NCAA Wrestling Day 2 Preview and Open Thread

There was some wrestling yesterday, there is some wrestling today, there will be some wrestling tomorrow! Isn’t March the best? I missed a bunch of action yesterday, so if you’re like me, let’s take a look at what happened, as well as set the stage for quarterfinals today.

NCAA.com

125 Pounds:

Robert Howard set the mark early for biggest upset, knocking off 10-seed Malik Heinselman of Ohio State. Eric Barnett also had an upset in the first round, knocking off 14-seed Jaret Lane of Lehigh. However, both lost in the next round, and the only wrestler outside the top eight to make the quarterfinals was Purdue’s ninth-seeded Devin Schroder, who beat 8-seed Rayvon Foley of Michigan State. Heinselman was the only Big Ten wrestler to lose in the first round, and he won his first wrestleback match, so all Big Ten wrestlers are competing today at 125 pounds.

(1) Spencer Lee, Iowa Hawkeyes vs (9) Devin Schroder, Purdue Boilermakers

(2) Sam Latona, Virginia Tech vs (7) Taylor LaMont, Utah Valley

(3) Brandon Courtney, Arizona State vs (6) Jakob Camacho, NC State

(4) Drew Hildebrant, Central Michigan vs (5) Brody Teske, Northern Iowa

133 Pounds:

No Big Ten wrestlers were involved in first round upsets, but the only upset of the second round came at the expense of Lucas Byrd, who lost to 10-seed Louie Hayes of Virginia 6-4 in sudden-victory overtime. Only Michigan State’s Jordan Hamdan lost twice and is done.

(1) Daton Fix, Oklahoma State vs (8) Chris Cannon, Northwestern Wildcats

(2) Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State Nittany Lions vs (10) Louie Hayes, Virginia

(3) Korbin Myers, Virginia Tech vs (6) Matt Schmitt, Mizzou

(4) Austin DeSanto, Iowa vs (5) Micky Phillippi, Pittsburgh

141:

Colin Valdiviez made a splash, knocking off 7-seed Ian Parker for fuck Iowa State, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the real cinderella of this weight, Real Woods making the quarterfinals as the 21-seed. This isn’t super surprising, because Woods is known as a high-ceiling wrestler, but he did have to knock off 5-seed Dom Demas to get there. Also, ladies and wrestling programs, he’s available! Woods is fittingly a Stanford wrestler, which means he’s in the transfer portal because that athletic department is a black hole of greed and despair. Also, Chad Red failed to make the quarterfinals, and Marcos Polanco went 0-2.

(1) Jaydin Eierman, Iowa vs (9) Dresden Simon, Central Michigan

(2) Nick Lee, Penn State vs (10) Zach Sherman, North Carolina

(3) Sebastian Rivera, Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs (6) Allan Hart, Mizzou

(4) Tariq Wilson, NC State vs (21) Real Woods, Stanford unattached

149 Pounds:

Yahya Thomas scored the biggest upsets of the weight, knocking off both 8-seed Jaden Abas of not-Stanford and 9-seed Legend Lamer of Cal Poly to make the quarterfinals as a 25-seed. Unlike Woods above, I am floored by this. Way to go, Wildcats. Max Murin got his rematch against Ridge Lovett and made it count, winning 5-3 to make the quarterfinals as a 12-seed. Rooks beat Omania in wrestlebacks to eliminate the Spartan, and Mike Van Brill went 0-2 as a 10-seed. Poor rutger.

(1) Sammy Sasso, Ohio State vs (25) Yahya Thomas, Northwestern

(2) Austin O’Connor, North Carolina vs (7) Jonathan Millner, Appalachian State

(3) Brock Mauller, Mizzou vs (6) Bryce Andonian, Virginia Tech

(4) Boo Lewallen, Oklahoma State vs (12) Max Murin, Iowa

157 Pounds:

Kendall Coleman was injured in his second-round bout, and Kaleb Young got upset by Brady Berge. Caleb Licking and Chase Saldate both went 0-2, ending their tournaments on the first day. I think this is my least favorite weight. Oh, here’s one! Jacob Wright of Wyoming beat the 10-seed, and Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan beat the 7, so we had a 23 vs 26 in the second round.

(1) Ryan Deakin, Northwestern vs (8) Jared Franek, NDSU

(2) Hayden Hidlay, NC State vs (23) Jacob Wright, Wyoming

(3) David Carr, Iowa State vs (6) Brayton Lee, Minnesota Gophers

(4) Jesse Dellavecchia, Rider vs (12) Brady Berge, Penn State

165 Pounds:

Okay, this was about as chalky as you’ll ever see. In the first round, we got an 18 over a 15, a 21 over a 12, and a 17 over a 16. In the second, we got nothing. Boo. Jake Tucker eliminated Andrew Sparks on the backside, as did David Ferrante to one of the Braunagels (I’ll learn when it matters). Oh, and Joe Lee lost to some dude from Chattanooga to go 0-2.

(1) Alex Marinelli, Iowa vs (8) Shane Griffith, Stanford

(2) Anthony Valencia, Arizona State vs (7) Ethan Smith, Ohio State

(3) Jake Wentzel, Pittsburgh vs (6) Keegan O’Toole, Mizzou

(4) Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech vs (5) Zach Hartman, Bucknell

174 Pounds:

The only upset of note was Massa falling victim to the ole 5-12 matchup, losing to Bernie Truax of Cal Poly. DJ Washington came up short vs Daniel Bullard of NC State 6-4, but Kemerer, Starocci, Labriola, and Romero all made the quarterfinals. And Romero wrestles Romero, which is fun. No Big Ten wrestlers are out.

(1) Michael Kemerer, Iowa vs (8) Daniel Bullard, NC State

(2) Demetrius Romero, Utah Valley vs (7) Kaleb Romero, Ohio State

(3) Carter Starocci, Penn State vs (6) Andrew McNally, Kent State

(4) Mikey Labriola, Nebraska Cornhuskers vs (12) Bernie Truax, Cal Poly

184 Pounds:

Malczewski and Weiler were both subject to minor first-round upsets, and both lost in wrestlebacks to end their tournaments about two days early, which is interesting because I believe they were also two of the last three undefeated in the Big Ten at this weight (the other obviously being Aaron Brooks). Quarterfinals are pure chalk, which is just weird coming at this weight.

(1) Aaron Brooks, Penn State vs (8) Taylor Venz, Nebraska

(2) Hayden Hidlay, NC State vs (7) Brit Wilson, Northern Illinois

(3) Lou Deprez, Binghampton vs (6) John Poznanski, Rutgers

(4) Parker Keckeisen, Northern Iowa vs (5) Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech

197 Pounds:

Jacob Warner gave up a six-point move, then earned two stall calls and a takedown in the last minute to force his first round match into overtime, where he secured another takedown to win it. Eric Schultz was the victim of the biggest upset of the night, getting pinned by 31-seed Owen Pentz of NDSU, who then lost to Michael Beard. because even good things aren’t good in tournaments. 26-seed Jake Woodley beat Rocky Elam and Cam Caffey to set a meeting with Beard in the quarterfinals. Billy Janzer was eliminated from the tournament.

(1) Myles Amine, Michigan Wolverines vs (8) Stephen Buchanan, Wyoming

(15) Michael Beard, Penn State vs (26) Jake Woodley, Oklahoma

(3) Kordell Norfleet, Arizona State vs (6) Nino Bonaccorsi, Pittsburgh

(4) AJ Ferrari, Oklahoma State vs (5) Jacob Warner, Iowa

285 Pounds:

Tate Orndorff scored a minor upset of Christian Lance to continue Nebraska’s poor session, before being majored by Tony Cassioppi. Trent Hillger used a late reversal to knock off 3-seed Matt Stencel and make the quarterfinals. No Big Ten wrestlers were eliminated, and five made the quarterfinals. Also, Cohlton Schultz won a match by disqualification after his opponent stalled out. Haven’t seen that in a while. No offensive points were scored.

(1) Gable Steveson, Minnesota vs (9) Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State

(2) Mason Parris, Michigan vs (7) Ethan Laird, Rider

(14) Trent Hillger, Wisconsin Badgers vs (6) Gannon Gremmel, Iowa State

(4) Cohlton Schultz, Arizona State vs (5) Tony Cassioppi, Iowa