March 19, 2010
NCAA Session III Photo Gallery
- 2010 NCAA Championships
- Carver-Hawkeye Arena Revitalization
- 2009-10 Hawkeye Wrestling Media Guide
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
- Big Ten Network highlights
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
OMAHA, NE — The two-time defending NCAA champion University of Iowa wrestling team widened its lead in the team race and qualified five wrestlers to Friday evening’s championship semifinals Friday morning at the NCAA Championships in Omaha, NE. The Hawkeyes are currently atop the team standings with 73 points, and have the most semifinalists (5) and most competitors still alive (9) of any team in the tournament. Cornell posted a strong round Friday morning jumping up to second place with 54 points (three semifinalists, seven wrestlers remaining), while Iowa State (3 semifinalists, six wrestlers remaining) and Ohio State (two semifinalists, five wrestlers remaining) are tied for third with 46. Iowa has won 22 NCAA team titles.
“Everything is in our own hands and we need to keep pressing forward,” said Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands. “We lost a couple of very close matches (today), but we’ve certainly won our share of close matches in this tournament and during the year. That’s part of being tough. If we do what we are supposed to do in the semifinals and in the consolation brackets, we’ll be ok. But saying and doing are two different things. Our matches tonight are very tough and we need to be just as tough mentally.”
The Hawkeyes went 8-4 Friday morning, bumping their record at the 2010 tournament to 26-6. Iowa seniors Daniel Dennis (133), Brent Metcalf (149) and Jay Borschel (174), sophomore Montell Marion (141) and redshirt freshman Matt McDonough (125) all won their quarterfinal bouts to earn a trip to the NCAA semifinals and guarantee all-America status. Seniors Ryan Morningstar (165), Phillip Keddy (184) and Dan Erekson (Hwt.) all lost their quarterfinal matches, but have a chance to wrestle back in the consolation bracket. Senior Chad Beatty (197) won both of his consolation bouts Friday morning to stay alive in the tournament, while junior Jake Kerr (157) ended his season with a loss in the consolation round.
McDonough advanced to his first NCAA semifinals and collected his 35th season win with a 9-0 major decision over unseeded Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Hawkeye redshirt freshman controlled the entire bout, taking a 4-0 lead on a takedown and two nearfall points in the first period. McDonough added four nearfall points in the second period and rode Garnett the entire third period, accumulating 5:59 of riding time in the match. McDonough will face true freshman Cashé Quiroga of Purdue in the semifinals. McDonough won the only meeting with Quiroga, who enters the semifinals with a 20-12 record, pinning him in 2:13 at the Iowa vs. Purdue dual in January.
Dennis scored a takedown with 16 seconds left in the bout to beat #10 seed Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State, 4-3, to earn his first semifinal bid. After a scoreless first period, Fanthorpe reversed Dennis to take a 2-0 lead. Dennis scored escapes in the second and third periods to tie the score at 2-2. After Dennis’ late takedown, Fanthorpe escaped and made a quick offensive charge, but the second-seeded Hawkeye senior held on for the win. Dennis, who improved to 21-3 on the season with the win, will face a familiar Big Ten foe in #3 seed Franklin Gomez of Michigan State in the semifinals. Dennis is 3-0 against Gomez in collegiate competition, winning three one-point decisions. The most recent was a 5-4 win in the 2010 Big Ten semifinals. Gomez, a three-time all-American and the defending 133-pound NCAA champion, enters the semifinals with a 25-2 record. His two season losses are to Dennis.
Marion needed an extra two minutes to advance to his first semifinal, but punched his ticket with a takedown in sudden victory to beat unseeded Germane Lindsey of Ohio in the quarterfinals. Lindsey scored the opening takedown, but Marion escaped before the end of the period to make the score 2-1. Lindsey escaped to start the third period to take a 3-1 lead and caught Marion on a scramble, but the sixth-seeded Hawkeye sophomore fought through to score a takedown and tie the score at 3-3. Marion took a 4-3 lead on a third-period escape and locked up the riding time point with 1:07, but Lindsey scored a takedown as time expired to force the bout to overtime. Marion scored the takedown in sudden victory to improve to 26-5 this season. Marion will face #10 seed Tyler Nauman of Pittsburgh in the semifinals. Nauman, who is also a sophomore, upset #2 Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State and #7 Filip Novachkov of Cal Poly en route to his semifinal bid. He is 33-3 this season, and it will be the first meeting between Marion and Nauman.
Metcalf scored his third straight major decision of the tournament, posting a 16-4 win over #7 seed Mitch Mueller of Iowa State in the quarterfinals. The second-seeded Hawkeye senior controlled the bout, scoring four takedowns, two three-point nearfalls and accumulating 3:28 of riding time, while only allowing Mueller points on four escapes. Metcalf, who is now 34-1 this season and a two-time NCAA finalist, will face #3 seed Kyle Terry of Oklahoma in the semifinals. Terry, who is a senior with a 26-2 record, lost his only meeting with Metcalf – a 14-6 major decision at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Borschel improved to 35-0 with his 3-0 decision over #10 seed Jordan Blanton of Illinois in the quarterfinals. Leading 1-0 after two periods, Borschel scored a takedown with less than a minute remaining in the match to beat Blanton for the second time this season. The second-seeded Hawkeye senior, who is one of nine wrestlers in the tournament with undefeated records, will face #3 seed Chris Heinrich of Virginia in the semifinals in what will be the pair’s first meeting. Heinrich has a 31-2 season record, and it is Borschel’s second trip to the NCAA semifinals.
Morningstar, Keddy and Erekson all dropped down to the consolation bracket with their quarterfinal losses. Morningstar lost a close 2-1 decision to #2 seed Jarrod King of Edinboro, while Keddy lost a tight 6-4 decision to undefeated and #1 seed Kirk White of Boise State. Erekson lost a 6-2 decision to #4 seed Konrad Dudziak of Duke, who is also undefeated, in the heavyweight quarterfinals. All three Hawkeyes will need to win their first match Friday night to earn all-America status. Morningstar will wrestle unseeded Justin Kerber of Cornell, whose father Jeff was a three-time all-American at Iowa from 1982-84, in the opening round. It will be the pair’s first collegiate meeting. Keddy will face unseeded Andrew Saunders of North Carolina Greensboro in the first match of the night, which will also be the pair’s first collegiate meeting. Erekson will face #6 seed Nate Everhart of Indiana in a rematch of the 2010 Big Ten finals, where Erekson posted a 9-6 victory to win his second Big Ten title.
Beatty ‘s one-point victories over unseeded Joseph Kennedy of Lehigh (2-1 TB-1) and Matthew Wilps of Pittsburgh (3-2) kept him in the hunt for his first all-America honor, and earned him his 49th and 50th career victories. He will face #6 seed Eric Lapotsky of Oklahoma in Friday night’s first round, which will be the first time the two have meet in collegiate competition.
Kerr ended the season at 13-11, going 2-2 at his first NCAA tournament. He earned a 6-5 win over #11 seed Neil Erisman of Oklahoma State in Friday morning’s third round of consolation matches, but lost a 5-1 decision to #9 seed Matt Moley of Bloomsburg in the fourth round. Kerr has a 23-25 career record at Iowa.
Friday evening’s championship semifinals and consolation matches are set to start at 6 p.m. (CT) at the Qwest Center in Omaha. Fans can follow competition via radio, internet and television broadcasts. Steven Grace and two-time Hawkeye NCAA champion and four-time all-American Mark Ironside will call the action live on AM-800, KXIC and www.hawkeyesports.com. Web audio broadcasts are available using the XXL All-Access subscription ($14.95 per month or $119.95 per year). Friday’s evening session and Saturday’s morning session will be aired live on ESPNU HD, and Saturday evening’s championship finals will be aired live on ESPN HD. Matches from Saturday’s morning session will also be available on www.ESPN360.com. All tickets for the event have been sold out.
NCAA TEAM STANDINGS AFTER SESSION THREE (Top 10 Teams)
Place Team – Points – Semifinalists – Total Competitors Remaining
1. Iowa – 73 – 5 – 9
2. Cornell – 54 – 3 – 7
3. Iowa State – 46 – 3 – 6
Ohio State – 46 – 2 – 5
5. Oklahoma – 44 – 2 – 5
6. Oklahoma State – 43 – 2 – 6
7. Minnesota – 35 – 1 – 5
8. Penn State – 33 – 2 – 4
Wisconsin – 33 – 1 – 4
10. Missouri – 30 – 1 – 3
IOWA’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINAL RESULTS (Numbers indicate tournament seeds)
125 – #3 Matt McDonough (Iowa) maj. dec. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech), 9-0
133 – #2 Daniel Dennis (Iowa) dec. #10 Nick Fanthorpe (Iowa State), 4-3
141 – #6 Montell Marion (Iowa) dec. Germane Lindsey (Ohio), 7-5 SV
149 – #2 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) maj. dec. #7 Mitch Mueller (Iowa State), 16-4
165 – #2 Jarrod King (Edinboro) dec. #7 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa), 2-1
174 – #2 Jay Borschel (Iowa) dec. #10 Jordan Blanton (Illinois), 3-0
184 – #1 Kirk Smith (Boise State) dec. #9 Phillip Keddy (Iowa), 6-4
Hwt. – #4 Konrad Dudziak (Duke) dec. #5 Dan Erekson (Iowa), 6-2
IOWA’S NCAA FRIDAY MORNING CONSOLATION RESULTS (Numbers indicate tournament seeds)
157 – Jake Kerr (Iowa) dec. #11 Robert Erisman (Oklahoma State), 6-5
197 – #9 Chad Beatty (Iowa) dec. Joseph Kennedy (Lehigh), 2-1 TB-1
157 – #9 Matt Moley (Bloomsburg) dec. Jake Kerr (Iowa), 5-1
197 – #9 Chad Beatty (Iowa) dec. Matthew Wilps (Pittsburgh), 3-2
IOWA’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL MATCH-UPS (Numbers indicate tournament seeds)
125 – #3 Matt McDonough (Iowa) vs. Cashé Quiroga (Purdue)
133 – #2 Daniel Dennis (Iowa) vs. #3 Franklin Gomez (Michigan State)
141 – #6 Montell Marion (Iowa) vs. #10 Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh)
149 – #2 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. #3 Kyle Terry (Oklahoma)
174 – #2 Jay Borschel (Iowa) vs. #3 Christopher Henrich (Virginia)
IOWA’S NCAA FRIDAY EVENING CONSOLATION MATCH-UPS (Numbers indicate tournament seeds)
165 – #7 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) vs. Justin Kerber (Cornell)
184 – #9 Phillip Keddy (Iowa) vs. Andrew Saunders (UNC Greensboro)
197 – #9 Chad Beatty (Iowa) vs. #6 Eric Lapotsky (Oklahoma)
Hwt. – #5 Dan Erekson (Iowa) vs. #6 Nate Everhart (Indiana)
Complete 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships Brackets After Session Three in PDF Format
Complete 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships Team Standings After Session Three in PDF Format