PIGTAIL ROUND
125: n/a
133: #2 Tony Ramos FALL (2:02) UN Brandon Fifield (Michigan St)
141: #3 Mark Ballweg FALL (2:55) UN Alex Gregory (Indiana)
149: #5 Andrew Alton (PSU) DEC (3-2) UN Josh Dziewa
157: #1 Derek St. John FALL (4:07) UN Collin Zeerip (Michigan)
165: n/a
174: n/a
184: n/a
197: #6 Nathan Burak DEC (4-3 OT?) #11 Caleb Kolb (Nebraska)
285: n/a
Iowa got off to an almost-perfect start in the pigtails, with pins in three of their first four matches, earning some much-needed bonus points for Iowa. Josh Dziewa justified his selection at 149 by almost beating #5 seed Andrew Alton in his match. Nathan Burak capped off the pigtail round for Iowa with a very nervy win over Nebraska's Caleb Kolb in overtime.
QUARTERFINALS
125: #1 Matt McDonough DEC (5-4) #8 Dom Malone (jNW)
133: #2 Tony Ramos DEC (9-5) #7 Cashe Quiroga (Purdue)
141: #3 Mark Ballweg DEC (6-1) #6 Ridge Kiley (Nebraska)
149: n/a
157: #1 Derek St. John DEC (5-1) #8 Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota)
165: #4 Nick Moore DEC (5-4) #5 Cody Yohn (Minnesota)
174: #2 Mike Evans MAJ DEC (12-3) #10 Chad Welch (Purdue)
184: #5 Ethen Lofhouse DEC (2-1) #4 John Rizqallah (Michigan St)
197: #6 Nathan Burak DEC (3-2) #3 Mario Gonzalez (Illinois)
285: #4 Bobby Telford DEC (4-0) #5 Mike McClure (Michigan St)
The quarterfinals also went very well for Iowa, with 9 wins in 9 matches. The 9 semifinalists Iowa has is the most of any other Big Ten team; Penn State has 6 semifinalists, while Minnesota and Ohio State each have 5 semifinalists. There were some more nerve-shredding matches here, with Matt McDonough, Nick Moore, Ethen Lofthouse, and Nathan Burak all winning 1-point decisions. But wins are wins and they gave Iowa some much-needed placement points in the team title race.
TEAM SCORE AFTER QUARTERFINALS
1) Iowa -- 79 pts
2) Penn State -- 62 pts
3) Minnesota -- 49 pts
4) Ohio State -- 47.5 pts
5) Illinois --33 pts
6) Michigan -- 32 pts
7) Nebraska -- 26 pts
8) Northwestern -- 22 pts
9) Wisconsin -- 18.5 pts
10) Michigan State -- 10 pts
11) Purdue -- 9 pts
12) Indiana -- 4 pts
Up next tonight:
SEMIFINALS
125: #1 Matt McDonough vs. #4 Sean Boyle (Michigan)
133: #2 Tony Ramos vs. #3 Tyler Graff (WIsconsin)
141: #3 Mark Ballweg vs. #2 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota)
157: #1 Derek St. John vs. #4 James Green (Nebraska)
165: #4 Nick Moore vs. #1 David Taylor (Penn State)
174: #2 Mike Evans vs. #6 Jordan Blanton (Illinois)
184: #5 Ethen Lofhouse vs. #1 Ed Ruth (Penn State)
197: #6 Nathan Burak vs. #2 Scott Schiller (Minnesota)
285: #4 Bobby Telford vs. #1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota)
While the morning went brilliantly for Iowa, the evening session looks very difficult for Iowa. Iowa wrestlers are underdogs in five of the nine matches and in three of the matches they're taking on the #1 seed at the weight; beating the likes of Taylor, Ruth, and Nelson is going to be exceptionally difficult. So it's important to keep Iowa's early success in perspective -- they've done a really great job so far, but the team race could (and probably will be) much closer after tonight's matches, barring some very surprising upsets.
CONSOLATION BRACKET
149: UN Josh Dziewa vs. #6 Caleb Ervin (Illinois)
Here's the updated bracket.