Ramos, Evans, Telford Move on to Semifinals

March 21, 2014

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The University of Iowa wrestling team advanced three wrestlers to the semifinals of the 2014 NCAA Championships Friday afternoon at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Tony Ramos (133), Mike Evans (174) and Bobby Telford (285) each won their respective quarterfinal match and will compete Friday night on ESPN for a spot in the NCAA finals.

Ramos, the No. 3 seed at 133, scored a takedown in the final 30 seconds to defeat Lehigh’s sixth-seeded Mason Beckman, 3-1. Ramos will face Edinboro’s A.J. Schopp in the semifinals. Schopp handed Ramos one of his two losses this season. The two have split two career meetings.

Evans and Telford both worked overtime to advance beyond the quarterfinals.

Evans, the No. 4 seed, escaped in the first tiebreak period to defeat Penn State’s fifth-seeded Matt Brown, 5-4. Evans rode-out Brown from the top position before escaping from the bottom with eight seconds on the clock to advance to the first NCAA semifinal bout of his career. He’ll face defending champion Chris Perry of Oklahoma State in the semis. Perry, the top-seed, is 2-0 all-time against Evans with a pair of one- point decisions (4-3, 5-4).

Telford, the No. 5 seed, escaped in the second tiebreak and rode-out Michigan’s fourth-seeded Adam Coon to advance to his first career NCAA semifinal, 3-2. Telford faces two-time defending champion Tony Nelson in the semis. The two have split a pair of decisions this season.

Three Hawkeyes lost in the quarterfinals and fell into Friday night’s consolation round. Cory Clark lost a 10-5 decision to top-seeded Jesse Delgado of Illinois. Defending champion Derek St. John fell to seventh-seeded Brian Realbuto of Cornell, 11-4; and Nathan Burak dropped a 6-3 decision to 14th-seeded Chris Penny of Virginia Tech.

“We have big challenges tonight,” said UI head coach Tom Brands. “Three on top plus three more. That’s where we’re at. We have to do a better job of scoring points. It is that simple.”

Iowa lost four wrestlers in the wrestle-backs. Nick Moore and Josh Dziewa both won in the morning session before being eliminated from the tournament with afternoon losses. Brody Grothus and Ethen Lofthouse were bounced from the tournament following morning losses.

The Hawkeyes are in fourth place heading into the semifinals with 42.5 points. Penn State leads the team race with 61 points, followed by Minnesota (59) and Oklahoma State (56). All three schools have four wrestlers in the semifinals.

Action resumes Friday at 7 p.m. (CT). Session IV will be televised on ESPN and streamed online at ESPN3.

TEAM STANDINGS AFTER SESSION III
1. Penn State 61
2. Minnesota 59
3. Oklahoma St. 56
4. IOWA 42.5
5. Cornell 39.5
6. Ohio State 38
7. Edinboro 30.5
Virginia Tech 30.5
9. Illinois 30
Oklahoma 30

IOWA’S QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
125 – #1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. #8 Cory Clark (Iowa), 10-5
133 – #3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. #6 Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 3-1
157 – #7 Brian Realbuto (Cornell) dec. #2 Derek St. John (Iowa), 11-4
174 – #4 Mike Evans (Iowa) dec. #5 Matt Brown (Penn State), 5-4 (TB1)
197 – #14 Chris Penny (Virginia Tech) dec. #11 Nathan Burak (Iowa), 6-3
285 – #5 Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. #4 Adam Coon (Michigan), 3-2 (TB2)

IOWA’S CONSOLATION ROUND RESULTS
141 – Josh Dziewa (Iowa) dec. #14 Edgar Bright (Pitt), 8-3
141 – #6 Chris Dardenes (Minnesota)dec. Josh Dziewa (Iowa), 3-1 (SV2)
149 – Rylan Lubeck (Wisconsin) dec. #13 Brody Grothus (Iowa), 3-1
165 – #5 Nick Moore (Iowa) dec. #6 Corey Mock (Chattanooga), 3-1
165 – #14 Dylan Palacio (Cornell) dec. #5 Nick Moore (Iowa), 8-1
184 – #11 Lawrence Thomas (Penn) dec. #5 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 6-0

IOWA’S SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS
133 – #3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. #2 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro)
174 – #4 Mike Evans (Iowa) vs. #1 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State)
285 – #5 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. #1 Anthony Nelson (Minnesota)

IOWA’S CONSOLATION ROUND MATCHUPS
125 – #8 Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. #14 Edward Klimara (Oklahoma State)
157 – #2 Derek St. John (Iowa) vs. #12 Luke Smith (CMU)
197 – #11 Nathan Burak (Iowa) vs. Mario Gonzalez (Illinois)