March 20, 2009
ST. LOUIS, MO — Hawkeye juniors Brent Metcalf (149) and Ryan Morningstar (165) won their quarterfinal bouts to advance to Friday night’s NCAA Championships semifinals in St. Louis, MO. Iowa still has seven wrestlers competing at the tournament, which is the most of any team after Friday morning’s third round of competition. After three sessions, Iowa is in fourth place in the tight team race with 53.5 points and is only eight points out of first place. Ohio State leads the team standings with 61.5, Iowa State is in second with 57.5 and Nebraska is in third with 54.
Metcalf extended his winning streak to 68 matches with a 14-6 major decision over #9 Kyle Terry of Oklahoma in the quarterfinals. The top-seeded Hawkeye takes his 36-0 season mark to the semifinals where he will face #4 seed Lance Palmer of Ohio State. Metcalf is 2-0 against Palmer, winning a 5-3 decision at the 2008 dual and a 3-2 decision at the 2008 NCAA Championships quarterfinals.
Morningstar scored a takedown with seven seconds remaining in sudden victory to beat #6 Colt Sponseller of Ohio State, 4-2, in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Hawkeye scored an escape in the second period and rode Sponseller the entire third period to earn the riding time point, but was hit with three stall warnings in the third period to force the match into overtime. The Hawkeye coaching staff was warned twice during the match for control of the mat area. Morningstar, who picked up his 30th season win with the victory, will face #2 seed Andrew Howe of Wisconsin in the semifinals. The bout will be a rematch of the 2009 Big Ten finals – which Howe won, 2-1 in the second tiebreak period. Howe also won the other meeting between the two – a 4-3 decision in the second tiebreak period at the 2009 dual in Iowa City.
Iowa’s four other quarterfinalists – juniors Daniel Dennis (133), Jay Borschel (174), Phillip Keddy (184) and Dan Erekson (Hwt.) – lost their bouts, and will drop down to the consolation bracket. Dennis and Erekson both fought back from early deficits, but ran out of time in their quarterfinal matches. Dennis trailed 5-1 early in the third period in his match with #5 seed Andrew Hochstrasser of Boise State. The fourth-seeded Hawkeye closed the gap with two takedowns and three nearfall points in the last minute, but Hochstrasser accumulated riding time to win 9-8. Dennis will face #11 seed Mike Grey of Cornell in the consolation round. Dennis is 0-1 against Grey, losing a 4-3 decision at the 2009 Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals in January.
Erekson was down 5-2 in the third period of his bout with #2 seed Mark Ellis of Missouri, and scored an escape and takedown to tie the match at 5-5. Ellis got the escape to post a 6-5 win over the seventh-seeded Hawkeye. Erekson will face Edinboro’s Joe Fendone for the first time in the consolation round.
Borschel dropped a 3-2 decision to #5 seed Raymond Jordan of Missouri in the quarterfinals. The fourth-seeded Hawkeye will face #6 seed Steve Anceravage of Cornell in the consolation round. Borschel is 3-0 against Anceravage, scoring a 7-3 decision in their last meeting at the National Duals.
Keddy took a 3-2 lead with riding time into the third period of his quarterfinal match with #7 seed Doug Umbehauer of Rider, but gave up a late takedown to send the match into overtime. Keddy fought off Umbehauer’s sudden victory takedown attempt, but was ridden during the first 30 seconds of the tiebreak period, and gave up a stall point, escape and takedown in the second 30 seconds to lose 8-4. He will face Northern Iowa’s Alex Dolly in the consolation round in what will be the pair’s first collegiate meeting.
Hawkeye senior Charlie Falck went 2-0 in the consolation bracket Friday morning to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament, while senior Alex Tsirtsis (141) and junior Chad Beatty (197) lost their bouts and were knocked out of competition.
In his opening match, Falck trailed Maryland’s Brendan Bryne, 5-2, at the start of the third period. He scored two takedowns to take the lead before putting Bryne on his back in 6:30. He then went on to defeat Brandon Zoeytewey of Cal State Bakersfield, 5-1, in the second round to record his 25th season win. Falck will face #11 seed Zach Sanders of Minnesota in Friday night’s consolation round. The fifth-seeded Hawkeye is 1-1 against Sanders, winning a 5-4 decision at the 2009 Big Ten Championships and losing a 5-4 decision at the 2009 dual.
Tsirtsis received a medical forfeit from Northern Iowa’s Trenton Washington in the first round, and lost a 6-5 decision in the first tiebreak period to #2 seed Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin in the second round. Tsirtsis, who was seeded fourth, ends his Hawkeye career with a 96-39 record. He posted a 27-7 mark this season. Beatty lost his first round bout to Stanford’s Luke Feist, 3-1 in the third sudden victory period. Beatty, who took numerous injury timeouts during the match, ends his season with a 19-6 record.
Friday night’s session is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. (CT) at the Scottrade Center. Competition will include the championships semifinals and the consolation fourth and fifth rounds. The championship semifinals will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPNU.
NCAA TEAM STANDINGS (Top 10 After Session Three)
Place Team – Points (Wrestlers Left in the Tournament)
1. Ohio State – 61.5 (5)
2. Iowa State – 57.5 (6)
3. Nebraska – 54 (4)
4. Iowa – 53.5 (7)
5. Edinboro – 49.5 (5)
6. Cornell – 41.5 (5)
7. Missouri – 40 (5)
8. Boise State – 32.5 (5)
9. Illinois – 32 (5)
10. Michigan – 27 (3)
IOWA’S NCAA SESSION THREE RESULTS
Championship Quarterfinal Matches
133 – #5 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise St.) dec. #4 Daniel Dennis (Iowa), 9-8
149 – #1 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) maj. dec. #9 Kyle Terry (Oklahoma), 14-6
165 – #3 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) vs. #6 Colt Sponseller (Ohio St.), 4-2 SV-1
174 – #5 Raymond Jordan (Missouri) dec. #4 Jay Borschel (Iowa), 3-2
184 – #7 Doug Umbehauer (Rider) dec. #2 Phillip Keddy (Iowa), 8-4 TB-1
Hwt. – #2 Mark Ellis (Missouri) dec. #7 Dan Erekson (Iowa), 6-5
Consolation Bracket Matches
125 – #5 Charlie Falck (Iowa) pinned Brendan Bryne (Maryland), 6:30
125 – #5 Charlie Falck (Iowa) dec. Brandon Zoeytewey (Cal St. Bakersfield), 5-1
141 – #4 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) won by medical forfeit over Trenton Washington (N. Iowa)
141 – #2 Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin) dec. #4 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa), 6-5
197 – Luke Feist (Stanford) dec. Chad Beatty (Iowa), 3-1 SV-3
IOWA’S NCAA SESSION FOUR MATCH-UPS
Championship Semifinal Matches
149 – #1 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. #4 Lance Palmer (Ohio St.)
165 – #3 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) vs. #2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin)
Consolation Bracket Matches
125 – #5 Charlie Falck (Iowa) vs. #11 Zach Sanders (Minnesota)
133 – #4 Daniel Dennis (Iowa) vs. #11 Mike Grey (Cornell)
174 – #4 Jay Borschel (Iowa) vs. #6 Steve Anceravage (Cornell)
184 – #2 Phillip Keddy (Iowa) vs. Alex Dolly (N. Iowa)
Hwt. – #7 Dan Erekson (Iowa) vs. Joe Fendone (Edinboro)