Final Stage is Set

The semi's and Bloodround provided a ton of excitement for the sold out Madison Square Garden. Here are your results. The finals will start at 125. 

Penn State has not officially won the team title yet, but the fat lady is in to the chorus. Congrats to Cael and the boys at Penn State getting back on top of the wrestling landscape.

Gilman slayed the dragon that is defending champ Tomasello. The match went to sudden victory and Gilman was able to prevent the Buckeye from rolling out of the single. He will face Megaludis in a rematch of the Big Ten semi that Gilman won. 

125:
No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) pinned No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State), 7:37
No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. No. 15 David Terao (American), 8-2 

I blinked and Brewer was on his back. He got off momentarily but then Garrett stepped back over and finished the job incredibly fast. Clark got a takedown with just ten seconds left to win the rubber match of his series with Richards this season. 

133:
No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) pinned No. 4 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma), 0:21
No. 2 Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. No. 3 Zane Richards (Illinois), 4-3

I probably owe Dean Heil an apology at this point. He continues to win and take advantage when ever his opponent is out of position. Meredith continued his cinderella run. Heil beat Meredith 5-4 in their dual meet match on December 18th.

141:
No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers), 8-3
No. 14 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) dec. No. 2 Joey McKenna (Stanford), 5-3

Zain is a freak, and will face (terminate) Iowa's Sorensen who became Iowa's 3rd finalist.

149:
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) pinned No. 5 Alex Pantaleo (Michigan), 4:49
No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. No. 11 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State), 4-2

Ian Miller deserved a slow clap for his performance. Clearly hobbled, he threw everything and the kitchen sink at the defending champ but dropped the match in OT. Now Nolf and Imar can settle this in their 3rd meeting of the year.  

157:
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) dec. No. 4 Ian Miller (Kent State), 7-5 SV
No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) tech. fall No. 15 Chad Walsh (Rider), 19-4

Dieringer continues to make college wrestling easy. Isaac Jordan has looked great this year, but it is just tough to imagine the Cowboy not finishing one of the most impressive 3-year stretches in NCAA history. 

165:
No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 14-4
No. 2 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. No. 3 Bo Jordan (Ohio State), 5-4

Nate Jackson didn't seem satisfied with being known as the only guy to blemish Nickal's record. Nickal survives the scare and faces true freshman Martin who has taken advantage of the open bracket. You should give Martin credit, he's an NCAA finalist. However, he was able to do it facing 3 unseeded wrestlers and the 6-seed.

174:
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) dec. No. 12 Nate Jackson (Indiana), 4-3
No. 11 Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State), 8-2

Dudley has looked great and really has scored some great points with some nice wrist locks. He'll have to be in top form to knock off the defending champ.

184:
No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. No. 13 Pete Renda (NC State), 9-4
No. 7 T.J. Dudley (Nebraska) maj. dec. No. 14 Willie Miklus (Missouri), 12-4

J'den Cox destroyed Pfarr. That's not a knock on Pfarr, who has looked amazing all season. Cox appears to be in a high level making this final a real toss-up. 

197:
No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) dec. No. 4 Nathan Burak (Iowa), 4-2
No. 2 J'den Cox (Missouri) pinned No. 3 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 6:29

Coon came out firing but as he looked to go behind Gwiz caught a leg and finished. He didn't do much after that leaving Michigan really frustrated with the lack of stall calls. Ty Walz was game and scored on a nice low shot, but the World Champ will look to get his first NCAA championship. 

285:
No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) dec. No. 5 Adam Coon (Michigan), 3-2
No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) dec. No. 3 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech), 10-6