NCAA TOURNAMENT SESSION V RESULTS + OPEN THREAD

WHO: the best wrestlers from across the country
WHEN: Friday, March 20, 7 PM CT
WHERE: Scottrade Center; St. Louis, MO
RADIO: AM 800 KXIC (local), Hawkeye All-Access (non-local; $) or the expanded radio network
TV: ESPN (select matches)
ONLINE: ESPN3 (all matches, all mats)

BRACKET: Click here (or use these excellent brackets with live updates from Penn State Wrestling Club)

TEAM SCORES

1) 86.5 Ohio State (3 in finals, 2 in consos)
2) 73.0 Iowa (1 in finals, 4 in consos, 1 in 7th place match)
3) 66.5 Cornell (2 in finals, 2 in consos)
4) 64.5 Edinboro (2 in finals, 2 in consos)
5) 60.0 Missouri (1 in finals, 2 in consos)

Iowa still has a mathematical chance at winning the team title... but it depends on Iowa pretty much going perfect in the consolation round this morning (and Cory Clark winning his final tonight, of course) and Ohio State slipping up left and right.

SEMIFINALS

125: UN Zeke Moisey (West Virginia) FALL (0:52) #6 Thomas Gilman
133: #3 Cory Clark DEC (7-5) #7 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State)
174: #2 Matt Brown (Penn State) DEC (1-0) #3 Mike Evans

Cory Clark kept Iowa's streak of placing at least one wrestler in the finals alive (for the 26th straight year!) with a very solid 7-5 win over Jimmy Gulibon, but beyond that it was a bitterly disappointing semifinal round for the Hawkeyes.  Thomas Gilman was shockingly pinned inside a minute by a vicious cradle from unseeded Zeke Moisey (who is having an unreal tournament so far), ending his bid for a national championship, while Mike Evans was again unable to solve the problem that is Matt Brown.  When given the choice this time, he took neutral rather than going down and so avoided getting ridden for an entire period by Brown, but still was unable to get anything going from his feet.  And so it's a second straight year of semifinal heartbreak for Mike Evans.

CONSOLATION BRACKETS

149: #4 Brandon Sorensen MAJ DEC (9-1) #7 Sal Mastriani (Virginia Tech)
184: #3 Blake Stauffer (Arizona State) DEC (7-2) #9 Sammy Brooks
197: #6 Nathan Burak DEC (10-3) UN Canaan Bethea (Penn)
285: #3 Bobby Telford DEC (4-0) #7 Blaize Cabell (UNI)

Sorensen, Burak, and Telford all won their Round of 12 matches, which secured All-America honors for them; Telford's win was extra-impressive since he's battled back from a first-round loss to earn All-America honors.  Well done, Bobby.  Unfortunately, Sammy Brooks came up short in his bid to earn All-America honors, dropping a 7-2 decision to #3 Stauffer.

149: #4 Brandon Sorensen DEC (4-3) UN Daniel Neff (Lock Haven)
197: #2 Morgan McIntosh (Iowa) DEC (5-3) #6 Nathan Burak
285: #3 Bobby Telford DEC (2-0) #9 Michael Kroells (Minnesota)

Sorensen and Telford also won their second consolation matches of the night, which means they can finish no worse than 6th at the NCAA Tournament.  Nathan Burak was unable to get the upset over Penn State's McIntosh, so he'll be vying for a 7th place finish this morning.

Speaking of this morning's action...

CONSOLATION BRACKETS

125: #6 Thomas Gilman vs. #2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 
149: #4 Brandon Sorensen vs. #5 Chris Villalonga (Cornell)
174: #3 Mike Evans vs. #1 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska)
285: #3 Bobby Telford vs. #5 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin)

Win these matches and the Iowa wrestlers will fight for 3rd place later this morning.  Lose these matches and they'll wrestle for 5th place later.  They're all familiar opponents and, aside from Evans-Kokesh, they're all opponents that the Iowa wrestlers have beat lately (Evans has beaten Kokesh, but not in the last two years).  They're all very difficult opponents, though.

7th Place Match
197: #6 Nathan Burak vs. #8 Max Huntley (Michigan)

Burak gets another familiar face and one he's beaten earlier this year in some close matches.  Hopefully he can beat Huntley one more time to claim 7th place honors.

I'll update the results in the comments here, as usual.  Feel free to join in.

The usual rules apply.