NCAA WRESTLING TOURNAMENT: Cyclones third going into the finals
March 22, 2009
St.
Louis, Mo.—Third place is as high the ISU wrestling team can climb
in the team standings after a bittersweet finish to the consolation
matches Saturday morning.
The
Cyclones currently sit in third place with 80.5 points. Iowa used a
big round in the wrestlebacks, collecting 16.5 points to surpass
Ohio State for the team lead heading into tonight’s
finals.
Jake
Varner (197) is the only Iowa State wrestler in the championship,
and the max number of points he can score is six, which still
trails Ohio State by two team points even without the three
Buckeyes three results in the finals.
At
the start of the day, three Cyclones found themselves wrestling for
a chance at third-place. Nick Gallick (141), Jon Reader (165) and
David Zabriskie (HWT) needed only on victory to assure at least a
fourth-place finish.
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“Calibri”>Gallick got things started for Iowa State with a 5-1
decision over Maryland’s Alex Krom and then followed that with a
decision over No. Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin, 5-3, to earn
third-place honors.
“I’m
happy I was able to come back and win the rest of my matches, but
third place is third place. It’s not first, so it doesn’t sit
wonderful with me,” said Gallick. “I don’t come to the tournament
to take third, I come to win it.”
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“Calibri”>Losing a match in the championship bracket can typically
make the next match hard knowing the title is out of reach, but
Gallick had himself and the team on his mind throughout the
wrestlebacks.
“I
wanted a national championship, but that’s not possible so I just
tried to fight back and tried to take third for myself and for the
team, “ Gallick said. “…It shows character being able to come back
after a loss, and that’s important to me. Even though you lose a
match it’s still a sport. You know, I love to go out there and
compete…but definitely pride is huge.”
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“Calibri”>Reader recovered from his heartbreaking semifinal loss
Friday night to down Bucknell’s Andrew Rendos, 7-4. The Cyclone
sophomore would not join Gallick with a third-place finish after
losing in sudden victory to Iowa’s Ryan Morningstar,
7-5.
The
match went into the extra period after Morningstar scored a
takedown with 15 seconds left in the match. It was the third loss
of the season to the Hawkeye, despite holding onto a 5-1 lead at
one point in the match.
Iowa
State fans were accustomed to seeing exciting heavyweight matches
from Zabriskie throughout the tournament, but all of the excitement
was saved for Iowa’s Daniel Erekson in the consolation
semifinals.
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“Calibri”>Erekson used two first period takedowns and flattened
Zabriskie to his back for a crucial pin, knocking the Cyclone
junior into the fifth-place match.
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“Calibri”>Zabriskie rebounded in impressive fashion, defeating Kent
State’s Jermail porter,3-1, despite giving up roughly seven inches
and close to 55 pounds.
With
the fifth-place finish, Zabriskie garnered his second straight
all-American honor.
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“Calibri”>Tonight’s finals will begin at 5:30 and will be aired
live on ESPN.
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“Calibri”>Results
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“Calibri”>Consolation Semifinals
No.
6 Nick Gallick (ISU) dec. Alex Krom (Maryland), 5-1
No.
8 Jon Reader (ISU) dec. Andrew Rendos (Bucknell), 7-4
No.
7 Dan Erekson (Iowa) pinned No. 1 David Zabriskie (ISU),
1:31
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“Calibri”>Consolation Finals
No.
6 Nick Gallick (ISU) dec. No. 2 Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin),
5-3
No.
3 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) dec. No. 8 Jon Reader (ISU), 7-5
SV
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“Calibri”>Fifth-Place Match
No.
1 David Zabriskie (ISU) dec. No. 3 Jermail Porter (Kent State),
3-1
“Calibri”>Finals
“Calibri”>No. 2 Jake Varner (ISU) vs. No. 1 Craig Brester
(Nebraska)
“Calibri”>These two have wrestle three times this season, with
Varner holding a 2-1 advantage. However, a couple of weeks ago at
the Big 12 Championships, Brester scored the only takedown on
Varner this season and held on for a 4-3 decision. Varner is
looking for his first national title after being second in each of
the last two championships.
