The Gods of luck must have something against the University of Pennsylvania and something for the University of Iowa. Both Caleb Richardson @ 133 and C.J. Cobb @ 149 defeated wrestlers who would go on to make All American status, while they themselves did not place. Richardson defeated Edinboro's A.J. Schopp in the first round 4-2 and Cobb defeated Iowa's Brandon Sorenson in the second round 4-3.
Besides Sorenson, Iowa also had Bobby Telford who lost 7-5 to Maryland's Spencer Myers in the opening round come back and AA while Myers did not.
Others to beat All Americans that were not All Americans themselves this tournament:
Cooper Moore of Northern Iowa pinned Nick Sulzer of Virginia in the second round in 2:19
Matt McCutcheon of Penn State defeated Blake Stauffer of Arizona State 3-1 s.v. in the second round.
Blaize Cabell of Northern Iowa defeated Ty Walz of Virginia Tech 3-1 s.v. in the second round.
Jade Rauser of Utah Valley defeated Mason Beckman of Lehigh 5-3 in round one.
Caleb Richardson defeated A.J. Schopp of Edinboro 4-2 in round one.
125
If you would have bet on Zeke Moisey making the finals, you could have probably won $1,000,000. Who would have thought that a freshman with 12 losses (yes 12, the program counted one of his losses twice) would have made the finals in such fashion? Also speaking of which where did Michigan's Connor Youtsey come from? Very impressed with his performance as well. Glad to Nahshon Garrett coming back strong through the consolations.
133
I told everyone when the brackets came out that #2 Ryan Taylor of Wisconsin was way, way overrated and that #13 Cody Brewer of Oklahoma was severely disrespected and underrated. Looks like I was right. Brewer manhandled #1 seed Chris Dardanes of Minnesota 15-3 and Taylor will be wrestling for seventh place today.
Speaking of Taylor, his lack of sportsmanship in the Quarterfinals against Jimmy Gulibon of Penn State is a black eye on our sport. I was glad to see Coach Barry Davis ream him for his unsportsmanlike gesture. Hopefully it was a sign of pure frustration and just a young man making a mistake. I hope it isn't a reflection of who he really is.
One of my favorite stories of the tournament is the miraculous come back of A.J. Schopp of Edinboro. I really thought after a first round loss, that the senior fighting Scott may have succumbed to injury and would be out soon. Instead he has pinned his way through the consolation, hungry for the Gorriaran award. He has won thus far, 5 matches in a row.
141
Kevin Jack of North Carolina State is one of the many reasons why I hope to see Pat Popolizio get coach of the year honors at this year's tournament. I think he has earned it.
Very excited to see the finals between Port and Stieber. I will miss both of these guys a ton next year. Been two of my favorites, especially Port the last four years.
149
It has been about forever and a day since Lock Haven has had an All American, and it was nice to see the Eagles finally put someone on the award stand with junior Dan Neff.
Also very happy to see Cornell senior Chris Villalonga finally break through and earn All American honors as well. Long time waiting.
Weight class produced two outstanding freshman in B.J. Clagon of Rider and Brandon Sorenson of Iowa. The two could meet for either 3rd or 5th today.
157
Cody Pack of South Dakota State damn near became the JackRabbits first Division I All American as he lost a battle with Virginia Tech's Nick Brascetta in the round to place 5-2. Pack will be a senior next year and I say he gets the job done in 2016.
Ian Miller of Kent State is the talk of the tournament, as many fans feel he should have won a quarterfinal match against Cornell's Brian Realbuto, but was screwed by the referees.
Isaiah Martinez of Illinois is the most impressive freshman this year. I think he'll take it to Realbuto in the finals and easily win freshman of the year honors. If he stays healthy, both physically and mentally, we could be looking at the next Cael Sanderson. He's that good.
My heart goes out to Minnesota's Dylan Ness who will most likely medical forfeit to a 6th place finish because of an injury. The four time All American was always a joy to watch on the mat.
165
Very happy to see Taylor Walsh of Indiana not only finally break through, but make the NCAA finals in his final year as a Hoosier. I contribute much of his success to assistant coach Nick Simmons, who I would like to see take over for Goldman.
Ethan Ramos of North Carolina, one of many outstanding freshman has the potential to become the tarheels third four time all American.
Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State in my opinion is the best pound for pound wrestler in the nation.
Heart goes out to Northwestern's Pierce Harger who fought defaulted in the R12 due to injury. Despite his unfortunate ending, the wildcat showed a lot of class and humility in the way he acted. Very impressed with that.
Heart also goes out to Iowa State's Michael Moreno as the senior finished one match away from All American Status. I was really hoping he would win his match with Isaac Jordan, but it wasn't meant to be.
174
Tyler Wilps of Pittsburgh wrestled a great tournament and upset the #1 seed Robert Kokesh of Nebraska in the quarterfinals and is now in the finals breaking up the top four seeds who everyone thought would finish in the top four. Now one of them, or even two of them will finish below fourth place.
I wish I knew what possessed Iowa's Mike Evans to choose the neutral position against Penn State's Matt Brown. It was nice to see him finally take a few shots though, even though he didn't score on them.
Both Kokesh and Minnesota's Logan Storley came back to make All American Status. The two seniors who have met multiple times throughout their careers, could potentially face one another one last time today.
184
Loving stories of Redemption I was sad to see Taylor Meeks of Oregon State come so close, only to lose out in the blood round. His opponent who defeated him in the blood round is Willie Miklus of Missouri, who wrestled for Southeast Polk High School in Des Moines.
Congrats to Hayden Zillmer of NDSU who is helping to prove that Coach Roger Kish is building the Bison program. Look for Zillmer to contend for the NCAA title next season.
197
With Ohio State's Kyle Snyder's upset of Missouri's J'Den Cox in the semi-finals I think that about all but wraps up the team title for the Buckeyes. Look for Cox to come back and take third, although Minnesota's Scott Schiller could upset him.
Kyven Gadson is on fire, I say he whips Snyder in the finals.
HWT
I have to say compared to 2014, this year's officials have done a much, much better job. This tournament I've only seen one horrendous call and that was in the Spencer Myers of Maryland Vs Matt Kroells of Minnesota match. You cannot tell me that Myers had not scored two points in the closing seconds of the match. Kroells was flat on his back and Myers was clearly in control. Everyone someone gets screwed by a referee. There ought to be an award that says, "I would have won, but the referee decided not to screw me." This year's recipient would be Spencer Myers.
Shout out to Iowa's Bobby Telford who is doing exactly what a man needs to do for his team! Iowa wrestling is all about National titles. They preach a "2nd place sucks" mentality and think anything less than first is unacceptable. With that mindset and the fact that he is a senior, who now knows he will never be an NCAA champion, Telford shows us what intestinal fortitude is all about. He has won five consolation matches and is in a route back to third place. This is the most impressed I have ever been with Telford during his whole career. If there was a "heart" award, he would be in contention for it with Edinboro's A.J. Schopp.
Looking forward to the third and final session tonight!!
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