ISU wrestling finishes in 12th place at the NCAA Championships

Senior Earl Hall is declared the winner of his match in the dual against West Virginia held at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, IA. At 133 lbs Hall registered four takedowns against Cory Stainbrook. Hall won the match 10-5.

Ben Visser
March 19, 2016

Three ISU wrestlers finished on the podium at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, which ended Saturday in New York City. The Cyclones also finished with 35 team points, which was good enough for 12th place overall.

Saturday afternoon started with Lelund Weatherspoon and Pat Downey wrestling in the consolation semi-finals.

Weatherspoon, a 174-pounder, wrestled No. 8 seed Zach Epperly to begin the day for the Cyclones. Weatherspoon lost by major decision 13-5. He would wrestle for fifth place.

Downey wrestled No. 4 seed Nathan Burak of Iowa in his consolation semi-final match. Downey and Burak didn’t wrestle earlier this year when Iowa State and Iowa met at Hilton Coliseum because Downey wasn’t eligible.

Downey lost to Burak in sudden victory, 3-1. Downey would also wrestle for fifth place.

Senior Earl Hall was the first Cyclone to wrestle in his podium match. Hall was wrestling for seventh place against Jade Rauser of Utah Valley.

Hall, a No. 8 seed, dominated the match from the beginning. He had two takedowns that went from feet to back and resulted in a combined 12 points for Hall. He also had another four-point near-fall that resulted in a 16-1 technical fall in the first period.

Hall finished his collegiate career on the podium, finishing seventh at the NCAA Championships. Hall had 33 wins this season.

Weatherspoon wrestled No. 12 seed Nathan Jackson of Indiana for fifth place. Weatherspoon got the first takedown of the match, but he couldn’t find a way to score again. Weatherspoon lost to Jackson, 5-2.

Weatherspoon finished his tournament sixth at 174 pounds. He upset three top-15 wrestlers, including the No. 2 seed in the first round.

Downey wrestled No. 6 Jared Haught of Virginia Tech for the second time in the NCAA Championships. The first time they met, Downey pinned Haught in tiebreakers.

In their second meeting it was more of the same for Downey. He pinned Haught in 3:48 via The Gadson to get fifth place.

Downey beat four top-11 wrestlers in the NCAA Championships.