Big Ten Wrestling Tournament: Session Two Open Thread

The first round went pretty much as expected, except for Nick Nevills losing his first heavyweight bout. The second round not so much; Jordan Conaway lost what seeding dictated should have been a win, and in the opening session's arguably biggest upset, Nittany Lion Jimmy Gulibon, seeded 8th, upset Ohio State's 1st seeded (and fourth ranked) Micah Jordan to punch his ticket to the semifinals, and an auto bid to the NCAAs.

Redemption on a four match losing skid, indeed.

The Lions head into the evening session with 74 team points, 6 ahead of 2nd place host Iowa. Nebraska, which led after the first round, is third with 63. Defending national champs Ohio State are in fourth with 43.5--almost twenty points behind the Huskers. Illinois and Michigan are tied in fifth, with 41.5 points each. Rutgers, Wisconsin, and Minnesota all broke 20 points in the first session; Michigan State, Indiana, Maryland, and Northwestern are at the bottom of the conference standings.

Seven Penn State wrestlers are into the semifinals, with three still alive in wrestlebacks. Tonight's action, which kicks off at 7 pm ET (6 pm local time) will be wrestlebacks, plus the semifinal matches.

The Road So Far

125: Nico Megaludis

first round: 15-5 Major over MSU's Mitch Rogalinger

quarterfinals: 10-2 Major over Wisconsin's Johnny Jiminez

133: Jordan Conaway

first round: 12-3 Major over Minnesota's Sam Brancale

quarterfinals: 10-5 loss to Wisconsin's Ryan Taylor

141: Jimmy Gulibon

first round BYE

quarterfinals: 3-2 (TB2) Decision over Ohio State's Micah Jordan

149: Zain Retherford

first round: WBF (2:06) over Illinois' Kyle Langenderfer

quarterfinals: 14-4 Major over Minnesota's Jake Short

157: Jason Nolf

first round: WBF (2:53) over Purdue's Doug Welch

quarterfinals: Tech Fall (6:21, 20-5) over Minnesota's Brandon Kingsley

165: Geno Morelli

first round: 6-2 Decision over Minnesota's Brandon Krone

quarterfinals: 3-2 loss to Ohio State's Bo Jordan

174: Bo Nickal

first round BYE

quarterfinals: 15-3 Major over Rutgers' Phil Bakuckas

184: Matt McCutcheon

first round BYE

quarterfinals: 6-2 Decision over Illinois' Jeff Koepke

197: Morgan McIntosh

first round: WBF (1:27) over Indiana's Jake Masengale

quarterfinals: WBF (1:40) over MSU's Jacob Cooper

285: Nick Nevills

first round: 4-2 loss to Wisconsin's Brock Horwath

consolation round 1: 9-1 Major over Indiana's Garrett Goldman

Links

BScaff's preview

Full Brackets

BHGP's composite of picks from bloggers around the SBN blogosphere

Penn State Wrestling Club updated team scores

How to Watch/Listen

BTN Plus for video ($$)

GoPSUSports has the live radio feed, with Jeff Byers calling the action

Lineups for Session Two

125: Nico Megaludis (semifinal vs Iowa's Thomas Gilman)

133: Jordan Conaway (consolation round 2 vs Indiana's Alonzo Shepherd)

141: Jimmy Gulibon (semifinal vs MSU's Javier Gasca)

149: Zain Retherford (semifinal vs Michigan's Alec Pantaleo)

157: Jason Nolf (semifinal vs Iowa's Edwin Cooper)

165: Geno Morelli (consolation round 2 vs Indiana's Bryce Martin)

174: Bo Nickal (semifinal vs Ohio State's Myles Martin)

184: Matt McCutcheon (semifinal vs Iowa's Sammy Brooks)

197: Morgan McIntosh (semifinal vs Nebraska's Aaron Studebaker)

285: Nick Nevills (consolation round 2 vs Illinois' Brooks Black)