NCAA Wrestling Tournament: Session III Recap

Like Saturday in golf, Friday is moving day at the NCAA Wrestling tournament and while the scores don’t necessarily reflect it at the moment, Penn State began to make its move.

The day started with Cory Keener getting knocked out on the backside, but Nick Lee picked up a huge 5-0 win at 141 to give himself a good chance at becoming an All-American.

Things picked up for the Nittany Lions at 149 pounds in the quarters where Zain Retherford picked up a 20-2 technical fall over Boo Lewallen of OKState. Opposite Retherford, Ohio State’s Ke-Shawn Hayes lost to Troy Heillman of UNC pushing him to the back side where he could possibly see Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen in the bloodround.

Up at 157, Jason Nolf looked as good as he has all tournament in a 6-2 victory over Young Guns wrestling club and Iowa nemesis Michael Kemerer. Meanwhile, OSU’s Micah Jordan topped John Van Brill of Rutgers via major decision.

Vincenzo Joseph scared the crap out of every Penn State fan out there when he went to sudden victory two against Isaiah White. Cenzo, as he tends to do, remained calm and got a takedown to advance to the semifinals.

Mark Hall cruised past Taylor Lujan of Northern Iowa to the tune of a 6-2 decision, while Ohio State continued to have a rough go of it as Bo Jordan bowed out to Daniel Lewis of Missouri via a 3-1 decision.

Bo Nickal, still not looking his best, survived and advanced with a 13-7 victory over Cornell’s Max Dean, while OSU’s Myles Martin had similar difficulties but topped UNC’s Chip Ness 10-6.

The shock of the session came at 197. Ohio State’s Kollin Moore, wrestling unseeded Kyle Conel of Kent State, got thrown to his back and pinned at the 1:30 mark of the first period. Conel, coincidentally, is built like the last and only Kent State wrestler to win a national title, 2011 197-pound champion Dustin Kilgore.

Unfortunately for Penn State, it was unable to take full advantage as Shakur Rasheed got out to an early 3-1 lead but could not hold on, ceding a late takedown to NCState’s Michael Macchiavello and falling 6-5.

At heavyweight, Nick Nevills was toppled by Oregon State’s Amar Dhesi by a 4-2 decision. Nevills was hit with two technical violations in the match for locking hands and nearly had the tying takedown as time expired.

Penn State can take solace in the fact that Kyle Snyder of Ohio State was held to a 6-3 decision by Oklahoma State.

While the Nittany Lions still trail the Buckeyes, they’re in good position to make a move into or very close to first place heading into Saturday morning.

The Nittany Lions will be favored in all five of their semifinal matches, while the Buckeyes boast six semifinalist but just two weights, with toss ups at 125, 141 and underdogs at 133 and 157.

Penn State and Ohio State will square off in the semifinals at 157 pounds as defending national champ Jason Nolf meets OSU’s Micah Jordan.

The Nittany Lions five bazookas, as one Wrestling Noman called them, are holding up well against the Buckeyes 10 guns and have to have Penn State fans feeling at least cautiously optimistic heading into the night session.

TEAM SCORES

1. Ohio State 80.5
2. Penn State 67.0
3. Michigan 59.5
4. Iowa 50.5
5. NC State 44.0

RESULTS THROUGH SESSION III

133

Corey Keener (17-10) place is unknown and scored 0.50 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Dom Forys (Pittsburgh) 22-6 won by fall over Corey Keener (Penn State) 17-10 (Fall 4:57)
• Cons. Round 1 - Corey Keener (Penn State) 17-10 won by decision over Cam Sykora (North Dakota State) 23-12 (Dec 9-7)
• Cons. Round 2 - Rico Montoya (Northern Colorado) 25-14 won by fall over Corey Keener (Penn State) 17-10 (Fall 4:28)

141

Nick Lee (30-6) place is unknown and scored 2.50 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Ryan Diehl (Maryland) 13-14 won by fall over Nick Lee (Penn State) 30-6 (Fall 2:13)
• Cons. Round 1 - Nick Lee (Penn State) 30-6 won by decision over Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) 25-8 (Dec 7-3)
• Cons. Round 2 - Nick Lee (Penn State) 30-6 won by decision over Mason Smith (Central Michigan) 32-7 (Dec 5-0)
• Cons. Round 3 - Nick Lee (Penn State) 30-6 won by major decision over Cole Weaver (Indiana) 26-12 (MD 13-5)

149

Zain Retherford (29-0) placed 6th and scored 14.00 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Zain Retherford (Penn State) 29-0 won by tech fall over Kyle Springer (Eastern Michigan) 21-18 (TF-1.5 7:00 (16-1))
• Champ. Round 2 - Zain Retherford (Penn State) 29-0 won by fall over Alfred Bannister (Maryland) 24-10 (Fall 2:29)
• Quarterfinal - Zain Retherford (Penn State) 29-0 won by tech fall over Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) 28-6 (TF-1.5 5:00 (20-2))

157

Jason Nolf (24-1) placed 6th and scored 10.50 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Jason Nolf (Penn State) 24-1 won by tech fall over Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) 19-8 (TF-1.5 7:00 (22-7))
• Champ. Round 2 - Jason Nolf (Penn State) 24-1 won by decision over Andrew Crone (Wisconsin) 28-12 (Dec 6-1)
• Quarterfinal - Jason Nolf (Penn State) 24-1 won by decision over Michael Kemerer (Iowa) 24-2 (Dec 6-2)

165

Vincenzo Joseph (23-2) placed 6th and scored 10.00 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 23-2 won by major decision over Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton) 16-13 (MD 15-4)
• Champ. Round 2 - Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 23-2 won by decision over Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) 36-5 (Dec 3-1)
• Quarterfinal - Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 23-2 won in sudden victory - 2 over Isaiah White (Nebraska) 25-7 (SV-2 4-2)

174

Mark Hall (31-0) placed 6th and scored 11.50 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Mark Hall (Penn State) 31-0 won by major decision over Austin Rose (Drexel) 20-18 (MD 12-2)
• Champ. Round 2 - Mark Hall (Penn State) 31-0 won by tech fall over Dylan Lydy (Purdue) 34-13 (TF-1.5 6:54 (21-3))
• Quarterfinal - Mark Hall (Penn State) 31-0 won by decision over Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) 30-6 (Dec 6-2)

184

Bo Nickal (29-0) placed 6th and scored 10.00 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Bo Nickal (Penn State) 29-0 won by major decision over Martin Mueller (South Dakota State) 26-8 (MD 16-4)
• Champ. Round 2 - Bo Nickal (Penn State) 29-0 won by decision over Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan) 27-11 (Dec 10-4)
• Quarterfinal - Bo Nickal (Penn State) 29-0 won by decision over Maxwell Dean (Cornell) 30-4 (Dec 13-7)

197

Shakur Rasheed (22-4) place is unknown and scored 4.00 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) 22-4 won by major decision over Sawyer Root (The Citadel) 25-16 (MD 13-5)
• Champ. Round 2 - Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) 22-4 won by major decision over Daniel Chaid (North Carolina) 22-12 (MD 14-3)
• Quarterfinal - Michael Macchiavello (NC State) 20-3 won by decision over Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) 22-4 (Dec 5-4)

285

Nick Nevills (28-6) place is unknown and scored 4.00 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Nick Nevills (Penn State) 28-6 won by fall over Stephen Suglio (Kent State) 21-10 (Fall 5:24)
• Champ. Round 2 - Nick Nevills (Penn State) 28-6 won in tie breaker - 2 over Michael Boykin (NC State) 21-8 (TB-2 5-4)

Quarterfinal - Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) 23-2 won by decision over Nick Nevills (Penn State) 28-6 (Dec 4-2)