 11 33. Michigan State 10.5 34. Pittsburgh 9.5 34. Wyoming 9.5 36. Army West Point 7.5 37. Navy 7 37. Rider 7 39. North Dakota State 6.5 40. Stanford 5.5 41. Binghamton 5 41. CSU Bakersfield 5 43. West Virginia 4.5 44. Brown 4 45. Campbell 3.5 45. Pennsylvania 3.5 47. Appalachian State 3 48. Cal Poly 2 49. American 1.5 49. Bucknell 1.5 49. George Mason 1.5 49. Northern Colorado 1.5 53. Buffalo 1 53. Indiana 1 53. Ohio 1 56. Air Force 0.5 56. Chattanooga 0.5 56. Columbia 0.5 56. Drexel 0.5 56. Kent State 0.5 56. Northern Illinois 0.5 56. SIU Edwardsville 0.5 63. Bloomsburg 0 63. Clarion 0 63. Edinboro 0 63. Franklin and Marshall 0 63. Gardner-Webb 0 63. South Dakota State 0 63. The Citadel 0 63. VMI 0

125: 1st: Spencer Lee (Iowa) dec. Jack Mueller (Virginia), 5-0 3rd: Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. Vito Arujau (Cornell), 8-3 5th: Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) pinned Pat Glory (Princeton), 5:29 7th: RayVon Foley (Michigan State) dec. Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 7-4 133: 1st: Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), 4-2 SV 3rd: Stevan Micic (Michigan) dec. Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 6-1 5th: Austin DeSanto (Iowa) dec. John Erneste (Missouri), 11-6 7th: Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) dec. Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State), 8-5 141: 1st: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec. Joey McKenna (Ohio State), 6-4 SV 3rd: Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) dec. Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 2-0 5th: Nick Lee (Penn State) pinned Mitch McKee (Minnesota), 3:22 7th: Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) maj. dec. Chad Red (Nebraska), 11-3 149: 1st: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. Micah Jordan (Ohio State), 9-4 3rd: Austin O`Connor (North Carolina) dec. Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 7-5 5th: Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. Brock Mauller (Missouri), 10-6 7th: Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) dec. Pat Lugo (Iowa), 11-9 157: 1st: Jason Nolf (Penn State) maj. dec. Tyler Berger (Nebraska), 10-2 3rd: Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) dec. Hayden Hidlay (NC State), 5-3 5th: Kaleb Young (Iowa) dec. Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 7-5 7th: Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State) dec. Larry Early (Old Dominion), 3-2 165: 1st: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), 7-1 3rd: Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) dec. Evan Wick (Wisconsin), 6-5 5th: Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. Josh Shields (Arizona State), 8-4 7th: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec. Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa), 9-3 174: 1st: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) dec. Mark Hall (Penn State), 4-3 3rd: Myles Amine of (Michigan) dec. Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 4-3 5th: David McFadden (Virginia Tech) dec. Mikey Labriola (Nebraska), 4-3 7th: Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Devin Skatzka (Minnesota), 5-1 184: 1st: Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. Max Dean (Cornell), 6-4 3rd: Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. Ryan Preisch (Lehigh), 5-3 5th: Emery Parker (Illinois) dec. Chip Ness (North Carolina), 11-5 7th: Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) dec. Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), 5-4 197: 1st: Bo Nickal (Penn State) dec. Kollin Moore (Ohio State), 5-1 3rd: Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) dec. Patrick Brucki (Princeton), 7-1 5th: Josh Hokit (Fresno State) dec. William Miklus (Iowa State), 7-2 TB1 7th: Jacob Warner (Iowa) dec. Ben Honis (Cornell), 8-4 285: 1st: Anthony Cassar (Penn State) maj. dec. Derek White (Oklahoma State), 10-1 3rd: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) dec. Jordan Wood (Lehigh), 4-0 5th: Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) dec. Youssif Hemida (Maryland), 5-2 7th: Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) dec.Trent Hillger (Wisconsin), 3-1

ASU's Zahid Valencia will look to repeat as NCAA champion (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) PITTSBURGH -- Bo Nickal and the Penn State Nittany Lions put the finishing touches on their fourth straight national championship on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Nickal and teammate Jason Nolf (157) won their third straight NCAA titles, while Anthony Cassar (285) claimed his first. Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech knocked off two-time returning NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State. InterMat will be providing a full recap of the finals. Refresh/reload the page to read the latest updates. Links: Updated Team Scores & Brackets | Watch ESPN 10:18 p.m. InterMat will be providing a full finals recap. 10:15 p.m. And with that, the season is done. Final team scores. 1 Penn State 137.5 2 Ohio State 96.5 3 Oklahoma State 84.0 4 Iowa 76.0 5 Michigan 62.5 6 Missouri 62.0 7 Cornell 59.5 8 Minnesota 53.5 9 Rutgers 51.5 10 Nebraska 51.0 11 Virginia Tech 50.0 10:07 p.m. Late takedowns in the first and third period give Bo Nickal (Penn State) his third national title in a fourth final. It was a 5-1 valedictory match victory for one of the Penn State stars of this nine year run of eight national titles. Kollin Moore (Ohio State) has finishes of third, fourth, and second in his career so far. 9:50 p.m. The prolonged second period ride and early third period escape were crucial in the win for Drew Foster, who is the first national champion for Northern Iowa since 2000. Takedowns in the first and late in the third counter a first period takedown for Max Dean (Cornell). Foster wins 6-4, party hard Mediapolis (Iowa) here after 184. 9:35 p.m. Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) is a repeat national champion with the 4-3 decision. Takedown late in the second period then riding it out the difference, in comparison to Mark Hall (Penn State), who scored his takedown early in the first but Zahid escaped. Hall did not have much for offense in the third period to challenge Valencia. Hall is a three-time national finalist in three years, winning in 2017 but losing to Valencia the last two years. 9:23 p.m. As we get back to the 174 pound match, Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) is one of two from the 20 finalists to advance to tonight's matches with all wins by bonus points. Bo Nickal (Penn State) at 197 is the other one. 9:15 p.m. Mekhi Lewis becomes the first ever national champion for Virginia Tech. A second period cradle for four was the catalyst. Then it was a third period takedown to seal a 7-1 victory over the two-time returning national champion Vincenzo joseph (Penn State). Lewis makes it four champions from New Jersey on the evening. 9:05 p.m. Attendance notes sent along for today's sessions. Session 5 had a total of 18,436 with the finals session having 18,950. The finals number is the fifth highest ever, while the total attendance for six sessions of 109,405 is the sixth highest. 8:58 p.m. At full time, Nolf wins by 10-2 major decision. He is a three-time national champion! 8:53 p.m. We have resumed wrestling after the intermission with the 157 match. Jason Nolf (Penn state) is well positioned to win a third national title in four finals appearances. He leads 8-3 after the first period as it was three takedowns with near falls coming off the second of them against Tyler Berger (Nebraska). 8:35 p.m. It's a pair of national champions for Rutgers on this Saturday night. Anthony Ashnault with takedowns in the second and third period, near fall off the takedown in the third to counter Micah Jordan (Ohio State) takedown early in the third period. Ashnault wins 9-4. Ohio State is 0-2 in finals, and will likely end up without a champion in their runner-up finish. 8:25 p.m. An interesting note is that Diakomihalis was the lone finalist - of the 20 - to enter tonight's program without a bonus point victory. That obviously remains the case - his other wins were 10-5, 7-3, 5-1, and 6-5. 8:20 p.m. Yianni Diakomihalis rallies to win 6-4 in overtime. He scored on a beauty of a counter with five seconds left in the bout to go ahead 4-3, Joey McKenna then escaped to level it before the horn. In overtime, Diakomihalis countered a McKenna shot into a deep attack of his own and a precisely crisp finish. He is now a two-time national champion in two years out of high school. 8:03 p.m. Takedown by Joey McKenna (Ohio State) at the 30 second mark of the bout. He is facing top seed and returning national champion Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell). Diakomihalis beat McKenna as one of his 27 regular season victories without a loss in early February. 7:55 p.m. Nick Suriano (Rutgers) was awarded the takedown in sudden victory number two to win 4-2. He countered a Fix (Oklahoma State) attack with one of his own and finished the shot. 1-1 in regulation. Second stall Suriano at the horn of the first 30/30 for Fix to go up 2-1, then Suriano escaped late in his 30/30 down period. Suirano is Rutgers' first national champion! 7:31 p.m. A takedown with about thirty seconds left in the bout confirmed Lee having a victory by the score of 5-0. Spencer is now a two-time national champion in his first two years out of high school at 125 pounds. 7:22 p.m. Opening takedown for defending national champion Spencer Lee (Iowa) 53 seconds into the bout at 125 pounds. 7:15 p.m National champion Antony Cassar! Penn State wins their first of five finals bout attempts on the night. 10-1 the final score when riding time was added in. 7:11 p.m. Very late in the second period, Anthony Cassar (Penn State) got in on a shot trailing 1-0 and finished it for the takedown and near falls. It's an escape early in the third, then another takedown, and Cassar now is up 9-1! 6:58 p.m. Finals are under five minutes away from first whistle, broadcast on ESPN. They'll start with the 285 pound weight class, and roll the wheel back to 197.

Cael Sanderson has guided Penn State to its fourth straight NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Link: Team Scores & Brackets PITTSBURGH -- Penn State clinched its fourth straight NCAA title during Saturday's medal round. Nittany Lion wrestlers Nick Lee (141) and Roman Bravo-Young (133) capped their NCAA tournaments with fifth and eighth-place finishes respectively. Five Penn State wrestlers will compete for NCAA titles tonight. The Nittany Lions have totaled 123.5 points through the first five sessions and sit 27 points ahead of second-place Ohio State. Oklahoma State sits in third place with 84 points, followed by Iowa (72) and Michigan (62.5). Two No. 1 seeds who fell in Friday night's semifinals battled back to finish in third place: Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera (125) and Ohio State's Myles Martin (184). Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera defeated Vito Arujau of Cornell to place third (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Rivera won a high-scoring affair over Princeton's Patrick Glory in the consolation semifinals before defeating Cornell freshman Vito Arujau 8-3 for third place. "It's the first time I've ever taken third in my life," said Rivera, a New Jersey native. "In high school I lost in the semis twice. Sixth place every time. I'm not good at losing. I think I found it in myself … There are only two more of these, so I've got to get the best I can." Ohio State's Myles Martin finished third in his final NCAA tournament (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Martin rebounded from his stunning loss on Friday night to Cornell's Max Dean to pick up wins over Emery Parker of Illinois and Ryan Preisch of Lehigh. "It was tough just kind of getting motivated to get my body going just after a tough loss yesterday," said Martin, who became the program's seventh four-time All-American. "I think yesterday I was just a little overly confident and a little out of focus when things got a little tough. Today it just hurt. I was just thinking about it. But I just had to do it for my team and for God." Lock Haven's Chance Marsteller avenged his only loss of the tournament by beating Wisconsin's Evan Wick 6-5 to place third at 165 pounds. Wick pinned Marsteller in Friday's quarterfinals. "I'm happy to go out on a win," said Marsteller. "I'm happy the way I wrestled on the backside. I'm still pretty devastated that I'm never going to end my career in the national finals, national champ. I think going out and winning that match proves that I was definitely good enough to be in the finals. I beat the guy in the finals, [Mekhi] Lewis, twice." Last year's NCAA runner-up Stevan Micic of Michigan, the No. 2 seed, was dominant in his two matches on Saturday, outscoring his opponents 23-5. He defeated Big Ten rival Luke Pletcher of Ohio State 6-1 in the third-place match. Also finishing in third place for Michigan was Myles Amine, who topped Daniel Lewis 4-3 in the third-place match, 7-5. Missouri's Jaydin Eierman defeated Oklahoma's Dom Demas to place third (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Missouri's Jaydin Eierman shut out freshman Dom Demas of Oklahoma 2-0 to place third at 141 pounds. It's Eierman's highest NCAA finish ever and his third All-America honor. Eierman, a U.S. Open finalist in freestyle last year, will take an Olympic redshirt in 2019-20. Two freshmen came back to finish in third place: UNC's Austin O'Connor (149) and Minnesota's Gable Steveson (285). O'Connor, a redshirt freshman, picked up his second win of the tournament over ACC rival Mitch Finesilver of Duke in the third-place match, 7-5. Steveson, a true freshman and the nation's No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2018, blanked Lehigh's Jordan Wood 4-0 in the third-place match. Oklahoma State's Preston Weigel claimed third place at 197 pounds with a convincing 7-1 win over Princeton's Patrick Brucki. Tonight's finals matches are slated for 7 p.m. ET. Medal-match results 125: 1st: Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. Jack Mueller (Virginia) 3rd: Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. Vito Arujau (Cornell), 8-3 5th: Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) pinned Pat Glory (Princeton), 5:29 7th: RayVon Foley (Michigan State) dec. Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 7-4 133: 1st: Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. Nick Suriano (Rutgers) 3rd: Stevan Micic (Michigan) dec. Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 6-1 5th: Austin DeSanto (Iowa) dec. John Erneste (Missouri), 11-6 7th: Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) dec. Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State), 8-5 141: 1st: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. Joey McKenna (Ohio State) 3rd: Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) dec. Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 2-0 5th: Nick Lee (Penn State) pinned Mitch McKee (Minnesota), 3:22 7th: Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) maj. dec. Chad Red (Nebraska), 11-3 149: 1st: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. Micah Jordan (Ohio State) 3rd: Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) dec. Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 7-5 5th: Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. Brock Mauller (Missouri), 10-6 7th: Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) dec. Pat Lugo (Iowa), 11-9 157: 1st: Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. Tyler Berger (Nebraska) 3rd: Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) dec. Hayden Hidlay (NC State), 5-3 5th: Kaleb Young (Iowa) dec. Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 7-5 7th: Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State) dec. Larry Early (Old Dominion), 3-2 165: 1st: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) vs. Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 3rd: Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) dec. Evan Wick (Wisconsin), 6-5 5th: Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. Josh Shields (Arizona State), 8-4 7th: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec. Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa), 9-3 174: 1st: Mark Hall (Penn State) vs. Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 3rd: Myles Amine of (Michigan) dec. Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 4-3 5th: David McFadden (Virginia Tech) dec. Mikey Labriola (Nebraska), 4-3 7th: Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Devin Skatzka (Minnesota), 5-1 184: 1st: Max Dean (Cornell) vs. Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) 3rd: Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. Ryan Preisch (Lehigh), 5-3 5th: Emery Parker (Illinois) dec. Chip Ness (North Carolina), 11-5 7th: Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) dec. Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), 5-4 197: 1st: Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. Kollin Moore (Ohio State) 3rd: Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) dec. Patrick Brucki (Princeton), 7-1 5th: Josh Hokit (Fresno State) dec. William Miklus (Iowa State), 7-2 TB1 7th: Jacob Warner (Iowa) dec. Ben Honis (Cornell), 8-4 285: 1st: Derek White (Oklahoma State) vs. Anthony Cassar (Penn State) 3rd: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) dec. Jordan Wood (Lehigh), 4-0 5th: Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) dec. Youssif Hemida (Maryland), 5-2 7th: Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) dec.Trent Hillger (Wisconsin), 3-1

Ohio State's Myles Martin will look to bounce back from his semifinal loss (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) PITTSBURGH -- Follow the medal round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on InterMat's running notebook. The most recent updates appear at the top. Refresh/reload the page to read the latest updates. Links: Updated Team Scores & Brackets | Watch ESPN 2:12 p.m. Team scores through the fifth session. 1 - Penn State 123.5 2 - Ohio State 96.5 3 - Oklahoma State 84 4 - Iowa 72 5 - Michigan 62.5 6 - Missouri 62 7 - Cornell 55.5 8 - Minnesota 53.5 9 - Nebraska 52 10 - Virginia Tech 46 11 - Rutgers 43.5 Championship bouts tonight at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN! 2:10 p.m. Last matches of the program saw Gable Steveson (Minnesota) take third, Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) take fifth, and Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) take seventh. 2:00 p.m. Finishing third at 197 was Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State), while seventh went to Jacob Warner (Iowa). The fifth place bout is going to the tiebreakers ... Josh Hokit (Fresno State) wins 7-2 in TB1 with a reversal to the back over Willie Miklus (Fresno State). 1:45 p.m. Ohio State's Myles Martin recovered from last night's absolute stunner to finish third, beating Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) 5-3 with takedowns in the first and third period. Fifth at 184 went to Emery Parker (Illinois), while Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) took seventh. 1:35 p.m. Takedown in the first, reversal in the third yield Myles Amine (Michigan) a second straight third place finish. He beats the four-time All-American Daniel Lewis (Missouri) 4-3. This was the second straight consolation final of the same result. Amine a three-time A-A with one year to go. Seventh went to Jordan Kutler Lehigh), while it was David McFadden (Virginia Tech) finishing fifth on a very late reversal. 1:23 p.m. Chance Marsteller's circuitous college journey ends up in a third place finish and a second All-American honor for the Lock Haven wrestler. He flipped a quarterfinal loss to win 6-5 over Evan Wick (Wisconsin) at 165. Fifth went to Isaiah White (Nebraska), while Alex Marinelli (Iowa) was seventh. 1:10 p.m. Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) reversed a quarterfinal loss to take third with takedowns in the first and third period against Hayden Hidlay (N.C. State), he wins 5-2 in his third All-American finish. Finishing seventh at 157 is Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State). Kaleb Young (Iowa) took fifth with a 7-5 overtime victory. 1:00 p.m. Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) evened the season series 3-3 by sweeping the two matches this weekend against Mitch Finesilver (Duke) to win bronze at 149. Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) fifth and Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) rallied from a mid-match deficit to upend Patricio Lugo (Iowa) for seventh. 12:50 p.m. At 141, Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) takes third place with a 2-0 decision over Dom Demas (Oklahoma); Nick Lee (Penn State) with a pin for fifth; while Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) earns seventh. 12:38 p.m. Last year's national runner-up Stevan Micic (Michigan) finishes third by 6-1 decision with first and third period takedowns, which relegates Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) to a second straight fourth place finish. Fifth went to Austin DeSanto (Iowa), and seventh to Ethan Lizak (Minnesota). 12:25 p.m. Seventh goes to Rayvon Foley (Michigan State); fifth to Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), who was trailing after two periods but got the pin at the 5:29 mark; while top-seed Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) earns third in his second All-American finish of his career at 125 pounds, a six-point reversal to the back late in the second period the difference there. 12:10 p.m. Wrapping up the consolation semifinal round, Gable Steveson (Minnesota) advances to face Jordan Wood (Lehigh) for bronze. Third, fifth, and seventh place matches follow immediately. 12:05 p.m. Myles Martin gives Ohio State a sweep of both consolation semifinals, he won 5-2 with two counter-takedowns in the third period to beat Emery Parker (Illinois). The 184 bronze medal bout will be against Preisch. For 197 bronze, it will be Patrick Brucki (Princeton) vs. Weigel. 11:58 a.m. Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) advances to the 197 pound bronze medal match with a fall at 2:09 over Willie Miklus (Iowa State). 11:55 a.m. At 174 pounds, it'll be Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. Myles Amine (Michigan) for a bronze medal for the second straight year. Lewis 6-0 over David McFadden (Virginia Tech) and Amine 5-3 over Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) in the consolation semifinals. Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) beats Chip Ness (North Carolina) 3-0 in the 184 pound consolation semifinal. 11:45 a.m. Hayden Hidlay (North Carolina State) bounces back from whatever you wish to say about last night's semifinal with an 8-2 win in the 157 consolation semifinal. Three takedowns and a turn to beat Ryan Deakin (Northwestern). He faces Pantaleo in a quarterfinal rematch. The 165 consolation semifinals conclude with Evan Wick (Wisconsin) and Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) both winning 4-3 to set up a quarterfinal rematch for bronze. 11:35 a.m. Like the championship semifinal last night, Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) gave up the escape in the second period and was ridden out in the third period of a 2-0 loss, this one to Mitch Finesilver (Duke). Finesilver vs. O'Connor for bronze in a quarterfinal rematch, and it'll be their sixth meeting of the season. Iowa suffers another consolation semifinal loss, this one at 157, Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) winning 5-2 over Kaleb Young (Iowa). 11:32 a.m. Blake Mauller (Missouri) scored a takedown with about five seconds left to level the bout at 3-3 with Austin O'Connor (North Carolina), but O'Connor then was able to escape off the restart to win 4-3 at 149 in a consolation semifinal. 11:25 a.m. Dom Demas (Oklahoma) knocks off No. 3 seed Nick Lee (Penn State) 13-9, and will face Eierman for 141 bronze. Demas with five takedowns in that bout. Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) over Austin DeSanto (Iowa) via two third period takedowns by a 7-6 score, and will face Micic for bronze. 11:23 a.m. Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) into the consolation final with an 8-5 win over Mitch McKee (Minnesota) at 141. 11:13 a.m. Vitali Arujau (Cornell) upends second seed Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) 5-1 in a consolation semi, takedown in the first, reversal in the third, and riding time decide it. The other consi semi at 125 sees Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) rally back from down 9-7 after two periods with a late six-point move to beat Patrick Glory (Princeton) 14-9. 11:10 a.m. Michigan's Stevan Micic gets the 17-4 major decision, and will move on to the third place bout at 133, while John Erneste (Missouri) drops down to the fifth place bout. 10:55 a.m. We are just about five minutes away from the consolation semifinals on three mats and then matches for third, fifth, and seventh place. Broadcast is on ESPNU.

It is the stage everyone dreams about competing on when practice kicks off in October. The elevated platform on Saturday night in late March at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Just 20 wrestlers in the 330-athlete field earn coveted spots in the national finals. And as wrestling fans are well aware, only a select group of 10 will finish their season atop the podium as champions. Who will end their season on top? After an exciting semifinal round Friday night, here are my choices to win it all on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. 125: No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) Lee, a sophomore standout who has won Cadet and Junior world titles, is looking to repeat as NCAA champion after avenging a regular-season loss in an emphatic 11-4 win over No. 2 seed Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State in the semifinals. Mueller turned in a surprise and dominating 8-2 win over top seed Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern in the semis. Mueller piled up over five minutes of riding time in the win. The key in the finals may be who scores the first takedown in a matchup of two wrestlers who excel in the top position. My pick: Lee Daton Fix edged Nick Suriano earlier this season (Photo/Juan Garcia) 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) Fix, a superstar freshman who is a Junior world champion, scored the first takedown en route to a 4-2 win over No. 5 Luke Pletcher of Ohio State in the semis. Suriano, second last year at 125, is back in the finals after an impressive 4-1 win over another 2018 finalist in No. 2 Stevan Micic of Michigan. Suriano took control early in the semis and accumulated over two minutes of riding time. This is another match where scoring the first takedown will be paramount with both wrestlers being so strong on top. Suriano and Fix are both tough, physical wrestlers. Fix edged Suriano 3-2 in overtime during the regular season, prevailing after a hands to the face call. My pick: Suriano 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) Yianni will defend his title after scoring a late two-point near fall to pull out a wild semifinal win over Jaydin Eierman of Missouri. Yianni is a two-time Cadet world champion who will face a Junior world medalist in McKenna in a highly anticipated finals bout. Both of these guys are excellent on their feet and this promises to be an epic battle between two outstanding wrestlers. This should be fun to watch. My pick: McKenna Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers and Micah Jordan will meet for the third time this season (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) The Scarlet Knights will have a chance for two titles Saturday after Ashnault landed his berth in the finals. Ashnault will face Jordan in a rematch of the Big Ten finals. Ashnault prevailed 8-6 at Big Tens after coming out aggressively. There will be no holding back when these two veterans meet on a stage they've never been on. It shapes up as another entertaining battle between a pair of proven competitors. My pick: Ashnault 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) Nolf escaped with a hard-fought 3-2 semifinal win over North Carolina State's Hayden Hidlay in a rematch of last year's finals. Nolf will look for his third straight national title when he faces Berger in a rematch of the Big Ten finals. Nolf owns wins of 10-4 and 12-4 over Berger this season. Nolf came out firing in the last match, taking control early en route to the decisive win. My pick: Nolf 165: No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) Joseph, a junior, is back in the finals for a third time and will be seeking his third straight national title. Joseph earned a pair of hard-fought wins Friday to make the finals. Lewis, a freshman who won a Junior world championship in 2018, came out of the loaded top side of the bracket to make the finals. He knocked off No. 1 seed Alex Marinelli of Iowa in the quarters and returning third-place finisher Evan Wick of Wisconsin in the semis. This will be a matchup between a pair of powerful wrestlers. Lewis has a strong offense, but Joseph is very tough to score on. My pick: Joseph 174: No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) It will be a rematch of last year's finals when Hall and Valencia square off again. Valencia downed Hall in the finals last year, but Hall came back to beat Valenica in a dual meet this season. Hall, a junior, is looking for his second title after winning in 2017. Hall, a Junior and Cadet world champion, rode Valencia in their most recent meeting to prevail. Valencia, a Junior world silver medalist, looked impressive in rolling past No. 2 seed Daniel Lewis of Missouri by major decision in the semis. The key for Valencia will be staying off bottom and continuing to attack. If both wrestlers open up, this could be a highly entertaining bout between two excellent wrestlers. My pick: Valencia 184: No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell) vs. No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) Dean pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the entire tournament when he rallied to stun No. 1 seed and past champion Myles Martin of Ohio State 5-4 in the semifinals. Foster, a senior, held off No. 15 Chip Ness of North Carolina in the semis. Dean and Foster met earlier this season in a dual meet. Foster scored two quick takedowns before Dean rallied for a 6-5 win. Dean is a guy who just never wears down and Foster will need to come with a full gas tank for a seven-minute battle. My pick: Dean 197: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) Nickal, as expected, has rolled to the finals after earning three falls and a major decision. He will be heavily favored to win his third national title when he battles Moore in the finals. Nickal rolled past Moore 10-3 in the Big Ten finals. Nickal could clinch the Hodge Trophy with another dominating performance in the NCAA finals. He has continued to dominate the competition despite bumping up a weight class this season. My pick: Nickal Derek White defeated Anthony Cassar to win the Southern Scuffle in early January (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) 285: No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) Nobody would've expected this to be the national finals matchup at heavyweight at the start of the season, but here we are with two first-time finalists. White and Cassar were seeded 1-2 in this event, so it wasn't totally unexpected. White edged Cassar 3-2 when they met earlier this season. This likely will be a strategical, low-scoring match between two evenly matched competitors. It's also an interesting matchup between two wrestlers who have persevered to reach this point. My pick: Cassar

Jason Nolf edged Hayden Hidlay of NC State to reach the finals at 157 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Link: Team Scores & Brackets PITTSBURGH -- The second day of the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships concluded on Friday night at PPG Paints Arena in downtown Pittsburgh with defending champ Penn State in a position to win its fourth straight championship with finalists in half of the title matches. The Nittany Lions went 5-for-6 in the semifinals as Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174) and Bo Nickal (197) return to the NCAA finals, while Anthony Cassar (285) will make his first finals appearance. Penn State leads the team race with 120.5 points. In second place is Big Ten rival Ohio State, with 88.5 points. Oklahoma State is in third place with 73.5 points. With 68 points, Iowa is in fourth place … with Missouri in fifth place with 54 points. "Overall, the guys wrestled well," said Penn State coach Cael Sanderson. "It's the national tournament. It's very competitive. A lot of great wrestlers. Great competitors. A little tight tonight. But it's the national semifinals and you're wrestling some really great competition. Big day tomorrow." Nolf earned a hard-fought 3-2 decision over Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State in a rematch of last year's NCAA finals. Hidlay was initially awarded a takedown in the first period, which was challenged and overturned. Nolf scored a second-period takedown, which proved to be the difference in the match. He will meet Nebraska's Tyler Berger in the finals. Joseph remains on track for his third NCAA title after edging Arizona State's Josh Shields 3-2. The Nittany Lion junior scored the match's only takedown in the first period. His finals opponent will be Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis, a redshirt freshman and the No. 8 seed. Mark Hall celebrates after beating Michigan's Myles Amine in the semifinals (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) Hall, a 2017 NCAA champion, will be wrestling in his third straight NCAA finals. He needed overtime (tiebreaker) in the semifinals to top Michigan's Myles Amine. With the semifinal victory, Hall will face rival Zahid Valencia of Arizona State for the second straight time in the NCAA finals. Last year, Valencia defeated Hall. Hall came back to defeat Valencia this year. Nickal continued his dominance, earning a fall over Princeton's Patrick Brucki at 197 pounds. Like Joseph and Nolf, Nickal will be wrestling for his third straight NCAA title. Anthony Cassar gets his hand raised after defeating Minnesota's Gable Steveson (Photo/Juan Garcia) The fifth Nittany Lion to win on Friday night in the semifinals was Anthony Cassar (285), who edged Minnesota true freshman Gable Steveson for the second time in three weeks. Steveson led 2-0 after two periods, but an escape and takedown with just over a minute thirty remaining gave Cassar the lead. Cassar was able to ride Steveson and accumulate just over a minute of riding time before the Gopher freshman escaped. Minnesota challenged the time of the escape, but the call was upheld. Cassar was able to hold off Steveson in the final 30 seconds and earn his spot in the finals. Max Dean jumps into the arms of his coaches Gabe Dean and Mike Grey after his semifinal victory (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Cornell's Max Dean pulled the biggest upset of the semifinals as he knocked off No. 1 Myles Martin of Ohio State 5-4 at 184 pounds. The Cornell sophomore scored the go-ahead takedown with 10 seconds left to stun Martin. Dean, a returning All-American who entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed, had been outscored by Martin 30-13 in two previous matches this season. "He's got great attacks, super athlete, very technical," Dean said of Martin. "We realized we need to get him moving more, more fakes, more snaps, even if I'm not scoring early on and see if we can get into a scramble position later because I think that might be one position that might be to my advantage and we got into a scramble and I was down by one and scored and won." Virginia's Jack Mueller defeated the No. 1 seed Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern (Photo/Juan Garcia) Virginia's Jack Mueller (125), undefeated and seeded No. 5, also knocked off a No. 1 seed, Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern. 8-2. Mueller was an All-American two seasons ago at 125 pounds and moved up to 133 pounds last season. He made the move back down to 125 this season after initially starting the season redshirting. "It's crazy," said Mueller. "It's like a blur. It felt really good to get that win. It was dominant. I wish I didn't give up the eversal at the end. 125-pound grind sucks. I'm going to have to cut a lot tonight. But I mean it's for the love of the sport. I love this sport." Two true freshman NCAA champions from a year ago will look to repeat on Saturday night, Iowa's Spencer Lee (125) and Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis (141). Spencer Lee gets his hand raised after avenging a loss to Oklahoma State's Nick Piccinnini (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Lee avenged a loss this season by beating Oklahoma State's Nick Piccinnini 11-4. Diakomihalis earned a return trip to the NCAA finals by beating Missouri's Jaydin Eierman 6-5. Rutgers has a pair of NCAA finalists in Nick Suriano (133) and Anthony Ashnault (149). Ashanult became the program's first four-time All-American. As for the number of schools to have at least one wrestler in the finals … the magic number is 11. Penn State has five finalists, while Ohio State has three. Cornell, Oklahoma State, and Rutgers each have two. Programs with one wrestler competing on Saturday night include Arizona State, Iowa, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Attendance figures remained strong in the second day of the 2019 NCAAs. Friday's Session 3 had 18,013 fans in the stands … while Session 4 had 18,100 fans. Below is a recap of the semifinal matches. 125: No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) dec. No. 1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern), 8-2 No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) dec. No. 2 Nick Piccinnini (Oklahoma State), 11-4 Mueller managed to score a takedown in each of the three periods, and accumulate at least five minutes' riding time to knock off the top-seeded wrestler in this weight class. At the post-semifinals press conference, Mueller said, "Everyone has been talking about how weak my schedule was so it felt good to take down the No. 1 guy." "The match with Lee tomorrow night is going to come down to the mat. He's amazing on top and everyone knows it. I'd like to think I'm pretty good on top myself." When asked about preparing for Mueller in the finals, Lee -- the defending champ at 125 -- replied, "Well, you've just got to believe in your coaching staff. They believe in me they tell me every day that I believe I have the ability to do whatever I want to do as long as I believe in myself." 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 4-2 No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan), 4-1 Suriano reversed a dual meet loss to Micic. After the win, Suriano said, "It feels great. I just came back from a guy who beat me earlier in the season, top guy, world-class guy, and it feels good. Kind of lost for words. A lot of adversity, a lot of negativity I overcame." When asked about facing Suriano in the finals, Fix responded, "No, I'm not afraid of it, of it coming down to me and him. I'm going out there looking to score. That's what I did in the previous match, as well. He's a competitor, and points aren't going to come easy so that means I have to work harder, and I'm prepared to do that. This is what I've been working all year for is to go win a national title." 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec. No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri),6-5 No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) dec. No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State), 4-3 It'll be a battle of the top two seeds Saturday night at 141 pounds, with Diakomihalis defending his title. Both semifinals winners in this weight class won their matches with third-period takedowns. "Yeah, it's been a longtime coming," McKenna said of making it to the finals. "Been to the national semis three times now and finally pulled through it make it to the championship. So excited about that. You know, I knew it was going to be a tough match. I knew I'd be breathing like this. Wrestling him third time this season just a guy that's always made me work super hard to the brink, all the way to the last buzzer to win the match. Just not as many points scored as I would have liked to in that match, but I did what I needed to do to get my hand raised at the end, and I'm in the national finals, so pretty psyched about that." Asked about being the defending champ, Diakomihalis said, "I know guys are going to wrestle me differently, you know. As you get to higher levels, not as much, but guys are going to game plan for me. They're going to try and keep the score low, slow me down, and try and sneak one out. On the opposite side, it's up to me to create wrestling, create action, move into the guy, give him pressure and score as many points as I can and don't give that guy any break to try and stop my offense." 149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton), 2-0 No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) dec. No. 6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina), 7-4 As in the previous weight class, the 149 finals will also feature the top two seeds. In the semifinals, Ashnault scored his points on a second-period escape and third-period rideout ... while Jordan tallied three takedowns along with a riding point to win his way into the 149 finals. When asked about the possibility of becoming the first national champ for Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Ashnault responded, "In previous years there's been a lot of pressure. I put it on myself mostly. But honestly, this year it's been all about me and what I want out of the sport and what I want out of my life, so the pressure really I took it away from doing it for Rutgers and doing it for the state, of course. Of course I want to be doing that, and I want to put Rutgers on the map, and that's why I came to school, to put Rutgers and get guys like Nick Suriano and get top recruits out of high school, but at the end of the day, this is something I want to be doing. I want to be the national champ for myself, and glory to God, but this is a goal that I've had written down and I've looked at for a long time." Jordan was asked about how he plans to wrestle Ashnault for the title. "Just staying smart, still getting to my attacks," said the Buckeye. "Last time I wrestled I kind of shortened the gap from the first time. I did good on bottom so that's an emphasis. I want to go out there and focus on when I wrestle, and then obviously just being really smart when I wrestle. Once I go to my attack, finishing hard." 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) dec. No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (N.C. State), 3-2 No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) dec. No. 6 Kaleb Young (Iowa), 5-3 Nolf will be making his fourth straight appearance in the NCAA finals, thanks to an early second-period takedown. A takedown by Hidlay was reversed by replay. Nolf weighed in on how he's changed since he first arrived at Penn State. "Well, from the start of arriving on campus, I was kind of naïve but then I met my future wife and grew with her in faith. I found my relationship with Jesus and that's definitely changed me as a person ... I'm still focused one match at a time," said Nolf. When asked how he was feeling knowing he would be wrestling for a national title, Berger responded. "Yeah, excited, and a lot of anticipation, I think for this match. But I'm really relaxed, mentally, physically, just enjoying this time to just -- it's the last time I get to put on a Husky wrestling singlet so I'm taking it in. Just now I took the time to look around the arena ... I'm going to look back on this 20, 30 years from now, and if I'm not enjoying the moment, I'll have some regrets." 165: No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Josh Shields (Arizona State), 3-2 No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin), 5-2 Joseph is a two-time NCAA champ, facing off against the No. 8 seed in the finals. He's a good wrestler," Joseph said of his finals opponent, Mekhi Lewis. "He proved it all year, previous years, and I never really watched him wrestle too much, but it's going to be a good match. He wrestles hard. I'll wrestle hard. It's going to be exciting." When asked about any potential pressure about the possibility of being Virginia Tech's first NCAA champ, Lewis responded, "Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's like always on my mind. But like I have to decide tonight because I want to mainly just focus on just trying to do the best I can, not worrying about that and then end up being in a match where if I'm winning, I'm like trying to hold a lead because of that reason, trying to be the first." 174: No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State) dec. No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan), 2-1 (TB-1) No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State), dec. No. 2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) 11-3 Saturday night will see a rematch of last year's 174-pound final, which saw the Sun Devil Valencia win the title. Hall was asked about his collegiate rivalry with Valencia and how he would prepare for the finals. "I think I'm just going to wrestle. Prepare the same way I did last two days, any other match this year. Just be ready. Rivalries are great for the sport, I think. I remember growing up, you know, watching matches that everyone was looking forward to, all the big names that everyone wanted to see wrestle, right? And they got it two or three times a year, every year. So I'm really excited for that and like you said, we're just -- at the end of the day we're just competitors." Valencia responded, "It's been a great rivalry between us. I'm excited to do whatever it is whenever it is to do. The same thing is not having confidence in my conditioning, feeling that that target on my back and everything looking at my shots, defending everything I have trying to slow down my pace and I just need to condition to work on my conditioning and continue to push the pace and I don't think he will be able to hang with me the third period, so that's what I'm going to do." 184: No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell) dec. No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State), 5-4 No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina), 7-4 Dean upset the top-seeded Buckeye in the semifinals ... while the No. 15 seed fell to the No. 6 seed. "It's always a good scrap," said Foster said of his finals opponent "Max might be one of the strongest guys I've wrestled as far as strength goes and he's a scrapper. He's going to scrap for 7 minutes plus if he needs to. So I'm going out guns blazing. What do I have to protect? Right? I have this opportunity to represent my it the university, my teammates and my coaches and I'm going to run away with it." In the post-semifinals press conference, Max Dean disclosed his own battles with himself ... until just a few months ago. "See, throughout most of my career until the end of December I carried around a lot of expectations and it was stressful and sometimes made the sport not fun ... I was so disgusted and I thought maybe I should quit because I hate this. I had a good talk with my dad and he looked at me and he said, well, are you a quitter? I said, no. And he said, you would hate that more about yourself. He said, you're not going to quit. You hate the way you're doing things. Why not just change and be the person you want to be? It made too much sense not to listen, so now every time I step out there I try to do it with no fear and it makes it fun." 197: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) pinned No. 4 Patrick Bricki (Princeton), 4:41 No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State), 12-4 Nickal will be going for his third straight NCAA title against a familiar Big Ten foe in Moore. "He's definitely a tough competitor," Nickal said of Moore. "He's somebody that's going to wrestle me for seven minutes. That's something I'm excited about, somebody that's going to attack. He's not a guy that tries to grab a wrist and hold on." Moore spoke about seeing his teammate Martin lose before wrestling his semifinal match. "That was a really unique experience," said Moore. "I'm used to Myles going out there and getting nasty on dudes before I go out. So I really feel for him. I've been there. I tried to not let myself get down, but I really didn't want that to be a motivation for my match, either. Try to just like, block it from my mind for the longest amount of time possible, just go out there and wrestle for me because I know that's what Myles would want me to do." 285: No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh), 3-1 SV1 No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota), 4-3 "I've learned a lot, you know, going to Nebraska for two years, transferring to Oklahoma State," said White. "It's been a long journey, but just had to overcome some challenges in life, and, you know, finally made it to where I wanted to be."

Jason Nolf is one of five finalists for Penn State (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) PITTSBURGH -- Three-time defending national champion Penn State went 5-for-6 in the semifinals on Friday night to extend its lead to 32 points. InterMat will be providing a full recap of the semifinals. Links: Updated Team Scores & Brackets | Watch ESPN 11:02 p.m. InterMat will be providing a full recap of the semifinals. Please check back soon. 10:52 p.m. One last note, top ten team scores. 1. Penn State 120.5 2. Ohio State 88.5 3. Oklahoma State 73.5 4. Iowa 68 5. Missouri 54 6. Cornell 52 7. Nebraska 51 8. Michigan 48 (tie) Minnesota 10. Virginia Tech 45 10:50 p.m. With that we end the Friday night wrestling program at PPG Paints Arena. No. 2 seed Anthony Cassar (Penn State) beats No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 4-3 for the second time in about 13 days. Five Nittany Lions wrestlers into tomorrow night's finals program. 10:45 p.m. Derek White (Oklahoma State) into the finals as the No. 1 seed with a 3-1 overtime victory over No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh). 10:30 p.m. No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) into his fourth national final with a PIN at the 4:41 mark. He seeks a third straight title tomorrow night at 197 pounds. Nickal will face No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State), whom he has dominated two times this season already after Moore earned the 12-4 major decision. 10:25 p.m. All-Americans by state: 16- PA*; 10- NJ*; 6- OH*, IL, MI; 5- NY; 4- MO, CA; 3- IN, MN, IA; 2- OR, CO, OK, TX; 1- MT, FL, CAN, AZ, KS, GA 10:15 p.m. Down goes No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State). Max Dean (Cornell), the No. 5 seed, won a late scramble to win 5-4. He's in the final against No. 6 seed Drew Foster (Northern Iowa), a 7-4 winner over No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina). 10:01 p.m. Catching up on the last two weights of the consolation round of 12. All-Americans at 197 were Ben Honis (Cornell), Willie Miklus (Iowa State), Jacob Warner (Iowa), and two-sport athlete Josh hokit (Fresno State). At 285, they were Yousif Hemedia (Maryland), Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), Trent Hillger (Wisconsin), and Amar Dhesi (Oregon State). 10:00 p.m. It'll be a rematch of last year's 174 final tomorrow night. No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State) beat Myles Amine (Michigan) 2-1 in the tiebreaker. No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State), the defending national champion, beat No. 2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) 11-3; he reversed a regular season loss in dominant fashion. 9:50 p.m. Today's sessions BOTH had over 18,00 in attendance. The morning session was a 18,013; the evening at 18,100. Awesome crowds. 9:45 p.m. Consolation All-Americans at 184 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State), Ryan Preisch (Lehigh), Emery Parker (Illinois), and Zach Zavatsky (Virginia Tech). 9:42 p.m. Just announced N.C. State got a team point deduction for control of mat, presumably for during that 157 "circus". 9:40 p.m. Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) into the finals from the No. 8 seed, he wins 5-2 with takedowns in the first period and then late in the third period over No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin). Two-time national champion Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), the No. 2 seed, wins 3-2 over No. 3 Josh Shields (Arizona State), though fans wanted stalling call(s) against Joseph at the end of the bout. 9:35 p.m. Consolation All-Americans at 174: Jordan Kutler (Lehigh), David McFadden (Lehigh), Mikey Labriola (Nebraska), and Devin Skatzka (Minnesota). 9:20 p.m. No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) into a fourth straight NCAA final. He wins 3-2 on the early second period takedown. No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (N.C. State) had a takedown at the end of the first period reversed via replay review, and then was in deep at the end of the bout but Nolf whizzered it off. 9:15 p.m. Consolation All-Americans at 165 are Chance Marsteller (Lock haven), Alex Marinelli (Iowa), Isaiah White (Nebraska), and Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa). 9:05 p.m. Consolation All-Americans at 157 are Alec Pantaleo (Michigan), Christian Pagdilao (ARizona State), Larry Early (Old Dominion), and Ryan Deakin (NOrthwestern). 9:02 p.m. Top two seeds into the 149 final. Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) with a 2-0 win over No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton), second period escape and third period rideout to earn the advantage point. No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) with three takedowns and the riding time point to beat No. 6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) 7-4. 8:55 p.m. Consolation All-Americans at 149 include true freshman Brock Mauller (Missouri), the fourth 2018 high school graduate to earn a podium position. He is joined by Jarrett Degen (Iowa State), Pat Lugo (Iowa), and Mitch Finesilver (Duke). 8:45 p.m. Third period takedowns the difference as No. 1 seed Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) and No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) advance to the 141 final. Diakomihalis 6-5 over No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), McKenna 4-3 over No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State). 8:42 p.m. Consolation All-Americans at 141 were Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven), Dom Demas (Oklahoma), Mitch McKee (Minnesota), and Chad Red (Nebraska). 8:33 p.m. Consolation All-Americans at 133: true freshman Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State), John Erneste (Missouri), Austin DeSanto (Iowa), and Ethan Lizak (Minnesota). 8:30 p.m. It'll be No. 1 seed Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) in the final. Suriano reversed a dual meet loss to No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) with a 4-1 victory, while Fix beat No. 4 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) 4-2. 8:15 p.m. Patrick Glory (Princeton) - a true freshman - among the consolation All-Americans at 125. He is joined by Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), Vitali Arujau (Cornell), and Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) 8:13 p.m. As comprehensive a semifinal performance as you'll ever see, No. 5 seed Jack Mueller (Virginia) knocks off No. 1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 8-2 with takedowns in each period and 5 minutes of advantage time. No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) will make it to a second straight national final, he wins 11-4 to avenge the in-season dual meet loss to Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State). 8:05 p.m. And we got whistles. Semifinal matches on mats 1 & 2, consolation round of 12 on mats 3-6 and consolation quarters follow.

Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis celebrates after beating Alex Marinelli of Iowa in the NCAA quarterfinals (Photo/Juan Garcia) Link: Team Scores & Brackets PITTSBURGH -- Six months after stunning the field at the Junior World Championships en route to a gold medal, Virginia Tech freshman Mekhi Lewis stunned The Bull, Iowa's Alex Marinelli, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Friday in Pittsburgh. With the match tied 1-1, Lewis secured a takedown in the closing seconds and held on for the 3-1 victory at 165 pounds. "I knew it was going to be a tight match," said Lewis. "It was just whoever wanted it more. I knew it was going to be a battle. Ultimately, I knew coming in that hand fighting was going to be the key to winning that match. I felt like I did a real good job hand fighting with him because we were both tired at the end of the match." Marinelli becomes the first No. 1 seed to lose this week in Pittsburgh. The top three teams, Penn State, Ohio State and Oklahoma State, went a combined 15-0 in the quarterfinals. Penn State leads the team race with 80 points after Friday's first session. Ohio State sits in second place with 66.5 points. Oklahoma State (56), Iowa (43.5) and Michigan (40) round out the top five teams. Penn State's Mark Hall after his quarterfinal victory on Friday (Photo/Juan Garcia) The three-time defending national champion Nittany Lions went 6-for-6, getting quarterfinal wins from Nick Lee (141), Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174), Bo Nickal (197) and Anthony Cassar (285). Ohio State had five wrestlers reach tonight's semifinals: Luke Pletcher (133), Joey McKenna (141), Micah Jordan (149), Myles Martin (184) and Kollin Moore (197). Semifinalists for Oklahoma State include Nick Piccininni (125), Daton Fix (133), Preston Weigel (197) and Derek White (285). The quarterfinals proved to be a disappointing round for Iowa. The Hawkeyes had the most quarterfinalists of any team with seven, but went 2-5. Picking up quarterfinal wins for the Hawkeyes were Spencer Lee (125) and Kaleb Young (157). Virginia's Jack Mueller is one 10 undefeated wrestlers in tonight's NCAA semifinals (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Ten wrestlers remain undefeated this season heading into tonight's semifinals. Those wrestlers include Oklahoma State's Piccininni (125), Virginia's Jack Mueller (125), Michigan's Stevan Micic (133), Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis (141), Rutgers' Anthony Ashnault (149), Penn State's Nolf (157), Penn State's Hall (174), Ohio State's Myles Martin (184), Penn State's Nickal (197) and Oklahoma State's Weigel (197). Four freshmen advanced to tonight's semifinals. Those wrestlers are Oklahoma State's Fix (133), UNC's Austin O'Connor (149), Virginia Tech's Lewis (165) and Minnesota's Gable Steveson (285). Fix, O'Connor and Lewis are redshirt freshmen, while Steveson is the lone true freshman. Below is a recap of the quarterfinals matches. 125: Iowa's returning NCAA champion Lee of Iowa, the No. 3 seed, built a large lead in the third period before getting a pin over Sean Russell of Minnesota. Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over freshman Vito Arujau of Cornell. Undefeated No. 2 Piccininni of Oklahoma State advanced to the semifinals with a 9-5 victory over Princeton freshman Patrick Glory. Jack Mueller remained undefeated with a 4-1 victory in the second tiebreaker over Oregon State's Ronnie Bresser. After Mueller rode out Bresser in the second tiebreaker, the Cavalier junior was able to earn an escape and takedown to take the victory. 133: Michigan's Micic kept his unbeaten record intact as he topped Iowa's Austin DeSanto 3-2 in a rematch from last year's NCAA quarterfinals. Micic scored the match's only takedown -- in the second period -- which proved to be the difference in the match. Ohio State's Pletcher used a late first-period takedown to pace him to a 3-1 victory Pitt's Micky Phillippi. Nick Suriano of Rutgers had little trouble in his quarterfinal match against Minnesota's Ethan Lizak. Suriano jumped out to a big lead before securing a pin in the second period. Top-seeded Fix of Oklahoma State cruised into the semifinals with a major decision over John Erneste of Missouri. 141: Penn State's Lee scored a third-period takedown to break a 1-1 tie and eventually give him a 4-1 victory over Iowa's Max Murin. Missouri's Jaydin Eierman topped Lock Haven's Kyle Shoop 8-3. Returning NCAA champion Diakomihalis of Cornell controlled Oklahoma's Dom Demas in a 5-1 victory. Ohio State's McKenna continued his dominance in the tournament, picking up an 11-1 major decision over Minnesota's Mitch McKee. 149: Redshirt freshman Austin O'Connor of UNC scored a takedown in sudden victory to defeat Duke's Mitch Finesilver. It was the fifth meeting between the two this season, with O'Connor now winning two of the five meetings. Top-seeded Ashnault became Rutgers' first four-time All-American as he rolled into the semifinals with a 10-3 win over Iowa State's Jarrett Degen. Ohio State's Jordan topped Iowa's Pat Lugo 10-3. Princeton's Matthew Kolodzik punched his ticket to the semifinals with a hard-fought 5-3 win over Missouri freshman Brock Mauller. 157: Penn State's Nolf, a two-time NCAA champion, scored early and often in a 23-6 technical fall over Arizona State's Christian Pagdilao. NC State's Hayden Hidlay is back in the semifinals after scoring a takedown in sudden victory to defeat Michigan's Alex Pantaleo 5-3. Second-seeded Tyler Berger topped Old Dominion's Larry Early 5-2. Iowa's sixth-seeded Kaleb Young avenged a loss from the Midlands Championships as he knocked off Northwestern's Ryan Deakin 7-5 in sudden victory. 165: Fourth-seeded Evan Wick used a cradle to pin Lock Haven's Chance Marsteller in the first period. It marked the second straight time Wick has pinned Marsteller. The last time came in the third-place match at last year's NCAAs. Joseph of Penn State remains on track for his third straight NCAA title after edging Nebraska's Isaiah White 3-1 in sudden victory. Junior world champion Lewis of Virginia Tech stunned previously unbeaten and top seed Marinelli of Iowa, scoring a takedown with short time left to win 3-1. Arizona State's Josh Shields blanked UNI's Bryce Steiert 6-0 to reach the semifinals. 174: Returning NCAA champion Zahid Valencia advanced to the semifinals with a first-period pin over surprise quarterfinalist Ben Harvey of Army West Point. Also getting a pin in the quarterfinals was the No. 2 seed, Missouri's Daniel Lewis, who stuck Nebraska's Mikey Labriola in the second period. Michigan's Myles Amine edged Lehigh's Jordan Kutler in the second sudden victory, 4-2. He scored the takedown with just under 10 seconds left. Top-seeded Mark Hall, a two-time NCAA finalist, used a third-period reversal to help him to a 5-3 victory over UNI's Taylor Lujan. UNC's Chip Ness celebrates after his NCAA quarterfinal victory (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 184: Ohio State's Martin was dominant in the quarterfinals, picking up an 11-2 major decision over Lehigh's Ryan Preisch. Fifth-seeded Max Dean of Cornell blanked No. 13 seed Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt 6-0. UNI's Drew Foster knocked off third-seeded Zack Zavatasky of Virginia Tech 6-2. UNC's Chip Ness, seeded No. 15, secured his second straight All-America honor with a 6-4 win in sudden victory over Iowa State's Sam Colbray. 197: Preston Weigel of Oklahoma State made quick work of his quarterfinal opponent Christian Brunner of Purdue, securing a pin in just 58 seconds. Undefeated two-time NCAA champion Nickal picked up his third bonus-point victory of the tournament as he scored a 13-4 major decision over Nathan Traxler of Stanford. Third-seeded Moore of Ohio State won a high scoring affair, 17-11, over No. 10 Tom Sleigh of Virginia Tech. Patrick Brucki survived in the quarterfinals as edged Cal Poly's Tom Lane 4-3 despite getting ridden out the entire third period. 285: The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals. No. 1 seed White of Oklahoma State scored a late first-period takedown on his way to a 3-1 win over Central Michigan's Matt Stencel. Penn State's Cassar, a Big Ten champion, used a first-period takedown and racked up over two minutes of riding time en route to a 4-0 victory over No. 7 Trent Hillger of Wisconsin. True freshman Steveson of Minnesota was dominant in a picking up an 11-1 major decision over Oregon State's Amar Dhesi in a battle of Junior world champions. Lehigh's Jordan Wood used an escape and riding time point to register a 2-0 shutout over Iowa's Sam Stoll. Team standings 1. Penn State 80 2. Ohio State 66.5 3. Oklahoma State 56 4. Iowa 43.5 5. Michigan 40 6. Missouri 37 7. Minnesota 32 8. Rutgers 29.5 9. NC State 29 10. Cornell 26.5 10. Nebraska 26.5 10. Virginia Tech 26.5 Quarterfinal results 125: No. 1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. No. 8 Vito Arujau (Cornell), 6-2 No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) dec. No. 4 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 4-1 TB2 No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) pinned No. 6 Sean Russell (Minnesota), 5:59 No. 2 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Patrick Glory (Princeton), 9-5 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 8 John Erneste (Missouri), 11-3 No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh), 3-1 No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) pinned No. 6 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 4:24 No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) dec. No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa), 3-2 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec. No. 9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 5-1 No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) dec. No. 13 Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven), 8-3 No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State) dec. No. 22 Max Murin (Iowa), 4-1 No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) dec. No. 7 Mitch McKee (Minnesota), 11-1 149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 8 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State), 10-3 No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. No. 4 Brock Mauller (Missouri), 5-3 No. 6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) dec. No. 3 Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 3-1 SV1 No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) dec. No. 10 Pat Lugo (Iowa), 10-3 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) tech. fall No. 9 Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State), 23-6 7:00 No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (North Carolina State) dec. No. 4 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan), 5-3 SV1 No. 6 Kaleb Young (Iowa) dec. No. 3 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 7-5 SV1 No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) dec. No. 7 Larry Early (Old Dominion), 5-2 165: No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa), 3-1 No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) pinned No. 5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven), 1:25 No. 3 Josh Shields (Arizona State) dec. No. 11 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa), 6-0 No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) dec. No. 7 Isaiah White (Nebraska), 3-1 SV 174: No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State) dec. No. 8 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa), 5-3 No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 5 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh), 4-2 SV No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) pinned No. 22 Ben Harvey (Army West Point), 2:11 No. 2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned No. 10 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska), 4:29 184: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 8 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh), 11-2 No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell) dec. No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh), 6-0 No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 3 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), 6-2 No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) dec. No. 10 Sam Colbray (Iowa State), 6-4 SV1 197: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) maj. dec. No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford), 13-4 No. 4 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) dec. No. 21 Tom Lane (Cal Poly), 4-3 No. 3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) pinned No. 11 Christian Brunner (Purdue), 0:58 No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) dec. No. 10 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech), 17-11 285: No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 9 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), 3-1 No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa), 2-0 No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State), 11-1 No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) dec. No. 7 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin), 4-0 Semifinal matchups 125: No. 1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) vs. No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) No. 2 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) vs. No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State) 149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (North Carolina State) No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) vs. No. 6 Kaleb Young (Iowa) 165: No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) vs. No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Josh Shields (Arizona State) 174: No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) No. 2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 184: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) vs. No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell) No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) 197: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) vs. No. 3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) 285: No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota)

Ohio State's Myles Martin will look to advance to tonight's NCAA semifinals (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) PITTSBURGH -- Follow the quarterfinals of the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on InterMat's running notebook. The most recent updates appear at the top. Refresh/reload the page to read the latest updates. Links: Updated Team Scores & Brackets | Watch ESPN 3:17 p.m. Team scores after the Friday afternoon session. 1 - Penn State 80 (6 semis/1 con-12) 2 - Ohio State 66.5 (5/1) 3 - Oklahoma State 56 (4/2) 4 - Iowa 43.5 (2/6) 5 - Michigan 40 (2/3) 6 - Missouri 37 (2/3) 7 - Minnesota 32 (1/6) 8 - Rutgers 29.5 (2/0) 9 - NC State 29 (1/2) 10 - Cornell 26.5 (2/2) (tie) Nebraska 26.5 (1/4) (tie) Virginia Tech 26.5 (1/3) Wrestling resumes at 8:00 p.m. Eastern with the championship semifinals and consolation round of 12 along with the consolation quarterfinals. Those matches on ESPN. 3:15 p.m. Session three concludes with a marathon match at 285 as Zach Elam (Missouri) wins 3-1 in tiebreaker set three. Elam was ridden out by Conan Jennings (Northwestern) in the first part of the third tiebreaker set, Jennings chose neutral hoping to win by the riding time advantage, but Elam wins with a takedown at about three seconds remaining. 2:55 p.m. Willie Miklus (Iowa State) perserving through family tragedy to advance to the con-12 tonight, and will face Nathan Traxler (Stanford) for an A-A spot at 197; while Fresno State two-sport athlete Josh Hokit advances to the con-12 to face Christian Brunner (Purdue) for an A-A spot. 2:50 p.m. Very significant moment for Oklahoma State as Dakota Geer scores the takedown inside of five seconds remaining via the neutral danger rule to knock off No. 2 seed Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) 4-2. The returning All-American is done at 184. Penn State has the six semifinalists and Bravo-Young remaining in the tournament, but they are still up 13-1/2 points on Ohio State, who is up 10-1/2 on Oklahoma State. 2:40 p.m. Oklahoma State with another elimination. Returning All-American Jacobe Smith loses 5-2 to No. 33 seed Devin Kane (North Carolina) at 174, about five minutes after two-time All-American Joseph Smith suffered a defeat at 165 to Demetrius Romero. The Cowboys sit in third but aren't necessarily helping themselves here in consolation. 2:35 p.m. Logan Massa (Michigan), the six seed, set up one of the evening's most anticipated consolation round of 12 bouts by earning an 11-3 major decision. He will face No. 1 seed Alex Marinelli (Iowa) in that match at 165. Marinelli was No. 3 overall c/o 2016, Massa No. 2 c/o 2015. 2:30 p.m. Penn State suffers its first elimination, as No. 20 Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) beat No. 12 Brady Berge 4-2 in overtime at 149. Berge had the only takedown in regulation but chose neutral in the third. Thorn vs. No. 10 Patricio Lugo (Iowa) to All-American tonight. 2:00 p.m. Reflecting on the semifinalists, 18 of the 40 were inside the top 10 of their graduating class in the InterMat recruiting rankings, while only three were not in the top 100 - Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) at 184, Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) at 197, and Anthony Cassar (Penn State) at 285. 1:55 p.m. The quarterfinal round is done. Penn State, Ohio State, and Oklahoma State were a combined 15-0! Semifinalists by school -- 6- Penn State 5- Ohio State 4- Oklahoma State 2- Cornell, Iowa, Princeton, Missouri, Rutgers, Michigan, North Carolina, Arziona State 1- Northwestern, Virginia, Minnesota, North Carolina State, Nebraska, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, Lehigh 1:50 p.m. Penn State and Oklahoma State confirm sweeps of their quartefinal bouts. No. 1 seed Derek White (Oklahoma State) a 3-1 win over No. 9 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), while No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) wins 4-0. No. 3 seed Gable Steveson (Minnesota) with the 11-1 major over fellow Junior World freestyle champion Ameer Dhesi (Oregon State). Rounding it out, No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) beat Sam Stoll (Iowa) 2-0 with a second period escape and third period rideout. Iowa went 2-5 in the quarters. 1:35 p.m. Two-time national champion Bo Nickal (Penn State), the top seed, wins by 14-4 major decision and moves into the 197 semis. Penn State five-for-five in quarters. He will face No. 4 Patrick Brucki (princeton) who won 4-3 despite Thomas Lane (Cal Poly) having 4:00 of advantage time. Also there, No. 2 seed Kollin Moore (Ohio State) made a dominant first period last in a 17-11 win over Thomas Sleigh (Virginia Tech). 1:25 p.m. No. 3 seed Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) with a modified cowcatcher to get the pin in 57 seconds against No. 11 Christian Brunner (Purdue) at 197. 1:18 p.m. For the second time this season, No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) upends No. 3 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), this time 6-2 and advances to the semifinal round. No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) comes out of the right side of a scramble to win 6-4 in overtime over No. 10 Samuel Colbray (Iowa State). That's your lower bracket semi matchup. 1:15 p.m. True senior Myles Martin now a four-time All-American for Ohio State. The top seed at 184 won by 11-2 major decision, and will face No. 5 seed Max Dean (Cornell) in the semifinal round tonight. 1:00 p.m. No. Myles Amine (Michigan) wins 3-1 in SV-2 over No. 5 Jordan kutler (Lehigh), a rematch of last year's quarterfinal. Amine vs. Hall, Lewis vs. Valencia, same exact semifinalists as last year just different bouts. 12:55 p.m. Top seed Mark Hall (Penn State) wins 5-3 over No. 8 Taylor Lujan (northern Iowa) in a rematch from last year at the same round of the tournament. 12:50 p.m. Defending national champion Zahid Valencia (Arizona State), the third seed, with a fall at 2:11 and is into the semifinals tonight. No. 2 seed Daniel Lewis (Missouri) is a four-time All-American with the pin in 4:28. Those two will meet tonight! 12:37 p.m. A Penn State fan's dream as two-time national champion Vincenzo Joseph wins 3-1 in overtime against No. 7 Isaiah White (Nebraska) 3-1 moments before No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) got a takedown with under five seconds remaining in regulation to beat No. 1 seed Alex Marinelli (Iowa) 3-1. No. 3 Josh Shields (Arizona State) also a semifinalist at 165. 12:30 p.m. In a battle of returning All-Americans, No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) registered the pin in 1:25 via a cradle out of a neutral scramble against No. 5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven). 12:22 p.m. No. 6 Kaleb Young gets Iowa back on track with a 7-5 overtime victory over No. 3 Ryan Deak (NOrthwestern). No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (N.C. State) used a hands to the face call to force OT at 3-3, then got the takedown to beat No. 4 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) 5-3. Five seeds have advanced to the semis in all five weights. 12:20 p.m. No. 1 seed Jason Nolf (Penn State) wins by 22-6 technical fall at the 7:00 mark, which will push Penn State into a 1-1/2 point lead after the 157 quarters. No. 2 seed Tyler Berger (Nebraska) won 5-2 in his quarter. 12:05 p.m. Ohio State wins its third quarter, Iowa loses its third of four, as No. 2 Micah Jordan wins 10-3 over No. 10 Patricio Lugo. Jordan to face No. 6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina), who beat No. 3 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 3-1 in overtime. In the top bracket, No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) is now a four-time All-American, and will face another multi-time All-American in No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton). 11:52 a.m. No. 1 seed Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell), the defending champ, makes the semis with a 5-1 victory over No. 9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), while No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) will face Nick Lee tonight after winning 11-1 in the quarters; Lee beat McKenna earlier this season in the dual meet. 11:50 a.m. No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State) advances to the semifinal with a 4-1 win over Iowa's Max Murin via takedown in the third period. Iowa drops to 1-2 in the quarters. Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) - the five seed - into the semis with an 8-3 decision. 11:35 a.m. No. 5 seed Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) avenged an in-season loss to No. 4 Micky Phillippi (PIttsburgh) by 3-1 decision, takedown late in the first period the difference. Pletcher faces No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) tonight, who majored No. 8 John Erneste (Missouri) 11-3. No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) with a second period takedown the difference in a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa), and he'll face Suriano tonight. 11:30 a.m. No. 3 seed Nick Suriano (Rutgers), last year's runner-up at 125, moves on to the semis with a pin in 4:24 over No. 6 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) at 133 pounds. 11:20 a.m. Jack Mueller (Virginia) rounds out the semifinalists at 125, as the No. 5 seed beats No. 4 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) in a battle of past A-A, 4-1 2nd tiebreakers. Mueller vs. Rivera tonight. 11:13 a.m. Top seed Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) used takedowns in the first and third period to beat Vitali Arujau (Cornell) 6-2, while defending national champion - and No. 3 seed Spencer Lee (Iowa) pinned No. 6 Sean Russell (Minnesota) in the third period. No. 2 seed Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) advances to face Lee tonight with a 9-5 win over No. 7 seed true freshman Patrick Glory (Princeton). 10:45 a.m. First whistles coming in about 15 minutes. Quarterfinals will be on the inside mats (3-6), consolation on the outside (1, 2, 7, 8) then on all mats. Television is on ESPNU this session. Quarterfinalists need one win (front or back) to All-American, consolation wrestlers need to win twice this session then once tonight to finish inside the top eight.

Chance Marsteller takes a shot on Evan Wick in the third-place match at last year's NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The quarterfinals are one of the most compelling and best rounds at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. The 40 matches, four in each of the 10 weight classes, provide some of the most exciting and intriguing wrestling action that you will see all season. There is no question that Friday's quarterfinal round of the NCAAs is a session you don't want to miss. That likely will happen again when the first whistle blows in the four 125-pound quarterfinal bouts on Friday morning at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The quarterfinals are the round at NCAAs where most of the matchups feature highly seeded wrestlers for the first time in the tournament. The team race also starts to come much more sharply into focus as we move deeper into the three-day tournament. The stakes are high in this round with the winners advancing to the semifinals and clinching a top-six finish in their respective weight classes. The quarters are a challenging round where conditioning comes even more into play. Wrestlers are competing for the third time in the tournament after making weight for the second time in as many days. Here are my picks for the best quarterfinal matchup in each weight class: 125: No. 1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) vs. No. 8 Vito Arujau (Cornell) Rivera has had an outstanding season, including earning a pair of wins over returning national champion Spencer Lee of Iowa. Rivera will face a tough test in the quarterfinals against a talented freshman in Arujau, a Cadet world silver medalist. Rivera looked strong with a pair of wins on Day 1 while Arujau rolled to a pair of triumphs by major decision Thursday. 133: No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) vs. No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) There is no secret there is some bad blood between these two competitors. DeSanto beat Micic handily early last season while competing for Drexel before falling to him in a one-sided match in the national quarterfinals where DeSanto lost his cool in the closing seconds. This will be their first meeting this season. Micic rolled to a pair of major decisions Thursday and DeSanto earned a hard-fought 7-2 win over talented freshman Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State in the second round. 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. No. 9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma) This match could feature its share of fireworks in a battle of explosive wrestlers with big-move arsenals. Yianni, a two-time Cadet world champion, looked strong in a 7-3 second-round win over returning All-American Chad Red of Nebraska. Demas has made U.S. Cadet and Junior world teams and earned a gritty 3-1 win over No. 8 seed Kanen Storr of Michigan in Thursday night's second round. 149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. No. 8 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) Ashnault passed his first two tests in impressive fashion as he looks to finish his All-American career in style. Degen has helped lead the revival at Iowa State and he earned an 11-8 second-round win over past All-American and No. 9 seed Justin Oliver of North Carolina State. Ashnault is an aggressive wrestler who will face a long, lanky opponent in Degen, who can create matchup problems. Degen made the round of 12 last year. 157: No. 4 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) vs. No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (North Carolina State) This sets up to be a great battle between a pair of battle-tested and proven performers. Pantaleo is a senior who is a two-time All-American for the powerful Wolverines. Hidlay is a sophomore who placed second in this tournament last year for the strong Wolfpack program. Hidlay came out firing Thursday, winning both bouts by technical fall. 165: No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) vs. No. 5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) Wick was one of the big surprises at the 2018 NCAA tournament, placing third as a freshman after being seeded 10th. Another wrestler who finished well above his seed last year was Marsteller, who placed fourth after being the 9 seed. Wick pinned Marsteller in the match for third. Wick is a tall, rangy wrestler who is lethal on top and with his cradle. Marsteller is a past age-group standout who has turned his career around the past two years at Lock Haven. 174: No. 2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. No. 10 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) While many people are expecting a national finals rematch between 2017 champion Mark Hall of Penn State and 2018 champion Zahid Valencia of Arizona State, Lewis continues his quest to prevent that from happening. His next test will come in the quarters against Nebraska freshman Mikey Labriola. Lewis won by a pair of falls Thursday. Labriola knocked off No. 7 seed Jacobe Smith of Oklahoma State in the second round. 184: No. 10 Samuel Colbray (Iowa State) vs. No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) Not many people were expecting this matchup, but Ness did place seventh at this tournament last year so his second-round upset of No. 2 Shakur Rasheed of Penn State isn't as big of a surprise as it may look like on paper. Colbray is a sophomore who has made huge improvement this year for the Cyclones. This will be an intriguing bout between two solid wrestlers with double-digit seeds. 197: No. 4 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) vs. No. 2 Tom Lane (Cal Poly) We've never had a No. 21 seed make the quarters before, so we had to pick this matchup. Lane knocked off No. 5 Jacob Warner of Iowa in overtime in the second round. Lane will face another tough task against Brucki, who has just one loss this season. Brucki earned a pair of decisions on Thursday to reach the quarterfinal round. 285: No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) vs. No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) Steveson showed why he was ranked No. 1 for much of the season by overpowering his first two NCAA opponents Thursday. Steveson owns two Cadet world titles and a Junior world title. He is a tremendous talent who will be tough to beat if he stays on the attack. Dhesi is a returning third-place NCAA finisher who represented Canada at the 2018 World Championships on the Senior level. Dhesi, who is a past Junior world champion, also rolled to a pair of wins Thursday.

Penn State's Bo Nickal picked up his second pin of the day (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Link: Team Scores & Brackets PITTSBURGH -- Day 1 of the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships is one for the history books at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, with a few surprises along the way as part of the annual process which started with 330 collegiate athletes with title hopes at noon … and concluded Thursday evening with 80 wrestlers who will be taking to the mats in the quarterfinals Friday. Defending team titlewinner Penn State is at the top of the team race with 32.5 points. "I like where we're at," said Penn State coach Cael Sanderson. "I've got a lot of confidence in these guys. But more than that, it's just about them. This is their opportunity." Battling for second place are two other Big Ten mat programs: Ohio State, with 25 points, and University of Iowa, with 24. However, those standings may well be influenced by how many wrestlers each team still has in the individual title hunt. Penn State -- which is seeking its fourth consecutive team championship and ninth in the past decade under Sanderson -- has six wrestlers who have qualified for the quarterfinals on Friday. However, the program with the most quarterfinalists is the Iowa Hawkeyes, with seven. "Session II in the books," said Iowa coach Tom Brands. "Seven-for-nine, seven in the quarters. We've got to come back strong in the two other weights. We've got to be strong in the quarters. Close matches, got to have them go our way." Ohio State has five wrestlers who are still in the running for individual titles … while three programs -- Missouri, Minnesota, and Oklahoma State -- each have four wrestlers who will be doing battle in the quarterfinals. Eight other schools have three wrestlers still contending for individual championships: Arizona State, Cornell, Lehigh, Michigan, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Princeton, and Virginia Tech. Now, let's look at weight-by-weight results… with an eye to any surprises: 125: No real surprises. All eight top seeds made it to the quarterfinals. 133: One again, the top eight seeds advance at 133 pounds. However, arguably the biggest match from a team standpoint was Iowa's Austin DeSanto vs. Roman-Bravo Young of Penn State. The Nittany Lion known as RBY hit the scorer's table and needed injury time. Coach Sanderson and staff thought their man had a takedown before the injury, and challenged the call … but after a review, the original no-takedown call stood. DeSanto scored a late takedown with nearfall points to win 7-2. 141: A couple surprising results here. Kyle Shoop of Lock Haven -- the No. 13 seed -- dominated the No. 4 seed Josh Alber of Northern Iowa, 19-10. "Right now I'm feeling good," said Shoop. "Again, I'm on pace to be an All-American. It's what I came here to do. There's no monkey business. It's time to put the hammer down. I came here to show people I'm legit and I'm doing that." Iowa picked up a big win as No. 22 seed Max Murin upset No. 6 seed Mike Carr of Illinois, 4-3. 149: No real surprises in this bracket. However, No. 26 seed Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech -- who knocked off No. 7 Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State in the first round, nearly pulled another upset, but was beaten in sudden victory by Iowa's Pat Lugo. NC State's Hayden Hidlay advanced to the quarterfinals with a technical fall (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 157: The top seeds continue to be in the title hunt. UNI's Bryce Steiert topped Michigan's Logan Massa (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 165: The results in this bracket were pretty straightforward … except for a slight surprise when Northern Iowa's No. 11 seed Bryce Steiert defeated Michigan's Logan Massa, seeded No. 6. 174: A couple results worth mentioning: No. 22 Ben Harvey of West Point upset No. 6 David McFadden of Virginia Tech… while Oklahoma State took a hit as No. 7 seed Jacobe Smith lost to No. 10 Mikey Labriola of Nebraska. UNC's Chip Ness celebrates after beating PSU's Shakur Rasheed (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 184: The biggest upset of the session -- and one of the major storylines of Day 1 -- is No. 2 Shakur Rasheed of Penn State losing to No. 15 Chip Ness of North Carolina in a battle of returning All-Americans. Rasheed led 5-2 late in the match before giving up six points late to lose. "I wrestled every single match I had this whole entire year," said Ness. "He's taken off some. It makes a big difference when it comes to the most important tournament of the year." It was the Nittany Lions' second loss of the session (behind Bravo-Young at 133). In addition, No. 4 seed Emery Parker of Illinois got knocked out of title contention… as did Cash Wilcke of Iowa. 197: Hot on the heels of Iowa's Wilke losing in the previous weight class, the Hawkeyes are so lost No. 5 Jacob Warner in sudden victory to Cal Poly's Tom Lane, the No. 21 seed. Meanwhile, Iowa State's No. 6 Willie Miklus fell to No. 11 seed Christian Brunner of Purdue. 285: The big story here is Iowa's Sam Stoll, who suffered a gunshot wound to his knee in the offseason -- and was plagued with other injuries throughout the season, culminating with failing to place at the Big Ten conference championships. However, Stoll -- the No. 28 seed -- managed to knock off No. 5 Mason Parris of Michigan, and then took out No. 12 Conan Jennings of Northwestern in the second round. Here are some other interesting side stories from the first day of action: Fall guys: Two Penn State Nittany Lions -- Nick Lee (141 pounds) and Bo Nickal (197) -- as well as Missouri Tiger Daniel Lewis (74) -- pinned their way to the quarterfinals. Succeeding beyond the seeding: Four wrestlers -- including two from Iowa -- have earned their way into the quarterfinals despite being seeded at No. 21 and beyond: The two Hawkeyes are Max Murin, 141-pounder seeded No. 22, and, at 285, Sam Stoll, at No. 28… along with Army's Ben Harvey at 174 (No. 22 seed) and Cal Poly's 197-pounder Thomas Lane, the No. 21 seed. Attendance, by the numbers: The first-day attendance figures for the 2019 NCAAs in Pittsburgh were impressive… though somewhat lower than last year's opening-day attendance numbers at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Attendance at Session 1 in Pittsburgh was 17,949 (about 700 fewer fans than last year's opening session)… while this year's Session 2 had 17,951 fans, approximately 900 fewer fans than in 2018. (To put those numbers in perspective: the last time Pittsburgh hosted the NCAAs -- back in 1957 -- the Fitzgerald Field House on the campus of University of Pittsburgh had a seating capacity of approximately 4,100 fans… about one-fifth of the total number of seats at PPG Paints Arena. Team standings 1. Penn State 32.5 2. Ohio State 25.5 3. Iowa 24 4. Minnesota 20 5. Oklahoma State 20 6. Missouri 18 7. Michigan 17.5 8. Nebraska 16 9. Virginia Tech 16 10. Northern Iowa 15.5 Second-round results 125: No. 1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. No. 16 Drew Mattin (Michigan), 4-0 No. 8 Vito Arujau (Cornell) maj. dec. No. 9 RayVon Foley (Michigan State), 12-2 No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) maj. dec. No. 12 Michael McGee (Old Dominion), 13-3 No. 4 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) dec. No. 13 Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan), 5-3 No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 14 Sean Fausz (North Carolina State), 10-1 No. 6 Sean Russell (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 11 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois), 10-1 No. 7 Patrick Glory (Princeton) maj. dec. No. 10 Brent Fleetwood (North Dakota State), 9-0 No. 2 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 15 Elijah Oliver (Indiana), 13-2 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 16 Matthew Schmitt (West Virginia), 9-3 No. 8 John Erneste (Missouri) dec. No. 24 D.J. Fehlman (Lock Haven), 4-0 No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. No. 12 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming), 5-3 No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 13 Austin Gomez (Iowa State), 1-0 No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. No. 14 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech), 7-2 No. 6 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) dec. No. 11 Tariq Wilson (North Carolina State), 5-4 No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) dec. No. 10 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State), 7-2 No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) maj. dec. No. 15 Ben Thornton (Purdue), 11-2 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec. No. 16 Chad Red (Nebraska), 7-3 No. 9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma) dec. No. 8 Kanen Storr (Michigan), 3-1 No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) dec. No. 12 Cameron Kelly (Ohio), 10-8 No. 13 Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) maj. dec. No. 4 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa), 19-10 No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State) pinned No. 19 Sa'Derian Perry (Old Dominion), 3:42 No. 22 Max Murin (Iowa) dec. No. 6 Mike Carr (Illinois), 4-3 No. 7 Mitch McKee (Minnesota) dec. No. 23 Sam Turner (Wyoming), 7-4 No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 15 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State), 14-1 149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 16 Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma), 7-1 No. 8 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) dec. No. 9 Justin Oliver (North Carolina State), 11-8 No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. No. 12 Brady Berge (Penn State), 8-5 No. 4 Brock Mauller (Missouri) dec. No. 20 Tommy Thorn (Minnesota), 5-1 No. 3 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) maj. dec. No. 19 Cole Martin (Wisconsin), 9-1 No. 6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) dec. No. 11 Josh Heil (Campbell), 4-1 No. 10 Pat Lugo (Iowa) dec. No. 26 Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech), 4-2 SV2 No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 15 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa), 17-4 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) tech. fall No. 16 John Van Brill (Rutgers), 19-4 6:47 No. 9 Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State) dec. No. 8 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh), 11-7 No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (North Carolina State) tech. fall No. 21 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma), 16-1 5:20 No. 4 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) dec. No. 20 Lucas Weiland (Army West Point), 5-3 No. 3 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) maj. dec. No. 19 Griffin Parriott (Purdue), 9-0 No. 6 Kaleb Young (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 11 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State), 14-2 No. 7 Larry Early (Old Dominion) dec. No. 10 Steve Bleise (Minnesota), 3-2 No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) pinned No. 15 Eric Barone (Illinois), 6:07 165: No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 16 Thomas Bullard (North Carolina State), 12-4 No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 24 Cael McCormick (Army West Point), 4-1 No. 5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) dec. No. 21 Te'Shan Campbell (Ohio State), 4-2 No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) dec. No. 13 Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State), 9-2 No. 3 Josh Shields (Arizona State) maj. dec. No. 14 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider), 10-2 No. 11 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 6 Logan Massa (Michigan), 2-1 No. 7 Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. No. 10 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming), 5-4 No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) dec. No. 15 Connor Flynn (Missouri), 8-4 174: No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State) dec. No. 16 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 8-3 No. 8 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) pinned No. 9 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota), 3:22 No. 5 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. No. 12 Matt Finesilver (Duke), 6-2 No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) maj. dec. No. 20 Spencer Carey (Navy), 12-3 No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. No. 14 Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley), 16-5 No. 22 Ben Harvey (Army West Point) dec. No. 6 David McFadden (Virginia Tech), 5-3 SV1 No. 10 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) dec. No. 7 Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State), 8-4 No. 2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned No. 15 Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin), 2:42 184: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 16 Corey Hazel (Lock Haven), 16-5 No. 8 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) dec. No. 9 Taylor Venz (Nebraska), 4-3 No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell) dec. No. 12 Cash Wilcke (Iowa), 6-4 SV1 No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 4 Emery Parker (Illinois), 9-7 No. 3 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 19 Cameron Caffey (Michigan State), 9-7 No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 11 Lou DePrez (Binghamton), 7-1 No. 10 Sam Colbray (Iowa State) dec. No. 26 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State), 7-4 No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) dec. No. 2 Shakur Rasheed (Penn State), 8-5 197: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) pinned No. 16 Josh Hokit (Fresno State), 2:28 No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford) dec. No. 24 Jake Jacobsen (Lehigh), 4-1 No. 21 Tom Lane (Cal Poly) dec. No. 5 Jacob Warner (Iowa), 4-2 SV No. 4 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) dec. No. 13 Malik McDonald (North Carolina State), 3-2 No. 3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 14 Eric Schultz (Nebraska), 7-2 No. 11 Christian Brunner (Purdue) dec. No. 6 Willie Miklus (Iowa State), 6-2 No. 10 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 7 Jay Aiello (Virginia), 9-8 No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 15 Randall Diabe (Appalachian State), 14-4 285: No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 16 Chase Singletary (Ohio State), 5-2 No. 9 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) maj. dec. No. 8 Demetrius Thomas (Pittsburgh), 17-9 No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) dec. No. 12 Conan Jennings (Northwestern), 1-0 No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri), 3-0 No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 19 Brian Andrews (Wyoming), 21-8 No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) tech. fall No. 11 Thomas Haines (Lock Haven), 18-1 6:21 No. 7 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) dec. No. 10 Youssif Hemida (Maryland), 2-0 No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) maj. dec. No. 15 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley), 10-2 Quarterfinal matchups 125: No. 1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) vs. No. 8 Vito Arujau (Cornell) No. 4 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) vs. No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. No. 6 Sean Russell (Minnesota) No. 2 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 7 Patrick Glory (Princeton) 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 8 John Erneste (Missouri) No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) vs. No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) vs. No. 6 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) vs. No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. No. 9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma) No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) vs. No. 13 Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State) vs. No. 22 Max Murin (Iowa) No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 7 Mitch McKee (Minnesota) 149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. No. 8 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) No. 4 Brock Mauller (Missouri) vs. No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) No. 3 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) vs. No. 6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 10 Pat Lugo (Iowa) 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 9 Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State) No. 4 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) vs. No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (North Carolina State) No. 3 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) vs. No. 6 Kaleb Young (Iowa) No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) vs. No. 7 Larry Early (Old Dominion) 165: No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) vs. No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) vs. No. 5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) No. 3 Josh Shields (Arizona State) vs. No. 11 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Isaiah White (Nebraska) 174: No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) vs. No. 5 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) vs. No. 22 Ben Harvey (Army West Point) No. 2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. No. 10 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) 184: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) vs. No. 8 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell) vs. No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) No. 3 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) No. 10 Sam Colbray (Iowa State) vs. No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) 197: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford) No. 4 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) vs. No. 21 Tom Lane (Cal Poly) No. 3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 11 Christian Brunner (Purdue) No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) vs. No. 10 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech) 285: No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 9 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) vs. No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) vs. No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin)

Ohio State's Joey McKenna opened his tournament with a 20-5 technical fall at 141 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) PITTSBURGH -- Follow the second round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on InterMat's running notebook. The most recent updates appear at the top. Refresh/reload the page to read the latest updates. Links: Updated Team Scores & Brackets | Watch ESPN 10:40 p.m. Night one comes to a conclusion, and the team standings are as follows. 1 - Penn State 32.5 (6 QF/3 CON) 2 - Ohio State 25.5 (5/5) 3 - Iowa 24 (7/2) 4 - Minnesota 20 (4/4) (tie) Oklahoma State (4/4) 6 - Missouri 18 (4/4) 7 - Michigan 17.5 (3/4) 8 - Nebraska 16 (3/4) (tie) Virginia Tech 16 (3/5) 10 - Northern Iowa 15.5 (3/3) Wrestling resumes tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. on ESPNU with the quarterfinals and two rounds of consolation. 9:55 p.m. Tonight's attendance number is 17,957 for a total of 35,906 on day one. 9:45 p.m. Among the notable two-and-out wrestlers are two-time All-American Zeke Moisey (Nebraska) at 125 and No. 7 seed Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) at 149. Related to Gfeller, that is not good for Oklahoma State's trophy/placement quest. 9:35 p.m. As consolation continues, an interesting note is that 19 of the 80 quarterfinalists call Pennsylvania their home state, eight of those 19 reside right around Pittsburgh and attended WPIAL high schools. Nine quarterfinalists call New Jersey home, while it's six each from Ohio and Illinois. Four are from New York, Missouri, Minnesota, and Michigan; while three are from Oregon, Georgia, Indiana, and California. 9:10 p.m. The round of 16 has been over for five-plus minutes. Iowa has a tournament-high seven in the quarters. Penn State, which leads the tournament, has six. Ohio State has five. Four each for Missouri, Minnesota, and Oklahoma State. Eight teams have three, including Northern Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, and Virginia Tech who round out the top ten at the moment. 8:55 p.m. Anthony Cassar - the No. 2 seed from Penn State - wins by 10-2 major decision on a last second takedown, and makes it six for the Nittany Lions into the quarters tomorrow morning. Penn State concludes day one with 18-1/2 bonus points. 8:50 p.m. A far from desired result from an Iowa perspective saw No. 5 seed Jacob Warner lose 4-2 in overtime to No. 22 seed Thomas Lane (Cal Poly) at 197. However, Sam Stoll countered with a 1-0 victory, which puts him into the quarters as a No. 28 seed - though his ability is much better than that. 8:45 p.m. No. 11 seed Christian Brunner (Purdue) beats two-time All-American Willie Miklus (Iowa State), the sixth-seed at 197 by a 6-2 score in the round of 16. 8:37 p.m. First loss of the tournament for Iowa. No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell) "houdini'd" out of an attack from No. 12 Cash Wilcke (Iowa). Dean scored a takedown of his own from it to win 6-4 in overtime at 184. 8:35 p.m. Returning All-American David McFadden (Virginia Tech), up a weight from last year but the No. 6 seed anyway, gets upset. He loses 5-3 in overtime to No. 22 seed Ben Harvey (Army West Point) at 174. 8:30 p.m. No. 2 seed Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) loses 8-6 to No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) in a battle of returning All-Americans. Rasheed led 5-2 late in the bout before Ness got a six-point move out of a scramble. 8:25 p.m. Pair of national champions, neither a top seed, won matches recently. No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 8-4 over Connor Flynn (Missouri) at 165, No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) by 16-5 major decision over Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley) at 174. It'll be Joseph vs. Isaiah White (Nebraska) in the quarters again this year, they met in an OT quarterfinal last year. 8:20 p.m. Northern Iowa with a pair of nice wins in tossup type of bouts. At 165, it was No. 11 Logan Steiert beating former A-A No. 6 Logan Massa (Michigan) 2-1; at 174, it was No. 8 Taylor Lujan pinning No. 9 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota). 8:15 p.m. Former Minnesota Golden Gopher Larry Early - now at Old Dominion - beat Steven Bleise (Minnesota) 3-2. That was 7 over 10 at 157. Bleise was at Northern Illinois before transferring to Minnesota. Early vs. No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) tomorrow morning. 8:10 p.m. No. 1 seeds are now 16-0 as Jason Nolf (Penn State) won by technical fall at 157 and Alex Marinelli (Iowa) won by major decision at 165. Penn State three quarterfinalists so far with many more to come, Iowa on six and 15-0 for the tournament. 8:07 p.m. Micah Jordan wins by major 17-4 over Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) in battle of returning/previous A-A. That was at 149. Joey McKenna won by major over Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) at 141. Both those are two seeds from Ohio State. Three Buckeyes into tomorrow morning's quarterfinal round so far. Attendance figure for session 1 was released as 17,949. 8:05 p.m. Iowa goes to 13-0 with Kaleb Young earning a 14-2 major decision over Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State). Make that 14-0 with No. 10 seed Pat Lugo winning 4-2 in SV-2 at 149 over No. 26 Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech). Five Hawkeyes' already in the quarters. 7:55 p.m. Both New Jersey schools' wrestlers move to the quarters at 149, No. 1 seed Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) wins 7-1 while No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) hung on for the 8-5 victory over Brady Berge (Penn State). Though Penn State lost two matches this round, team bonus point is pick up more of those in other matches to be sure. 7:50 p.m. Iowa pushes to 12-0 on the tournament as No. 22 seed Max Murin beats No. 6 seed Mike Carr (Illinois) in a battle of Southwestern PA alumni from Class 2A schools. They still trail Penn State by a good number, but are in second place. 7:45 p.m. Iowa remains undefeated for the tournament with a 7-2 win from Austin DeSanto at 133, the seven seed. He beat No. 10 Roman Bravo-Young, which put the Penn State fans into an irate state. It was the first Nittany Lions' loss of the tournament. 7:40 p.m. No. 13 seed Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) wins 19-10 over No. 4 seed Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) at 141. Also winning was No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State), his second pin in two bouts. 7:35 p.m. It'll be friendly foes in the 133 pound quarterfinals with No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) vs. No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), that's Derry Area vs. Greater Latrobe as high school alma maters, both are WPIAL schools. Also winning in that weight were the No. 1 seed Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) and No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) 7:25 p.m. The top seed Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) wins 4-0 over Drew Mattin (Michigan) and is a quarterfinalist, so is No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa), the defending national champion won 10-1 over Sean Fausz (N.C. State) 7:20 p.m. Our first quarterfinalist from this evening will be No. 8 seed Vito Arujau (Cornell), who beats No. 9 seed Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) by 12-2 major decision at 125. 7:10 p.m. The first elimination of the tournament has taken place, Tanner Smith (Chattanooga) rallied from a 6-2 end of first period deficit to beat Parker Kropman (Drexel) 12-7 at 149 pounds in a consi prelim. He wrestles later tonight. 6:50 p.m. Ten minutes out from whistles for the Thursday evening session. We'll have ten matches that reflect the consolation preliminaries, then round of 16 matches on all eight mats followed by the first full consolation round.

Iowa's Alex Marinelli came back to defeat Oklahoma State's Joe Smith at 165 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) PITTSBURGH -- Three-time defending national champion Penn State put together a dominant opening session at the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Pittsburgh, going 9-0 with five pins and two major decisions. Getting pins for Penn State were Nick Lee (141), Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Bo Nickal (197) and Anthony Cassar (285). Mark Hall (174) and Shakur Rasheed (184) both picked up major decisions. The Nittany Lions totaled 21 points and sit atop the team standings after the first session. The Iowa Hawkeyes went 9-0 in the opening session, highlighted by Sam Stoll's victory at heavyweight over No. 5 seed Mason Parris of Michigan. Stoll, who need an at-large berth to qualify for the NCAAs, controlled the action from start to finish. Three Iowa wrestlers scored bonus points. Spencer Lee (125) and Kaleb Young (157) both won by technical fall, while Austin DeSanto (133) forced five stalling calls in 2 minutes and 40 seconds to win his match by disqualification. Top-seeded Hawkeye Alex Marinelli survived a scare in his first-round match at 165 pounds as he came from behind to defeat two-time All-American Joe Smith of Oklahoma State, who entered the event as the No. 33 seed. Smith scored two first-period takedowns to jump out to a 4-2 lead after the opening period. Marinelli rode Smith the entire second period. In the third period, Marinelli escaped and scored a takedown to grab a 5-4 lead. He would add a late point and claim a 7-4 victory with the additional riding time point. Iowa's Jacob Warner dominated most of his opening match against Bucknell's Drew Phipps at 197 pounds before giving up a late six-point move to make the score 8-8 on the scoreboard, but the Hawkeye freshman had over three minutes of riding time, giving him the 9-8 victory. Ohio State won eight of 10 matches in the first session and sit in second place. No. 25 Malik Heinselman (125) and Ethan Smith (174) were the only Ohio State wrestlers to fall in the opening round. Heinselman, a true freshman, lost 12-2 to No. 8 Vito Arujau of Cornell. Smith dropped a match in tiebreaker to No. 14 Kimball Bastian of Utah Valley. It was an up-and-down opening session for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys sit in third place, but took a hit as Kaden Gfeller, seeded No. 7 at 149 pounds, fell 5-1 in sudden victory in his first-round match against Virginia Tech's Ryan Blees. The two wrestlers traded escapes in regulation. In sudden victory, Blees fired off a single leg, which Gfeller attempted to counter, but gave up the takedown and two nearfall points. While a seventh-seeded Cowboy fell at 149 pounds, a seventh seed was upset by a Cowboy at 184 pounds. Dakota Geer, who entered the tournament seeded No. 26, shut out No. 7 Nick Reenan of NC State 6-0 at 184 pounds. Another highly-seeded Cowboy, Jacobe Smith, was pushed in his first-round match at 174 pounds. He needed sudden victory to top Michigan's State Drew Hughes 6-4. Smith gave up a two-point nearfall in the third period, which sent the match to sudden victory. Smith, though, was able to put the match away with a takedown in sudden victory. Minnesota's Gable Steveson cruised to a technical fall in the opening round (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Minnesota, led by true freshman heavyweight Gable Steveson, posted a 7-1 record in the opening session and sits in fifth place with 13.5 points. Cornell had a disappointing first round as two top-10 seeds lost, Chas Tucker (133) and Ben Honis (197), both seeded No. 9. Tonight's session, which includes both the second round and consolation matches, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET. Team standings 1. Penn State 21 (9 championship/0 consolation) 2. Ohio State 15.5 (8/2) 3. Oklahoma State 14.5 (7/2) 4. Iowa 14 (9/0) 5. Minnesota 13.5 (7/1) 6. Missouri 12 (6/3) 7. Michigan 10.0 (6/2) 8. Nebraska 9.5 (6/2) 9. Northern Iowa 9 (5/1)/Virginia Tech 9 (6/3) Round 1 upsets 133: No. 24 D.J. Fehlman (Lock Haven) dec. No. 9 Chas Tucker (Cornell), 7-2 141: No. 19 Sa'Derian Perry (Old Dominion) dec. No. 14 Jamel Morris (North Carolina State), 5-1 141: No. 22 Max Murin (Iowa) dec. No. 11 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin), 3-2 149: No. 20 Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) dec. No. 13 Anthony Artalona (Penn), 5-4 149: No. 19 Cole Martin (Wisconsin) dec. No. 14 Requir van der Merwe (Stanford), 8-6 SV2 149: No. 26 Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 7 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State), 5-1 SV 157: No. 21 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) dec. No. 12 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh), 7-1 157: No. 20 Lucas Weiland (Army West Point) dec. No. 13 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri), 4-0 157: No. 19 Griffin Parriott (Purdue) dec. No. 14 Zach Hartman (Bucknell), 7-4 165: No. 24 Cael McCormick (Army West Point) pinned No. 9 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley), 2:28 165: No. 21 Te'Shan Campbell (Ohio State) dec. No. 12 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel), 6-0 174: No. 20 Spencer Carey (Navy) dec. No. 13 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois), 10-5 174: No. 22 Ben Harvey (Army West Point) dec. No. 11 Dylan Lydy (Purdue), 8-3 184: No. 19 Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) dec. No. 14 Dylan Wisman (Missouri), 7-5 184: No. 26 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Nick Reenan (North Carolina State), 6-0 197: No. 24 Jake Jacobsen (Lehigh) dec. No. 9 Ben Honis (Cornell), 8-5 197: No. 21 Tom Lane (Cal Poly) dec. No. 12 Rocco Caywood (Army West Point), 8-3 285: No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Mason Parris (Michigan), 8-5 285: No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) dec. No. 13 Matt Voss (George Mason), 3-1 SV Pigtail results 125: No. 33 Trey Chalifoux (Army West Point) dec. No. 32 Willy Girard (Bloomsburg), 6-4 133: No. 33 Zack Trampe (Binghamton) maj. dec. No. 32 Devan Turner (Oregon State), 18-6 141: No. 33 Pete Lipari (Rutgers) dec. No. 32 Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado), 7-5 149: No. 33 Malik Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 32 Tanner Smith (Chattanooga), 9-2 157: No. 33 Ben Anderson (Duke) pinned No. 32 Alexander Klucker (Lock Haven), 4:39 165: No. 33 Joe Smith (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 32 Tyler Morland (Northwestern), 10-5 174: No. 33 Devin Kane (North Carolina) pinned No. 32 Jake Covaciu (Indiana), 4:32 184: No. 32 Bob Coleman (Oregon State) maj. dec. No. 33 Chris Kober (Campbell), 9-0 197: No. 32 Ethan Laird (Rider) dec. No. 33 Rod Jones (Chattanooga), 4-2 SV 285: No. 32 Brandon Ngati (West Virginia) dec. No. 33 Jacob Aven (Purdue), 6-1 First-round results 125: No. 1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) tech. fall No. 33 Trey Chalifoux (Army West Point), 21-6 5:00 No. 16 Drew Mattin (Michigan) dec. No. 17 Devin Schroder (Purdue), 5-3 No. 9 RayVon Foley (Michigan State) tech. fall No. 24 Rico Montoya (Northern Colorado), 15-0 6:24 No. 8 Vito Arujau (Cornell) maj. dec. No. 25 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State), 12-2 No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia) pinned No. 28 Gage Curry (American), 1:27 No. 12 Michael McGee (Old Dominion) tech. fall No. 21 Jay Schwarm (Northern Iowa), 18-3 6:21 No. 13 Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan) dec. No. 20 Gabe Townsell (Stanford), 6-0 No. 4 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) pinned No. 29 Christian Moody (Oklahoma), 2:59 No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) tech. fall No. 30 Bryce West (Northern Illinois), 18-0 6:27 No. 14 Sean Fausz (North Carolina State) dec. No. 19 Alex Mackall (Iowa State), 8-2 No. 11 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) dec. No. 22 Cole Verner (Wyoming), 4-3 No. 6 Sean Russell (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 27 Dack Punke (Missouri), 16-6 No. 7 Patrick Glory (Princeton) tech. fall No. 26 Alonzo Allen (Chattanooga), 16-0 3:16 No. 10 Brent Fleetwood (North Dakota State) dec. No. 23 Carmen Ferrante (Penn), 2-0 No. 15 Elijah Oliver (Indiana) dec. No. 18 Zeke Moisey (Nebraska), 11-4 No. 2 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) pinned No. 31 Korbin Meink (Campbell), 1:43 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 33 Zack Trampe (Binghamton), 21-7 No. 16 Matthew Schmitt (West Virginia) maj. dec. No. 17 Sean Nickell (CSU Bakersfield), 9-1 No. 24 D.J. Fehlman (Lock Haven) dec. No. 9 Chas Tucker (Cornell), 7-2 No. 8 John Erneste (Missouri) dec. No. 25 Derek Spann (Buffalo), 8-0 No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 28 Tim Rooney (Kent State), 12-3 No. 12 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming) dec. No. 21 Cam Sykora (North Dakota State), 3-2 No. 13 Austin Gomez (Iowa State) maj. dec. No. 20 Brandon Paetzell (Lehigh), 11-0 No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 29 Gary Joint (Fresno State), 4-2 No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) maj. dec. No. 30 Dylan Duncan (Illinois), 12-3 No. 14 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) maj. dec. No. 19 Josh Terao (American), 11-3 No. 11 Tariq Wilson (North Carolina State) dec. No. 22 Noah Gonser (Campbell), 5-0 No. 6 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) dec. No. 27 Anthony Cefolo (Rider), 3-1 No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) by disqualification over No. 26 Codi Russell (Appalachian State) No. 10 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) dec. No. 23 Mario Guillen (Ohio), 8-2 No. 15 Ben Thornton (Purdue) dec. No. 18 Gary Wayne Harding (North Carolina), 12-10 SV No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) maj. dec. No. 31 Mason Pengilly (Stanford), 15-7 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec. No. 33 Pete Lipari (Rutgers) No. 16 Chad Red (Nebraska) pinned No. 17 Ian Parker (Iowa State), 3:59 No. 9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma) maj. dec. No. 24 Mitch Moore (Virginia Tech), 11-3 No. 8 Kanen Storr (Michigan) dec. No. 25 Josh Finesilver (Duke), 10-7 No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) pinned No. 28 Chris Debien (Chattanooga), 4:41 No. 12 Cameron Kelly (Ohio) dec. No. 21 A.C. Headlee (North Carolina), 6-4 No. 13 Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) dec. No. 20 Matt Findlay (Utah Valley), 8-7 No. 4 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 29 Corey Shie (Army West Point), 10-3 No. 3 Nick Lee (Penn State) pinned No. 30 Nate Limmex (Purdue), 3:38 No. 19 Sa'Derian Perry (Old Dominion) dec. No. 14 Jamel Morris (North Carolina State), 5-1 No. 22 Max Murin (Iowa) dec. No. 11 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin), 3-2 No. 6 Mike Carr (Illinois) dec. No. 27 Anthony Sparacio (Binghamton), 8-2 No. 7 Mitchell McKee (Minnesota) pinned No. 26 Sam Krivus (Virginia), 5:00 No. 23 Sam Turner (Wyoming) dec. No. 10 Nicholas Gil (Navy), 4-2 No. 15 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 18 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo), 12-3 No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) tech. fall No. 31 Grant Willits (Oregon State), 20-5 7:00 149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 33 Malik Amine (Michigan), 9-2 No. 16 Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma) dec. No. 17 Christian Monserrat (West Virginia), 2-1 No. 9 Justin Oliver (North Carolina State) dec. No. 24 Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh), 10-6 No. 8 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) maj. dec. No. 25 Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield), 14-3 No. 5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. No. 28 Michael Sprague (American), 3-2 No. 12 Brady Berge (Penn State) dec. No. 21 Christian Olivas (Fresno State), 5-3 No. 20 Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) dec. No. 13 Anthony Artalona (Penn), 5-4 No. 4 Brock Mauller (Missouri) maj. dec. No. 29 Matt Zovistoski (Appalachian State), 10-2 No. 3 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) tech. fall No. 30 Parker Kropman (Drexel), 17-1 6:35 No. 19 Cole Martin (Wisconsin) dec. No. 14 Requir van der Merwe (Stanford), 8-6 SV2 No. 11 Josh Heil (Campbell) pinned No. 22 Henry Pohlmeyer (South Dakota State), 4:59 No. 6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) dec. No. 27 Tejon Anthony (George Mason), 3-1 No. 26 Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 7 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State), 5-1 SV No. 10 Pat Lugo (Iowa) dec. No. 23 Josh Maruca (Arizona State), 5-2 No. 15 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 18 Jared Prince (Navy), 9-8 No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) pinned No. 31 Shane Oster (Northwestern), 3:37 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) pinned No. 33 Ben Anderson (Duke), 0:43 No. 16 John Van Brill (Rutgers) maj. dec. No. 17 B.C. LaPrade (Virginia Tech), 10-2 No. 9 Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State) maj. dec. No. 24 Josh McClure (North Carolina), 12-2 No. 8 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec. No. 25 Justin Ruffin (SIU Edwardsville), 6-0 No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (North Carolina State) tech. fall No. 28 Hunter Willits (Oregon State), 16-1 7:00 No. 21 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) dec. No. 12 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh), 7-1 No. 20 Lucas Weiland (Army West Point) dec. No. 13 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri), 4-0 No. 4 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) maj. dec. No. 29 Alex Smythe (Buffalo), 16-3 No. 3 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) dec. No. 30 Christian Labrie (Brown), 7-4 No. 19 Griffin Parriott (Purdue) dec. No. 14 Zach Hartman (Bucknell), 7-4 No. 11 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) dec. No. 22 Zac Carson (Ohio), 7-1 No. 6 Kaleb Young (Iowa) tech. fall No. 27 Dan Reed (Columbia), 16-1 3:47 No. 7 Larry Early (Old Dominion) maj. dec. No. 26 Quincy Monday (Princeton), 10-0 No. 10 Steve Bleise (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 23 Chase Straw (Iowa State), 9-1 No. 15 Eric Barone (Illinois) dec. No. 18 Logan Parks (Central Michigan), 5-3 No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) tech. fall No. 31 Benjamin Barton (Campbell), 16-1 7:00 165: No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec. No. 33 Joe Smith (Oklahoma State), 7-4 No. 16 Thomas Bullard (North Carolina State) dec. No. 17 Jonathan Viruet (Brown), 3-2 No. 24 Cael McCormick (Army West Point) pinned No. 9 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley), 2:28 No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) pinned No. 25 Cam Coy (Virginia), 6:49 No. 5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) maj. dec. No. 28 Carson Brolsma (Minnesota), 16-3 No. 21 Te'Shan Campbell (Ohio State) dec. No. 12 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel), 6-0 No. 13 Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State) tech. fall No. 20 Tyler Marinelli (Gardner-Webb), 17-2 7:00 No. 4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) maj. dec. No. 29 Nick Kiussis (West Virginia), 10-2 No. 3 Josh Shields (Arizona State) maj. dec. No. 30 Colton DiBlasi (George Mason), 14-4 No. 14 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider) dec. No. 19 Tanner Skidgel (Navy), 9-2 No. 11 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) pinned No. 22 Bryce Martin (Indiana), 2:35 No. 6 Logan Massa (Michigan) maj. dec. No. 27 Troy Keller (Buffalo), 15-3 No. 7 Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. No. 26 Joey Gunther (Illinois), 5-1 No. 10 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) maj. dec. No. 23 Zach Finesilver (Duke), 9-1 No. 15 Connor Flynn (Missouri) dec. No. 18 Gordon Wolf (Lehigh), 5-4 No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) pinned No. 31 Evan DeLong (Clarion), 2:58 174: No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State) maj. dec. No. 33 Devin Kane (North Carolina), 10-2 No. 16 Brandon Womack (Cornell) dec. No. 17 Neal Richards (VMI), 11-10 TB1 No. 9 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 24 Lorenzo De La Riva (North Dakota State), 15-3 No. 8 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) maj. dec. No. 25 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming), 15-7 No. 5 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) maj. dec. No. 28 Jacob Oliver (Edinboro), 10-2 No. 12 Matt Finesilver (Duke) dec. No. 21 Marcus Coleman (Iowa State), 8-2 No. 20 Spencer Carey (Navy) dec. No. 13 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois), 10-5 No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 29 Joe Grello (Rutgers), 8-3 No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. No. 30 Dean Sherry (Rider), 11-2 No. 14 Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley) dec. No. 19 Ethan Smith (Ohio State), 6-4 TB1 No. 22 Ben Harvey (Army West Point) dec. No. 11 Dylan Lydy (Purdue), 8-3 No. 6 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 27 Vincent DePrez (Binghamton), 4-0 No. 7 Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 26 Drew Hughes (Michigan State), 6-4 SV1 No. 10 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) dec. No. 23 Daniel Bullard (North Carolina State), 7-5 No. 15 Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) dec. No. 18 Andrew Morgan (Campbell), 4-0 No. 2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned No. 31 Travis Stefanik (Princeton), 1:13 184: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) pinned No. 32 Bob Coleman (Oregon State), 3:22 No. 16 Corey Hazel (Lock Haven) dec. No. 17 Andrew McNally (Kent State), 9-3 No. 9 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) dec. No. 24 Tanner Harvey (American), 7-4 No. 8 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) pinned No. 25 Max Lyon (Purdue), 4:04 No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell) maj. dec. No. 28 Noah Stewart (Army West Point), 13-2 No. 12 Cash Wilcke (Iowa) dec. No. 21 Nick Gravina (Rutgers), 3-2 No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 20 Will Sumner (Utah Valley), 11-4 No. 4 Emery Parker (Illinois) maj. dec. No. 29 Will Schany (Virginia), 14-5 No. 3 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 30 Dom Ducharme (CSU Bakersfield), 8-2 No. 19 Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) dec. No. 14 Dylan Wisman (Missouri), 7-5 No. 11 Lou DePrez (Binghamton) maj. dec. No. 22 Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin), 11-2 No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) maj. dec. No. 27 C.J. LaFragola (Brown), 10-0 No. 26 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Nick Reenan (North Carolina State), 6-0 No. 10 Sam Colbray (Iowa State) dec. No. 23 Jackson Hemauer (Fresno State), 8-2 No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) dec. No. 18 Tate Samuelson (Wyoming), 8-2 No. 2 Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) dec. No. 31 Kevin Parker (Princeton) 197: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) pinned No. 32 Ethan Laird (Rider), 2:34 No. 16 Josh Hokit (Fresno State) dec. No. 17 Stephen Loiseau (Drexel), 5-1 No. 24 Jake Jacobsen (Lehigh) dec. No. 9 Ben Honis (Cornell), 8-5 No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford) dec. No. 25 Greg Bulsak (Clarion), 7-3 No. 5 Jacob Warner (Iowa) dec. No. 28 Drew Phipps (Bucknell), 9-8 No. 21 Tom Lane (Cal Poly) dec. No. 12 Rocco Caywood (Army West Point), 8-3 No. 13 Malik McDonald (North Carolina State) dec. No. 20 Noah Adams (West Virginia), 8-3 No. 4 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) dec. No. 29 Brandon Whitman (North Carolina), 8-2 No. 3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) tech. fall No. 30 Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado), 16-0 4:18 No. 14 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) dec. No. 19 Tanner Ondorff (Utah Valley), 11-5 No. 11 Christian Brunner (Purdue) dec. No. 22 Sawyer Root (The Citadel), 1-0 No. 6 Willie Miklus (Iowa State) dec. No. 27 Josh Roetman (Navy), 6-1 No. 7 Jay Aiello (Virginia) dec. No. 26 Anthony McLaughlin (Air Force), 7-2 No. 10 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 23 Kellan Stout (Pittsburgh), 2-1 No. 15 Randall Diabe (Appalachian State) dec. No. 18 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 31 Brett Perry (Buffalo), 13-3 285: No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 32 Brandon Ngati (West Virginia), 10-2 No. 16 Chase Singletary (Ohio State) dec. No. 17 David Jensen (Nebraska), 3-0 No. 9 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) dec. No. 24 Haydn Maley (Stanford), 5-2 No. 8 Demetrius Thomas (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 25 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State), 11-7 No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Mason Parris (Michigan), 8-5 No. 12 Conan Jennings (Northwestern) dec. No. 21 Cory Daniel (North Carolina), 7-2 No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) dec. No. 13 Matt Voss (George Mason), 3-1 SV No. 4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. No. 29 Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville), 6-4 No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) tech. fall No. 30 Zack Parker (Ohio), 18-3 3:22 No. 19 Brian Andrews (Wyoming) dec. No. 14 A.J. Nevills (Fresno State), 9-2 No. 11 Thomas Haines (Lock Haven) maj. dec. No. 22 Billy Miller (Virginia Tech), 13-4 No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) maj. dec. No. 27 Cary Miller (Appalachian State), 18-6 No. 7 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) dec. No. 26 Ian Butterbrodt (Brown), 5-2 No. 10 Youssif Hemida (Maryland) dec. No. 23 Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 7-1 No. 15 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) dec. No. 18 Joey Goodhart (Drexel), 6-4 No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) pinned No. 31 Antonio Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall), 4:20

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are taking place at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) PITTSBURGH -- Follow the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on InterMat's running notebook. The most recent updates appear at the top. Refresh/reload the page to read the latest updates. Links: Updated Team Scores & Brackets | Watch ESPN 3:25 p.m. The first round has concluded here are the top ten teams. 1 - Penn State 21 (9 champ/0 consolation) 2 - Ohio State 15.5 (8/2) 3 - Oklahoma State 14.5 (7/2) 4 - Iowa 14 (9/0) 5 - Minnesota 13.5 (7/1) 6 - Missouri 12 (6/3) 7 - Michigan 10.0 (6/2) 8 - Nebraska 9.5 (6/2) 9 - Northern Iowa 9 (5/1) (tie) Virginia Tech 9 (6/3) 3:20 p.m. No. 2 seed Anthony Cassar (Penn State) gets the second period fall at 4:20. Nittany Lions go nine-for-nine in the first round with five falls and two major decisions. 3:15 p.m. No. 3 seed Gable Steveson won by 18-3 technical fall to conclude a 7-1 round for the Golden Gophers. 3:10 p.m. A weird - to put it mildly - match concludes Iowa's 9-0 opening round as Sam Stoll, a returning All-American, beats No. 5 seed Mason Parris (Michigan) 8-5. Ohio State concludes an 8-2 first round with Chase Singletary's 3-0 win over Dalton Jensen (Nebraska). Those both at 285 pounds. 3:05 p.m. At 197, No. 9 seed Ben Honis (Cornell) lost 8-5 to Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh), while No. 12 seed Rocco Caywood (Army) squandered a 3-0 lead in losing 8-3 to Thomas Lane (Cal Poly). 2:50 p.m. Despite a very late big-move by Drew Phipps (Bucknell), No. 5 seed Jacob Warner wins 9-8 on the riding time advantage point. Warner led 8-2 until very late in the bout. Hawkeyes are now 8-0! 2:47 p.m. No. 2 seed at 184 Shakur Rasheed wins by 11-2 major decision. Penn State is 8-0, four by pin and two by major. Already ten bonus points for the Nittany Lions. 2:45 p.m. Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State), the transfer from Edinboro, beats No. 7 seed Nick Reenan (North Carolina State) 6-0 via takedowns in the second and third period plus a riding time point. That was at 184, and he'll face Samuel Colbray (Iowa State) tonight. That puts five Cowboys into the round of 16 with two more possible. 2:40 p.m. It's a third Penn State fall this session, No. 1 seed at 197 Bo Nickal in 2:34. 2:35 p.m. No. 12 seed Cash Wilcke (184) hung on for a 3-2 win over Nick Gravina (Rutgers), takedown attempt for Gravina with about 30-40 seconds left was not scored and confirmed as such after a Rutgers challenge. Iowa Hawkeyes are 7-0 this session with Warner and Stoll remaining. 2:25 p.m. No. 7 seed Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State) survives, winning 6-4 i overtime over Drew Hughes (Michigan State). Smith had two takedowns in the first period, but Hughes countered with a two-point near fall in the third (from choosing top) and advantage time to force the sudden victory. Smith moves on to face No. 10 seed Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) in tonight's round of 16. 2:20 p.m. In the day's first match to go to the tiebreakers, No. 16 seed Brandon Womack (Cornell) wins 11-10 over Neal Richards (VMI). Womack was an All-American in the 2017 tournament. 2:15 p.m. The third seed at 174 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) wins by a similar 10-2 score in his opening round bout. 2:10 p.m. Add to it with the win from top seed Mark Hall at 174 by 10-2 major decision. Penn State has taken the lead in the tournament. 2:05 p.m. More bonus for Penn State, No. 2 seed Vincenzo Joseph with the pin at 2:57 in his opening round bout at 165. 1:55 p.m. Going down at 165 was No. 9 seed Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) to a pin by Cael McCormick (Army West Point) in 2:28. 1:50 p.m. No. 1 seed Alex Marinelli (Iowa) gave up two first period takedowns to trail 4-2 at the end of that stanza against two-time All-American Joseph Smith (Oklahoma State). However, Marinelli rode Smith out in the second, escaped early in the third to trail 4-3. Marinelli got the takedown with about 70 seconds left in the bout and rode the bout out, then with Smith hit for another Stalling the final was 7-4. 1:40 p.m. In a battle of true freshman, No. 8 seed Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) beat Justin Ruffin (SIU-Edwardville) 6-0. In the 2018 class recruiting rankings, Humphreys was 51st overall to Ruffin's 25th, though Humphreys did beat Ruffin 3-2 in the October 2017 Super 32 quarters. 1:35 p.m. Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) beats Jared Prince (Navy) in a 9-8 barn-burner, takedown with under 20 second left to break a 7-7 tie. Thomsen the No. 14 seed previously earned All-American honors, both were top 30 recruits in the 2015 graduating class. 1:30 p.m. Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech), who used to be at Oklahoma State, wins 5-1 in overtime over No. 7 seed Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) at 149. No. 2 seed in that weight, Micah Jordan (Ohio State) moved on by pin. That was Oklahoma State's first loss. 1:25 p.m. Jason Nolf (Penn State) opens his last NCAA tournament with a 43 second pin against Ben Anderson (Duke), and the Nittany Lions are 4-0. 1:20 p.m. No. 4 seed Justin Oliver (North Carolina State) beats Courtland Schuyler (Lehigh) 10-6 in a match closer than the score at 149. He'll face Tommy Thorn (Minnesota), who needed a late reversal to beat No. 13 seed Anthony Artalona (Penn), Artalona had taken a 4-3 lead via takedown with under 15 second left before Thorn responded. Gophers now 4-0. 1:15 p.m. Oklahoma State now 4-0 as Fix and Brock win at 133 and 141 respectively, both by major decisions. 1:10 p.m. Also losing from the favored seeding position at 141 were No. 10 Nicholas Gil (Navy) and No. 14 Jamel Morris (North Carolina State), though Morris fell to returning All-American Sa'Derian Perry (Old Dominion - used to be at Eastern Michigan). 1:05 p.m. The Hawkeyes' excellent start continues, Max Murin gets the 3-2 victory over No. 11 seed Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) at 141. They move to 3-0. 1:05 p.m. 125 pound top seed Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) gets yet another technical fall, this one 21-6 over Trey Chalifoux (Army West Point) to move on to tonight against Drew Mattin (Michigan). 12:55 p.m. Nick Lee starts the Penn State bonus-palooza with a pin over Purdue's Nate Limmex at 141. Last year Penn State amassed 23.5 bonus points, which is like another finalist in itself. 12:50 p.m. In one of the more anticipated first round bouts, at least from an Ohio perspective, Dom Demas (Oklahoma) beat Mitch Moore (Virginia Tech) 11-3 at 141. Penn State and Iowa both get wins at 133 - Bravo-Young 6-2 with second and third period takedowns, while DeSanto won by DQ, and they'll meet tonight. 12:45 p.m. The first major upset in terms of seed, D.J. Fehlman (Lock Haven) knocks off No. 9 seed Charles Tucker (Cornell) 7-2 at 133 pounds. 12:35 p.m. Returning national runner-up Nick Suriano (Rutgers) moves up one weight class and wins his opening round bout by 12-3 major decision at 133 against fellow Big 10 opponent Dylan Duncan (Illinois). 12:30 p.m. Good start for Oklahoma State, as they battle for second behind Penn State. Joseph Smith won his pigtail, and then Nick Piccininni with a 48-second pin in the opening round at 125 pounds. 12:30 p.m. Defending champion Spencer Lee gets Iowa on the board at the championships with an 18-0 technical fall victory at 125 pounds. Also at 125, two-time All-American Zeke Moisey (Nebraska) lost 11-4 to 15-seed Elijah Oliver (Indiana). 12:25 p.m. The day's first overtime match came in the pigtail at 197, where Ethan Laird (Rider) beat Rod Jones (Chattanooga) 4-2. Laird's reward, a match with Bo Nickal (Penn State) later this session. 12:20 p.m. The second best tournament team in the country, Ohio State, starts their session with an expected loss. Malik Heinselman falls 12-2 to eighth-seed Vitali Arujau (Cornell) at 125 pounds. 12:15 p.m. Two-time All-American from Oklahoma State, Joseph Smith beat Tyler Morland (Northwestern) 10-5 in his pigtail at 165. He faces top seed Alex Marinelli (Iowa) next, a tough draw for Marinelli to say the least. At 125, alternate Trey Chalifoux (Army) came through with an opening round win. 12:10 p.m. Devin Kane (North Carolina) gets the tournament's first win, he wins by fall on mat 7 at 174 pounds by fall over Jacob Covaciu (Indiana). Yet another pin came at 157 on mat 5 where Ben Anderson (Duke) was trailing but pinned Alexander Klucker (Lock Haven). 12:05 p.m. And we got whistles here at the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh, Pa. The ten pigtail matches will commence and then the 160 opening round bouts. Television on ESPNU, the crowd is a slow-filing in one right now. Remember pigtail matches this year feature the 32nd seed against the 33rd seed for the right to face the top seed. 10:05 a.m. The skin check and weigh-in process for day one of the championships has concluded. We will find out shortly if there were any scratches in addition to the two that happened in the previous three days. Ohio State is the only team to start the tournament with all ten wrestlers qualifying, while pre-tournament favorite Penn State is among seven working with nine total (as do Oklahoma State and Iowa), with six other schools having eight each in the bracket. 9:50 a.m. Thanks for reading InterMat's running notebook. Wrestling starts at noon ET today.

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Purdue's Jacob Aven shakes Minnesota's Gable Steveson's hand before a dual meet (Photo/David Peterson) Buffalo heavyweight Jake Gunning, seeded No. 23, is a late scratch to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. He will be replaced by Purdue's Jacob Aven, the first alternate at heavyweight. Aven becomes the No. 33 seed. Wrestlers previously seeded 24-33 move up one seed line. Aven enters the NCAAs with a record of 11-21. He placed eighth at the Big Ten Championships, which was one spot away from earning an automatic berth. He notched a win over Iowa's Sam Stoll at the Big Tens. Updated brackets can be found at the link below. Link: Brackets

Note: Videos courtesy of USA Wrestling Wrestlers Coaches

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships take place at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) The InterMat staff writers have broken down the brackets for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Pittsburgh and made their predictions. T.R. Foley 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) over Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 133: Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) over Stevan Micic (Michigan) 141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) over Joey McKenna (Ohio State) 149: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) over Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) over Tyler Berger (Nebraska) 165: Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) over Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) over Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 184: Myles Martin (Ohio State) over Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) over Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) 285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) over Demetrius Thomas (Pitt) Top-five teams: Penn State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Iowa, NC State Richard Mann 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) over Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 133: Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) over Nick Suriano (Rutgers) 141: Joey McKenna (Ohio State) over Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 149: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) over Micah Jordan (Ohio State) 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) over Tyler Berger (Nebraska) 165: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) over Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 174: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) over Mark Hall (Penn State) 184: Myles Martin (Ohio State) over Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) over Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) 285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) over Derek White (Oklahoma State) Top-five teams: Penn State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan Craig Sesker 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) over Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 133: Nick Suriano (Rutgers) over Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 141: Joey McKenna (Ohio State) over Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 149: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) over Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) over Tyler Berger (Nebraska) 165: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) over Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 174: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) over Mark Hall (Penn State) 184: Myles Martin (Ohio State) over Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) over Willie Miklus (Iowa State) 285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) over Derek White (Oklahoma State) Top-five teams: Penn State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan Andrew Hipps 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) over Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) 133: Stevan Micic (Michigan) over Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) over Joey McKenna (Ohio State) 149: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) over Mitch Finesilver (Duke) 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) over Tyler Berger (Nebraska) 165: Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) over Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) over Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 184: Myles Martin (Ohio State) over Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) over Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) 285: Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) over Derek White (Oklahoma State) Top-five teams: Penn State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan Josh Lowe 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) over Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 133: Stevan Micic (Michigan) over Daton Fix (Northwestern) 141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) over Joey McKenna (Ohio State) 149: Micah Jordan (Ohio State) over Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) over Tyler Berger (Nebraska) 165: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) over Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven) 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) over Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 184: Myles Martin (Ohio State) over Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) over Kollin Moore (Ohio State) 285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) over Derek White (Oklahoma State) Top-five teams: Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Michigan Eric Olanowski 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) over Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 133: Stevan Micic (Michigan) over Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) over Nick Lee (Penn State) 149: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) over Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) over Tyler Berger (Nebraska) 165: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) over Evan Wick (Wisconsin) 174: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) over Mark Hall (Penn State) 184: Myles Martin (Ohio State) over Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) over Kollin Moore (Ohio State) 285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) over Jordan Wood (Lehigh) Top-five teams: Penn State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan Tom Franck 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) over Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 133: Nick Suriano (Rutgers) over Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) over Joey McKenna (Ohio State) 149: Micah Jordan (Ohio State) over Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) over Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) 165: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) over Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 174: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) over Mark Hall (Penn State) 184: Myles Martin (Ohio State) over Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) over Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) 285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) over Derek White (Oklahoma State) Top-five teams: Penn State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan Steve Elwood 125: Nick Piccinnini (Oklahoma State) over Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 133: Stevan Micic (Michigan) over Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 141: Joey McKenna (Ohio State) over Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 149: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) over Micah Jordan (Ohio State) 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) over Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) 165: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) over Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) over Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 184: Myles Martin (Ohio State) over Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) over Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) 285 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) over Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) Top-five teams: Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Minnesota

Mitch McKee, seeded No. 7 at 141 pounds, is an X factor for Minnesota (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) Many expect Penn State to run away with the NCAA team title this week in Pittsburgh. However, there are several teams that are in contention for a trophy. The following looks at the wrestlers who could be an X factor to teams and help decide their final placement. No. 1 Penn State: No. 10 Roman Bravo-Young Penn State is the odds-on favorites to pick up yet another national title. This is mostly due to the strong backend of its lineup, which will almost certainly feature multiple wrestlers at the top of the podium. However, they could easily pad their lead with a strong performance from Bravo-Young at 133 pounds. Bravo-Young burst onto the scene this year as a true freshman. He won his first ten matches before falling to No. 13 Austin Gomez (Iowa State) in the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle. Bravo-Young finished the year with a 21-4 record, but he will have a tough path through the front side of the bracket. He is headed for a second-round match against No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa), who defeated him 12-8 at the Big Ten Championships. If he happens to right that result, he will likely face No. 2 Stevan Micic (Michigan). No. 2 Ohio State: No. 16 Chase Singletary Two years ago, Singletary was the No. 6 recruit in the country and poised to take over for multiple-time champion Kyle Snyder. After a redshirt year, he took over the starting job for the Buckeyes. It did not turn out to be as smooth of a transition as coach Tom Ryan hoped. Singletary compiled a 19-7 record on the season and went only 1-2 in the Big Ten Championships. Although he did score victories over No. 9 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), No. 12 Conan Jennings (Northwestern) and No. 17 David Jensen (Nebraska). Despite dealing with several significant graduations, Ohio State is poised for a runner-up finish at the NCAAs. Some contribution from Singletary could go a long way to help with that. However, it will certainly be a tough road. He starts off with a rematch against Jensen and then with a win he will likely face No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State). No. 3 Oklahoma State: No. 26 Dakota Geer Due to some injuries and lineup shifting, Geer spent most of the season at 197 pounds, but it looks like the plan was to have him down at 184 pounds for the postseason. For the season, he went 25-5 and 10-1 at 184 pounds. At the Big 12 Championships, he made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to No. 6 Drew Foster (UNI). Oklahoma State was one of the best teams all season. After the late-season lineup switch, they will get a chance to show it at the NCAAs. Geer certainly has a tough draw as he faces off against No. 7 Nick Reenan (North Carolina State). However, the former Edinboro wrestler has the skill and experience to go on a run. Iowa's Sam Stoll fell to Minnesota's Gable Steveson in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Championships (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) No. 4 Iowa: No. 29 Sam Stoll Stoll was the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the preseason, but he appears to have never fully recovered from an offseason gunshot wound. Prior to the Big Ten Championships, he wrestled sparingly and built an 8-3 record with wins over No. 10 Youssif Hemida (Maryland) and No. 26 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State). However, at the Big Ten tournament, Stoll went 1-2 and failed to place. He needed an at-large berth to simply make the NCAA field. In the preseason, Iowa appeared to be a potential dark horse in the team race. However, due to injuries and underperformance that has not really materialized. If they want to keep themselves in the trophy hunt, they might need a big performance from Stoll. No. 5 Michigan: No. 2 Stevan Micic After a season-ending injury to returning champion Seth Gross (South Dakota State), Micic became the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds. However, he forfeited his way out of the Big Ten Championships after winning his first match. The injury and default resulted in him being seeded behind No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State). If he is healthy, Micic is clearly one of the favorites to win the tournament and put Michigan into the trophy discussion. However, he did not look like himself in his last action, and he likely has an early match against the winner of the No. 10 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) and No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa). No. 6 Minnesota: No. 7 Mitch McKee After back-to-back round of 12 finishes at 133 pounds, McKee moved up to 141 pounds for this season. After the change, he had probably his best regular season to date. He enters the NCAA tournament with a 20-5 record and victories over No. 15 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State), No. 22 Max Murin (Iowa), No. 8 Kanen Storr (Michigan) and No. 16 Chad Red (Nebraska). Minnesota has a nice bounce-back season this year. A strong push at the NCAAs could allow them to finish with a trophy. McKee will likely need to break through and become an All-American for the first time. He will be favored in all of his matches until a likely quarterfinal match against No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State). No. 7 Cornell: No. 9 Chas Tucker Last season, Tucker made a name for himself by knocking off Austin DeSanto then of Drexel in the EIWA Championships. However, he then went only 1-2 at the NCAA tournament and failed to place. This year he went 27-4, won the EIWA title and picked up wins over the likes of No. 19 Josh Terao (American), No. 15 Ben Thornton (Purdue) and No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State). Most of the attention around Cornell will be focused on returning champion Yianni Diakomihalis at 141 pounds. However, Tucker has a good chance to help his team move up in the team standings. He will likely need to have a strong showing in an early expected match against No. 8 John Erneste (Missouri). No. 8 Missouri: No. 4 Brock Mauller In his true freshman season, Mauller has gone from the 63rd ranked recruit in the 2018 recruiting class to the fourth seed at 149 pounds. He went 29-2 on the season with his only two losses coming against No. 8 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State). During the year, he knocked off No. 15 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa), No. 23 Josh Maruca (Arizona State) and No. 7 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State). The early career success of Mauller is really a testament to the Missouri training program and recruiting style. He has performed beyond expectations and has the ability to become an All-American in his freshman season. Nebraska's Chad Red reached the Big Ten finals before losing to Ohio State's Joey McKenna (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) No. 9 Nebraska: No. 16 Chad Red Red already busted one bracket this postseason. He knocked off the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament and made it to the finals before falling to No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State). Last season, Red overcame a tough regular season to finish seventh at the NCAAs and become an All-American. Nebraska is in the running for a top-ten finish and another strong tournament run will help the squad pad their team score for sure. No. 10 North Carolina State: No. 11 Tariq Wilson Wilson came into the NCAA tournament last season unseeded. He ended up reaching the semifinals before losing against eventual champion Seth Gross (South Dakota State) in overtime. He returned this year and went 14-3. As the 11th seed, he will need to put together another magical run. If that happens, it should keep the Wolfpack towards the top of the leaderboard.

Kevin Dresser high fives Austin Gomez (Photo/Iowa State Athletics Communications) AMES, Iowa -- The rebuild of Iowa State wrestling is on, and head coach Kevin Dresser is the man leading the charge. He has been named the 2019 NWCA Division I National Coach of the Year, presented by Defense Soap. It is the second time that Dresser has received these coaching honors in his career Dresser becomes the fifth coach in school history to earn NWCA Coach of the Year honors. He joins a decorated list in Harold Nichols (1958, 1965, 1972), Jim Gibbons (1987), Bobby Douglas (2000) and Cael Sanderson (2007). In his second year at Iowa State, Dresser is bringing the No. 15 Iowa State wrestling program back to the national forefront. Last season, the Cyclones qualified just one wrestler for the national tournament. This season, ISU will be sending nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships and were just one win short at the Big 12 Championship from sending a full roster of 10. It's the most NCAA qualifiers for the Cyclones since the 2009-10 season. Dresser was named the 2019 Big 12 Wrestling Coach of the Year following his team's second-place finish at the Big 12 Championship. ISU had four wrestlers reach the Big 12 finals, which snapped a two-year stint where the Cyclones had no Big 12 finalists. Chase Straw won the 157-pound Big 12 title, which was Iowa State's first Big 12 Champion since the 2016 season. Hilton Magic is seeing a resurgence for wrestling duals. This season, Iowa State averaged over 3,569 patrons per home dual, which is the fourth largest in the last 25 years. 3,939 Cyclone fans attended the dual against Oklahoma this season, which was the largest crowd for a non-Iowa dual since Cael Sanderson's senior day in 2002. Iowa State had a terrific regular season as well. On top of a 10-4 dual mark, 6-2 in Big 12 contests, the Cyclones placed third at the Southern Scuffle, which was their first top-4 performance at a national tournament since the 2014 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Three of Iowa State's four dual losses were to teams ranked in the top-5 nationally. As a team, it was dual dominance for ISU in 2018-19. They outscored opponents by a 404-148 margin. They also pieced together a six-dual winning streak, which was the best since the Cyclones won 11 in a row between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. Coach Dresser and company have their eyes set on the NCAA Tournament this weekend. Nine Cyclones will descend on PPG Paints Arena for the 2019 NCAA Championships. Wrestling begins on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU.

A Pennsylvania wrestling coach was arrested Saturday after picking up a 12-year-old wrestler by the neck and tossing him to the mat at a tournament in Pittsburgh. The coach shown on the video is Eric Angle, brother of 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle who just last week announced his retirement from a 20-year pro wrestling career. The alleged incident took place Saturday at the 2019 Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling Championships at Petersen Events Center, a 12,000-seat arena on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Campus police charged him with simple assault and escorted him off university property. A university spokesperson confirmed Eric Angle's arrest but did not offer any details as to what may have happened at the tournament. Multiple news reports indicate the wrestler was coming off the mat towards his corner when Angle appears to grab him by the neck, pick him up off the ground and shove him down to the mat. Angle has since offered an apology on his Facebook page. He told WTAE-TV, the ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh which broadcast the video of the incident, “I should have just walked away and let him get thrown out. Instead, I'm the one who embarrassed myself even more.” Pittsburgh Junior Wrestling is cooperating with a police investigation. Eric Angle, 51, is a youth wrestling coach in the Pittsburgh area. He wrestled at Mt. Lebanon High School just like his younger brother Kurt, but continued his academic and athletic career at a different college in Pennsylvania -- Waynesburg University -- while Kurt was a student-athlete at Clarion University where he was a two-time NCAA Division I heavyweight champion in 1990 and 1992. Eric retired from pro wrestling in 2002.

Alex Marinelli defeated Brown's Jonathan Viruet in sudden victory at the Midlands Championships (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) What makes the first day so unique and special at the NCAA Wrestling Championships? The upsets, of course. Seeing an underdog knock off a favored wrestler is what adds drama, intrigue and excitement to the opening day of the three-day extravaganza. Some of the loudest cheers you will hear this week at the NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh will come when a wrestler achieves a significant win that is unexpected. As we all know, this event wouldn't be much fun if all of the wrestlers won that were supposed to. There are so many excellent potential matchups in the second round that we can't list them all. But here is my list of some of the best potential Thursday night matchups at this year's NCAA tournament: Minnesota's Ethan Lizak talks to Gopher coaches Brandon Eggum and Zach Sanders (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) 133: No. 6 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) vs. No. 11 Tariq Wilson (North Carolina State) This could be an outstanding match from the stacked 133-pound bracket. Lizak was an NCAA runner-up at 125 pounds two years ago before finishing fourth last year in the same weight class. Wilson placed third in this tournament last year at 133 pounds. This could be one of the best matches of the second round with two accomplished wrestlers meeting this early in the tournament. Wilson was one of the big stories last year after entering the tournament unseeded. 165: No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) vs. No. 17 Jonathan Viruet (Brown) Marinelli would have to move past a likely opening bout against two-time All-American Joe Smith of Oklahoma State for a potential matchup with Viruet. Marinelli earned an 8-6 overtime win over Viruet in the quarterfinal round of the Midlands Championships this season. Marinelli scored a takedown with 18 seconds left in sudden victory to earn that win. Marinelli is wrestling well after beating two-time NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State in the Big Ten finals. But Marinelli faces a tough road on his side of the bracket this week. 184: No. 4 Emery Parker (Illinois) vs. No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) Parker placed third at the Big Ten tournament and is 17-3 this season. He beat Nebraska's Taylor Venz for third at Big Tens after also beating Venz for third at last year's national tournament. Bonaccorsi, a freshman, is 19-6 this season. He placed second in a tough weight class at the ACC tournament. He beat highly regarded Nick Reenan of North Carolina State 10-3 in the semifinals before falling to Virginia Tech's Zach Zavatsky 4-1 in the finals. Zavatsky placed sixth at the NCAA tournament last year and is seeded third this year. Ohio State's Joey McKenna after winning a Big Ten title (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 141: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 15 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) McKenna is wrestling at a really high level right now and he looked dominant in winning a Big Ten title. He's a senior and this is his final chance to win NCAAs. McKenna was third in this tournament last year. He could face a tough challenge in Brock, who placed fifth in the nation at 133 pounds last year before bumping up to 141 pounds this year. Brock is a talented wrestler who definitely could challenge McKenna. 285: No. 7 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) vs. No. 10 Yousiff Hemida (Maryland) Hillger is an exciting young wrestler who has had a superb freshman season at heavyweight for the Badgers. He held his own in a loaded weight class in the Big Ten this year. Hemida had a solid showing in the NCAA tournament last year, reaching the quarterfinal round before placing eighth to become an All-American for the Terrapins. 184: No. 8 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) vs. No. 9 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) Preisch was the No. 3 seed in this tournament last year before being upset in the quarterfinals. He then lost his next match and fell one win short of placing. He's come back strong this season and has a 20-3 record. Venz was the No. 7 seed in last year's tournament. He lost in the second round before going on a tear on the backside of the bracket by winning five straight matches. He finished fourth in the nation in 2018. Venz is 21-7 this season after placing fourth at Big Tens. 133: No. 7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) vs. No. 10 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) In a match that could also play a big role in the team race, DeSanto and RBY are expected to meet in an intriguing second-round matchup. The two wrestlers met in the Big Ten wrestlebacks with DeSanto earning a 12-8 victory. DeSanto scored four takedowns in the first period to build an 8-3 lead in that match. DeSanto is competing in his second NCAA tournament after reaching the round of 12 for Drexel last year. RBY is a freshman making his first trip to this event. 141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. No. 16 Chad Red (Nebraska) Red didn't have a great regular season, but he is a returning All-American who was a surprise finalist at the Big Ten tournament. Red is a wrestler who has the potential to get on a roll and put big points on the scoreboard. He will face a difficult challenge against a returning national champion in Yianni, but Red did thrive as an underdog at Big Tens. Red will have to defeat No. 17 Ian Parker of Iowa State in the first round to earn a shot at Yianni. Red finished seventh in the country last year after being unseeded. Yianni is 24-0 as a sophomore and he has looked good all season. 149: No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 15 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) Jordan placed fourth at 149 pounds in 2017 and sixth at 157 pounds last year before moving back down to 149 this season. He was second at the Big Ten tournament. Thomsen is 21-8 this season and not highly seeded after placing seventh at the Big 12 tournament. Thomsen has the capability to do well in this event after placing fifth at the NCAA tournament in 2017. He did place second at the Midlands this season. Jordan beat Thomsen 13-5 in the consolation semifinals two years ago at the NCAAs. 133: No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) vs. No. 13 Austin Gomez (Iowa State) This match has the potential of having some serious fireworks on display in a matchup of talented freshmen. Phillippi is 19-2 and has wrestled superbly this season. He won the ACC title by downing returning NCAA third-place finisher Tariq Wilson of North Carolina State 4-1 in the finals. Gomez is 21-5 while wrestling a tough schedule this season. This definitely is a match, if it happens, that you won't want to miss. Gomez is an explosive wrestler with a big-move arsenal. He's never out of a match.