Happy St. Paddy’s Day lads. We’ve got a quick wrestling update for you as you enjoy wearing a muted and/or loud green, because there is no middle ground with greens!
On day one of the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, the Hawkeyes advanced the six wrestlers you’d expect to the quarterfinals. Thomas Gilman, Cory Clark, Brandon Sorensen, Michael Kemerer, Alex Meyer, and Sammy Brooks are alive on the frontside, while Joey Gunther and Cash Wilcke are breathing in back. Topher Carton’s been eliminated.
Iowa’s tied for second with Ohio State with 57.5 points. Penn State’s in front with 73.5.
Some of the bonus points:
- Gilman over Brent Fleetwood of Central Michigan (19-6 major) and Nathan Kraisser of Campbell (22-8 major)
- Sorensen pinned Matthew Zovistoski of Appalachian State in 2:11
- Kemerer majored Jake Danishek of Indiana 14-3 and tech falled Chase Delande of Edinboro
- Sammy Brooks pinned Edinboro’s Dakota Greer in 3:44 for his 100th victory as a Hawkeye. Congrats, Sammy!
In other non-bonus point news, Clark and Meyer did their jobs, Meyer especially well with a 7-5 upset over No. 6 Ryan Preisch of Lehigh in the second round.
Today, we’ve had the following:
- A Thomas Gilman fall over No. 8 Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State
- A 6-4 decision for Cory Clark over No. 5 Stevan Micic of Michigan. Clark is a four-time All-American. He’s the 19th Hawkeye in program history to accomplish that feat. Bring it on, Tomasello
- A 9-6 Topher Carton loss to No. 12 Luke Pletcher of Ohio State. Good career, Topher
- Brandon Sorensen beat No. 4 Micah Jordan via a 3-0 decision, and is now a three-time All-American
- Michael Kemerer got stuck by No. 7 Dylan Palacio of Cornell and will wrestle this evening. His All-American chances are still very high and you should expect that to happen
- Alex Meyer Dropped a 4-3 decision to Buckeye Bo Jordan and will look to do the rest of his damage in the wrestlebacks
- Sammy Brooks won because duh. It took 6:01 for him to get the fall over Emery Parker of Illinois.
- AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT CASH WILCKE WON A 6-2 DECISION! He gets Old Dominion’s guy next