March 16, 2007
AUBURN HILLS, MI –
Hawkeye junior Mark Perry (165) and senior Eric Luedke (174) advanced to Friday night’s semifinals at the NCAA Championships at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, MI. Iowa sophomore Charlie Falck (125) is the only Hawkeye competing in the consolation bracket, as Iowa lost over half of its qualifiers during Friday morning’s third session. Iowa is in seventh place in the team race with 37 points. Minnesota leads with 66, and Iowa State is a close second with 62.5 The official third session attendance was 14,170.
Perry collected his 75th career win and his 10th straight victory en route to the semifinals, defeating #7 seed Deonte Penn of Edinboro, 6-5. Perry, the #2 seed, will face #6 seed Michael Patrovich in the semifinals. The Hawkeye junior won the previous meeting between the two – an 11-2 major decision in the consolation finals at the 2006 NCAA Championships.
Luedke improved to 31-3 and snatched his fifth straight win with a 5-0 decision over unseeded Rudy Rueda of American in the quarterfinals. Luedke, the #5 seed, will face defending NCAA Champion and top seed Ben Askren of Missouri in the semifinals. Askren is on an 85-match winning streak and has pinned three of his four NCAA tournament opponents. It will be the first meeting between the two.
Falck lost his quarterfinal match – a 3-0 decision to Minnesota’s Jayson Ness. He will face Javier Maldonado of Tennessee-Chattanooga in Friday night’s consolation round.
Senior Mario Galanakis (133), juniors Alex Tsirtsis (141) and Matt Fields (Hwt.), and redshirt freshmen Ryan Morningstar (157) and Phillip Keddy (184) were all eliminated from the tournament during Friday’s third session.
Galanakis scored his 40th career win when he upset #10 seed Evan Sola of North Carolina in the second consolation round, but lost a 10-5 decision to #12 seed Robert Preston of Harvard in the third round. Galanakis ends his career with a 40-20 record, going 22-11 this season. Fields pinned Lehigh’s Paul Wiebel in 6:01 in the second round, but lost a 4-3 decision to Edinboro’s Joe Fendone in the third. Fields, the #7 seed, ends the year with a 63-30 career mark and 24-11 season record.
Tsirtsis, a 2006 all-American and the #6 seed was pinned in 5:19 by #5 seed Dominick Moyer of Nebraska in the second consolation round. Tsirtsis ends the year with a 25-10 season mark, and takes a 69-32 career mark into his senior season. Morningstar lost a 2-0 decision to #6 seed Brandon Becker of Indiana in the second round to finish the year at 26-12, and Keddy lost a 7-0 match to #10 seed Brian Caputo of Harvard to end the season at 14-16.
Friday night’s competition will consist of the championship semifinals and two rounds of consolation matches. Matches are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. (CT). The action will be shown live on ESPNU.
CURRENT TEAM STANDINGS (Top 10 Teams After Session III)
Place Team – Points – Semifinalists/Consolation
1. Minnesota – 66.0 – 4/3
2. Iowa State – 62.5 – 4/3
3. Oklahoma State – 48.5 – 4/1
4. Missouri – 44.5 – 1/3
5. Hofstra – 41 – 3/2
6. Penn State – 39.5 – 2/2
7. Iowa – 37 – 2/1
8. Northwestern – 34.5 – 2/2
9. Wisconsin – 31.5 – 1/3
10. Michigan – 29 – 2/3
IOWA’S SESSION III INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Championships Quarterfinals
125 – #4 Jayson Ness (Minnesota) dec. #5 Charlie Falck (Iowa), 3-0
165 – #2 Mark Perry (Iowa) dec. #7 Deonte Penn (Cornell), 6-5
174 – #5 Eric Luedke (Iowa) dec. Rudy Rueda (American), 5-0
Consolation Second Round
133 – Mario Galanakis (Iowa) dec. #10 Evan Sola (N. Carolina), 6-1
141 – #5 Dominick Moyer (Nebraska) pinned #6 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa), 5:19
157 – #6 Brandon Becker (Indiana) dec. Ryan Morningstar (Iowa), 2-0
184 – #10 Brian Caputo (Harvard) dec. Phillip Keddy (Iowa), 7-0
Hwt. – #7 Matt Fields (Iowa) pinned Paul Wiebel (Lehigh), 6:01
Consolation Third Round
133 – #12 Robert Preston (Harvard) dec. Mario Galanakis (Iowa), 10-5
Hwt. – Joe Fendone (Edinboro) dec. #7 Matt Fields (Iowa), 4-3
Click HERE to learn more about the Big Ten Network.