Session I is in the books now...
SESSION I MATCHES
125: #3 Matt McDonough MAJ DEC (10-2) Ben Willeford (Cleveland State)
133: #2 Tony Ramos FALL (1:56) Nick Wilcox (Bloomsburg)
141: #7 Mark Ballweg DEC (3-0) Daniel Neff (Lockhaven)
149: sad face
157: #2 Derek St. John DEC (9-3) Matthew Frisch (The Citadel)
165: UN Michael Moreno (Iowa State) DEC (5-3) #10 Nick Moore
174: #3 Mike Evans DEC (2-0) Craig Kelliher (Central Michigan)
184: #12 Ethen Lofthouse DEC (8-2) Boaz Beard (Iowa State)
197: Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) MAJ DEC (10-2) UN Nathan Burak
285: #6 Bobby Telford DEC (8-1) Joe Stolfi (Bucknell)
No big surprises in Session I. Moore's loss hurts and seriously jeopardizes his chances of being an All-American this year; they weren't great to begin with, but by losing in the first round he's put himself on a very long path to the podium. But his loss also wasn't a stunner -- he beat Moreno earlier this year, but only by a slim 3-2 scoreline. That Moore would eventually get burned by his "get one takedown and hold on for dear life" gameplan is not shocking -- it was inevitable.
Iowa's only bonus points came from McDonough (who secured a late major decision) and Ramos (who locked up a pin in the first period). Ballweg ground out a very ugly 3-0 decision win, while St. John gave up an early takedown before mounting a steady comeback and picking up a 9-3 win. Evans had an ugly 2-0 win himself, although he was close to getting a few takedowns early in the match; he'll need to actually convert those later in the tournament to keep getting closer to the podium. Lofthouse had a very nice 8-2 decision win over Beard, although his inability to secure the major decision (he had chances in the third period, but couldn't convert them) stings. Burak suffered a thoroughly expected loss to #1 Kilgore, although the fact that he wasn't pinned or tech falled is slightly impressive.
Unfortunately, this session ended on a sour note, with Bobby Telford limping off the mat and favoring his knee heavily. He had cruised to a big lead until tweaking his knee in the third period, but from that point on he did nothing in the match and he was leaning on coaches as he left the match. If his injury is indeed serious, Iowa's title hopes (slim to begin with) might already be toast. But we shall wait and see...
SESSION II MATCHES
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET MATCHES
125: #3 Matt McDonough vs. Steve Mitcheff (Kent State)
133: #2 Tony Ramos vs. Joseph Ward (North Carolina)
141: #7 Mark Ballweg vs. #10 Charles Cobb (Penn)
157: #2 Derek St. John vs. Josh Kreimier (Air Force)
174: #3 Mike Evans vs. Phillip Joseph (Eastern Michigan)
184: #12 Ethen Lofthouse vs. #5 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota)
285: #6 Bobby Telford vs. #11 J.T. Felix (Boise State)
Iowa should be favored in all of these matches, except 184, where Steinhaus is an obvious (and heavy) favorite over Lofthouse. Still, Ballweg will need to be much sharper than he was this morning to get by Cobb and if Telford's knee is indeed in bad shape, his match with Felix looks very difficult.
CONSOLATION BRACKET MATCHES
165: #10 Nick Moore vs. Caleb Marsh (Kent State)
197: UN Nathan Burak vs. Jace Bennett (Cornell)
If you're in the consos, the mandate is clear: win or go home. We expected Burak to be here and he'll need to overturn a loss to Bennett from earlier this season (at National Duals, in fact) to stay alive in this tournament. We did not expect Moore to be here and it will be interesting to see how he responds to this early loss.
TEAM SCORE STANDINGS (per THIS SITE)
1) Penn State -- 14.5 pts
2) Oklahoma State -- 13 pts
3) Minnesota -- 11 pts
4) Iowa -- 10 pts
5) Iowa State -- 9 pts
5) UNI -- 9 pts
5) Oregon State -- 9 pts
WRESTLERS LEFT IN CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
Iowa: 125, 133, 141, 157, 174, 184
Penn State: 125, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197
Oklahoma State: 133, 149, 157, 165, 174, 197, 285
Minnesota: 133, 141, 149, 165, 174, 184, 197, 285
WRESTLERS IN CONSOLATION BRACKET
Iowa: 165, 197
Penn State: 133, 141, 149, 285
Oklahoma State: 125, 141, 184
Minnesota: 125, 157
UPSETS
125: #5 Jarrod Garnett (Va Tech), #10 Josh Martinez (Air Force), #11 Nikko Triggas (Ohio St)
133: #11 George DiCamillo (Virginia), #12 Jordan Conaway (Penn St)
141: #11 Mike Nevinger (Cornell)
149: #3 Donnie Vinson (Binghamton), #11 Andrew Alton (Penn St)
157: #3 Joey Napoli (Lehigh), #4 James Green (Nebraska), #9 Frank Hickman (Bloomsburg), #10 R.J. Pena (Oregon St), #11 Walter Peppelman (Harvard)
165: #10 Nick Moore (Iowa)
174: #9 Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh), #10 Dan Yates (Michigan), #11 Blake Stauffer (Arizona St), #12 Matthew Miller (Navy)
184: #9 Chris Chionuma (Oklahoma St)
197: #12 Brent Haynes (Missouri)
285: none!