Hits Keep On Coming

Tony Rotundo/ Wrestlersarewarriors.com 

Session 2 at the NCAA Championships was more of the same, upsets all over the place. While it feels repetitive to write about, it remains the dominating theme of the tournament thus far. The reason it is such a dominant theme is that the top teams expected to contend for the title have traded turns being the victims leaving more questions than answers in the team race. 

Ohio State leads Iowa by 2 points heading in to Friday with a crowded field poised to have a say in it. The Buckeyes had their own upsets with Johnni DiJulius falling to Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) and Mark Martin falling in the opening round. Also hurting the Buckeyes case is Hunter Stieber having to default out of the tournament and Nick Tavanello leaving St Louis (and the year 2015) without a victory. 

Iowa was stinging from the opening round losses of Dziewa & Telford, and then they suffered another blow when Sorensen lost 4-3 to Charles Cobb (Penn). Iowa has 5 in the quarterfinals, but they really need the 3 previously mentioned guys to keep making noise in the backside of the bracket. Nick Moore and Mike Kelly going 0-2 certainly doesn't help the Hawkeyes. 

Missouri suffered a couple upsets in the first round with Eblen & LaVallee, and they added one more in round 2 when #3 seed Lavion Mayes fell to Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) in overtime 3-1. While the Tigers are yet to capitalize on the mis-steps of Iowa & Ohio State, the low scoring tournament sets up great for them if Waters, Cox, and Houdashelt keep winning. Those 3 and some decent consolation results could be enough to keep the trophy in the state. 

Minnesota needed the big 5 guys to come through but will only bring 4 of them to the quarters. Nick Dardanes was upset by Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) 9-4. The Gophers aren't out of it, but really need a lot to go their way. 

The biggest upset of the tournament thus far happened to Cornell and may have eliminated them from contention. Funky Zeke Moisey (West Virginia) was able to get a 4-point takedown in the first on the #2 seed (returning finalist) Nahshon Garrett and hold on to win 5-2. This means Cornell only has 3 alive in the championship bracket and really need some magic here. 

This tournament is wild and a lot of fun to take in. It's just been impossible to predict. Can't wait for the next round. 

Team Scores
1.     Ohio St.     23.0
2.     Iowa     21.0
3.     Oklahoma St.     19.5
4.     Penn St.     18.5
5.     Missouri     18.0
5.     Nebraska     18.0
7.     Cornell     17.5
8.     Illinois     16.5
9.     Michigan     15.0
9.     Virginia Tech     15.0
11.     Minnesota     14.0