By Ryan Young
ryan-c-young@uiowa.edu
David Scrivner/The Daily Iowan Iowa 149-pounder Brent Metcalf wrestles Iowa State's Mitch Mueller during their quarterfinals match in the NCAA Wrestling Championships in the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. on Friday, March 19, 2010. Metcalf won, 16-4, by major decision.
OMAHA, Neb. — Tom Brands wants to let his wrestlers do their talking on the mat Friday night.
So far, they’ve been doing a lot of that.
Five Hawkeyes moved on to the championship semifinals — two more than second-place Cornell and third-place Iowa State, which boast three apiece. Iowa is also tied with the Big Red for the most contenders in the consolation bracket at four.
And despite leading the team title race by 19 points, Brands sees the room for error if his team suddenly becomes complacent.
“We can do better in a lot of places, but we’ve done well in a lot of places, so keep it going,” the four-year Iowa coach said. “We have one guy out and nine alive.”
Matt McDonough (125), Daniel Dennis (133), Montell Marion (141), Brent Metcalf (149), and Jay Borschel (174) all advanced to Friday night’s semifinal round and secured All-American status in the process.
Meanwhile, Ryan Morningstar (165), Phillip Keddy (184), and Dan Erekson (HWT) fell to the consolation bracket. Still viable for third place, each can still earn All-American honors with a wrestleback win Friday night.
In the consolation rounds, unseeded 157-pounder Jake Kerr became the first Iowa grappler eliminated from the tournament, losing to No. 9-seed Matt Moley of Bloomsburg, 5-1, after edging No. 11-seed Robert Erisman of Oklahoma State, 6-5.
In the 197-pound consolation bracket, Chad Beatty remained in contention for bronze with back-to-back one-point triumphs — his first match on Thursday ending in sudden victory.
But narrow wins weren’t exclusive to the Hawkeyes’ wrestleback bouts.
Marion needed 14 seconds of overtime to continue his title run. The sophomore captured a 7-5 quarterfinals triumph in sudden victory against Ohio junior Germane Lindsey after previously allowing Lindsey to knot the score on a last-second shot in the third period.
“That’s what it’s about — winning close matches,” Brands said. “Don’t make them close, but if they’re close, win them.”
McDonough and Metcalf didn’t let their matches come to that, though.
McDonough opened Iowa’s early roll with a 9-0 major decision over unseeded Virginia Tech sophomore Jarrod Garnett. The redshirt freshman scored a takedown and a two-point near-fall in the first period before tallying two more two-point near-falls in the second to effectively clinch the victory.
He is slated to face unseeded 125-pounder Cashé Quiroga of Purdue and could meet either Iowa State freshman Andrew Long or two-time Big Ten champion and top-seeded Angel Escobedo in Saturday night’s finale.
McDonough downed Long, 13-7, during the Hawkeyes’ dual meet in Ames last December and fell to Escobedo, 6-4, in the conference title match two weeks ago.
Another Big Ten championship rematch could come to fruition on Saturday.
Metcalf notched a 16-7 major decision over Iowa State’s Mitch Mueller and will match up with third-seeded 149-pounder Kyle Terry of Oklahoma in the semifinals.
Ohio State senior Lance Palmer, on the other hand, will wrestle Penn State’s No. 5 seed Frank Molinaro. Palmer managed a 5-3 decision against Molinaro during the teams’ dual meet in January.
Team standings:
1. Iowa: 73
2. Cornell: 54
3. Iowa State: 46
- Ohio State: 46
5. Oklahoma: 44
6. Oklahoma State: 43
7. Minnesota: 35
8. Penn State: 33
- Wisconsin: 33
10. Missouri: 30
Championship quarterfinal results:
125 — No. 3 Matt McDonough (I) major dec. Jarrod Garnett (VA Tech), 9-0
133 — No. 2 Daniel Dennis (I) dec. No. 10 Nick Fanthorpe (Iowa State), 4-3
141 — No. 6 Montell Marion (I) dec. Germane Lindsey (Ohio), 7-5 SV
149 — No. 2 Brent Metcalf (I) major dec. No. 7 Mitch Mueller (Iowa State), 16-4
165 — No. 2 Jarrod King (Edin) dec. No. 7 Ryan Morningstar (I), 2-1
174 — No. 2 Jay Borschel (I) dec. No. 10 Jordan Blanton (Illinois), 3-0
184 — No. 1 Kirk Smith (Boise State) dec. No. 9 Phillip Keddy (I), 6-4
HWT — No. 4 Konrad Dudziak (Duke) dec. No. 5 Dan Erekson (I), 6-2
Consolation second round results:
157 — Jake Kerr (I) dec. No. 11 Robert Erisman (OK State), 6-5
197 — No. 9 Chad Beatty dec. Joseph Kennedy (Lehigh), 2-1 TB
Consolation third round results:
157 — No. 9 Matt Moley (Bloomsburg) dec. Jake Kerr (I), 5-1
197 — No. 9 Chad Beatty dec. Matthew Wips (Pitt), 3-2
