March 15, 2012
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ST. LOUIS — The University of Iowa wrestling team advanced six wrestlers to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships following second round action tonight inside the Scottrade Center. The Hawkeyes have two wrestlers alive in the wrestlebacks and sit in fourth place with 26 points.
“We saw some close scores and we don’t like to live that way,” said head coach Tom Brands. “Winning close is ok when you’re battling the whole time and the matchup isn’t favorable. Otherwise we need to be opening things up and finish.
“We’re not just leaving match points off the board, we’re leaving team scores off the board.”
Matt McDonough (125) opened things up with a first period pin over Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State. McDonough scored a pair of early takedowns before finishing a nasty left-handed headlock to pick up his second pin of the tournament.
Tony Ramos (133) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over Navy’s Aaron Kalil. Ramos surrendered a second period escape before scoring a takedown and adding 1:12 of riding time to advance to the next round.
Montell Marion (141) collected 1:48 of riding time en route to a 6-1 win over Edinboro’s Mitchell Port. Marion trailed 1-0 before scoring a takedown with two seconds on the clock to take a 2-1 advantage into the third frame. He then opened the third period with an escape and added another takedown to advance to the quarterfinals for the third straight year.
Derek St. John (157) avenged a loss from the Nation Duals tournament by topping Oregon State’s Roger Pena 8-4. Pena scored an early takedown before St. John escaped and answered with a takedown to take a 3-2 lead into the second frame. He then sandwiched a pair of escapes in between a Pena takedown to gain a 5-4 advantage at the end of the second period. He added another takedown and totaled 1:17 of riding time to advance to the quarterfinals for the second straight year.
Ethen Lofthouse and Bobby Telford advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in their careers with a pair of decisions at 174 and 285. Lofthouse scored on one takedown, two escapes and 1:18 of riding time to defeat Maryland’s 12th-seeded Jimmy Sheptock. Telford opened the second period with a reversal and added points for stalling and riding time to edge Ohio State’s Peter Capone, 4-1.
Mike Evans (157) dropped to the consolation bracket following a 3-2 loss to Hofstra’s 12th-seeded Paul Gillespie. Grant Gambrall kept his tournament alive with a 12-6 decision in the 184-pound consolation bracket. Gambrall scored an early takedown and two nearfall points pull away from North Dakota State’s MacKain Stoll. Both Gambrall and Evans need a minimum of three straight wins in the wrestle-backs to secure All-America honors.
Each of Iowa’s six quarterfinalist need to win one more match to guarantee All-America honors.
“We’ll go first thing in the morning,” said Brands. “Right off the gun. McDonough is a good catalyst and we’ll be ready to go.”
Session III of the NCAA Championships begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. ESPNU will televise the tournament and ESPN3 will provide a webstream. Fans can listen to the championships on AM-800 KXIC or listen to the audio stream via Hawkeye All-Access. Steven Grace and Mark Ironside will call the action live from the Scottrade Center.
IOWA’S SECOND ROUND NCAA RESULTS (# indicates tournament seed)
125 – #1Matt McDonough (Iowa) pinned Trent Sprenkle (NDSU), 2:56
133 – #3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. Aaron Kalil (Navy), 3-1
141 – #3 Montell Marion (Iowa) dec. Mitchell Port (Edinboro), 6-1
157 – #2 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. R.J. Pena (Oregon St.), 8-4
165 – #12 Paul Gillespie (Hofstra) dec. #5 Mike Evans, 3-2
174 – #5 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. #12 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), 5-3
285 – #5 Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. Peter Capone (Ohio State), 4-1
IOWA’S CONSOLATION ROUND RESULTS (# indicates tournament seed)
184 – Grant Gambrall (Iowa) dec. MacKain Stoll (NSDU), 12-6
IOWA’S QUARTERFINAL MATCHUPS (# indicates tournament seed)
125 – #1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) vs. #9 Ryan Mango (Stanford)
133 – #3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. #11 Steven Keith (Harvard)
141 – #3 Montell Marion (Iowa) vs. #6 Borislav Novachkov (Cal-Poly)
157 – #2 Derek St. John (Iowa) vs. #7 Dylan Alton (Penn State)
174 – #5 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) vs. #4 Logan Storley (Minn)
285 – #5 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. #4 Zachary Rey (Lehigh)
IOWA’S CONSOLATION MATCHUPS (# indicates tournament seed)
157 – #5 Mike Evans (Iowa) vs. Ben Jordan (Wis.)
184 – Grant Gambrall (Iowa) vs. Victor Avery (Edinboro)
TEAM STANDING AFTER SESSION II (Top five teams)
1. Penn State 38.5
2. Minnesota 33
3. Oklahoma State 28
4. Cornell 27.5
5. IOWA 26