March 8, 2010

Cyler Sanderson Big Ten Champ

Cyler Sanderson went 3-0 over the weekend beating Purdue's Colton Salazar 8-4 in the finals to become Penn State's 20th Big Ten champion. Overall, Penn State qualified 6 wrestlers for Nationals coming in two weeks. Brad Pataky, Frank Molinaro, Sanderson, Dan Vallimont, David Erwin, and Cameron Wade all punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships. Penn State had a strong opening round ending that session in second place but a horrible second round with everyone losing except Sanderson dropped the Nittany Lions all the way to 5th place where they ended. The showing wasn't superb but it wasn't disappointing either. I would have hoped they would get all 7 guys that were seeded through but Adam Lynch just fell short.


FINAL TEAM STANDINGS:
1: Iowa - 156.5
2: Minnesota - 118.5
3: Wisconsin - 109.0
4: Ohio State - 102.5
5: Penn State - 91.0
6: Purdue - 76.0
7: Michigan State - 68.5
8: Indiana - 64.0
8: Illinois - 64.0
10: Michigan - 57.5
11: Northwestern - 20.0

133 - Bryan Pearsall, 174 - Justin Ortega, 197 - Clay Steadman

As expected, all three wrestlers had their season come to an end going a collective 0-6 over the weekend. It's really too bad none of them took advantage of the opportunity at hand because most likely they won't be wrestling next season with all the talent waiting in the wings on redshirt.

125 - Brad Pataky, #4 seed, NCAA Qualifier FOURTH PLACE
Qtrs: W, 7-4 dec. 5th-seed Cashe Quiroga PU
Semis: L, 1-14 maj. dec. 1st-seed Angel Escobedo IN
Cns Semis: W, 11-2 maj. dec. 6th-seed Nikko Triggas OSU
3rd Place: L, 11-13 dec. 3rd-seed Zach Sanders MN

Pataky got destroyed by Escobedo, but had a nice consi semifinal majoring 6th seed Nikko Triggas. Pataky let the 3rd place bout slip away after taking an early 9-3 lead. Pataky tried the cement mixer he uses all the time late in the third and to no surprise was countered by Sanders who then took Brad down. Pataky has to give that move up, any decent wrestler who has seen Pataky before knows to watch for it. The match when into sudden victory overtime and Brad took a wild shot that was countered by Sanders for the winning takedown. All in all though, not a bad tournament for Brad, hopefully he'll get the chance to avenge the loss to Sanders.

141 - Adam Lynch - SIXTH PLACE
1st Rd: W, 17-3 maj. dec. Geno Capezio IN
Qtrs: W, forf. #5 Ryan Prater IL
Semis: L, 4-14 maj. dec. 1st seed Reece Humphrey, Ohio State
Cns. Semis: L, 5-15 maj. dec. 6th-seed Juan Archuleta, Purdue
5th Place: L, 3-18 tech. fall vs. 8th-seed Cole Schmitt, Wisconsin

Although it's not surprising Adam didn't automatically qualify for NCAA's, it's still disheartening. After two wins in a row, Lynch lost 3 straight and needed to finish 4th for the automatic qualification. Lynch could still make it if he would get a wild-card, which will be announced Wednesday, but I highly doubt they will vote in a guy that has a 13-13 record.

149 - Frank Molinaro, #4 seed, NCAA Qualifier FOURTH PLACE
Qtrs: W, 9-6 vs. 5th-seed David Cheza MSU
Semis: L, 3-12 maj. dec. 1st-seed Brent Metcalf IA
Cns Semis: W, 6-0 dec. 7th-seed Mario Mason MN
3rd Place: LBF 3rd-seed Kyle Ruschell WI (3:27)

Frank should have finished 3rd but got caught on a defensive pin. Molinaro was trying to finish off a strong double-leg takedown when Ruschell rolled through causing a scramble that ended in the pin. The astonishing thing at this weight was the finals were Brent Metcalf was beaten 9-3 by No 2 seed Lance Palmer of OSU. At the very least it proves that Metcalf isn't as indestructible as we all once thought. I still don't think Frank can beat Metcalf but at the very least he closed the gap some.

157 - Cyler Sanderson, #2 seed, NCAA Qualifier - BIG TEN CHAMPION
Qtrs: W, 9-7 dec. 7th-seed Clinton Arlis IL
Semis: W, 6-0 dec. Anthony Jones MSU
Finals: W, 8-4 dec. 1st-seed Colton Salazar PU

After a slight scare in the quarters, Sanderson rolled through to claim the championship at 157. Cyler dominated in the finals getting 3 takedowns to Salazar's 1 and that takedown was a counter off a Sanderson shot. Hopefully the championship will give Sanderson a slight boost in the seeding for Nationals.

165 - Dan Vallimont, #4 seed, NCAA Qualifier THIRD PLACE
Qtrs: W, 8-2 dec. 5th-seed Paul Young IN
Semis: L, 1-3 dec. 1st-seed Andrew Howe WI
Cns. Semis: W, 3-1 dec. 7th-seed Cody Yohn MN
3rd Place: W, inj. def. 2nd- seed Ryan Morningstar IA

After a tough 3-1 loss to No 1 seed Andrew Howe of Wisconsin, Dan Vallimont stormed back to take 3rd. Dan was winning 4-2 in the third at the time of the injury default, so the outcome was probably in Dan's favor anyway. Vallimont is wrestling well right now at the right time.

184 - David Erwin, #2 seed, NCAA Qualifier FOURTH PLACE
1st Rd: W, 9-7 dec. Aaron Jones NU
Qtrs: W, 10-4 dec. 7th-seed Hunter Collins UM
Semis: L, 1-4 dec. 3rd-seed Phil Keddy IA
Cons. Semis: W, 6-2 dec. 5th-seed Travis Rutt, WI
3rd Place: L, 1-4 dec. 4th-seed Mike Pucillo OSU

The loss to Keddy of Iowa was disappointing for Erwin, but he did manage to qualify for nationals for the first time in his career. Pucillo used a takedown and strong ride to beat Erwin in the 3rd place bout. I'd love to see Erwin get another shot at Keddy because I think David can beat him. With Keddy losing in the championship bout to No. 1 seed John Dergo of Illinois, it will be interesting to see how the seeding goes for nationals.

HWT - Cameron Wade, #3 seed, NCAA Qualifier FIFTH PLACE
Qtrs: W, 1-0 dec. 6th-seed Corey Morrison OSU
Semis: L, 2-5 dec. vs. 2nd-seed Dan Erekson IA
Cns Semis: L, 1-2 dec. 5th-seed Erik Bugenhagen WI
5th Place: WBF vs. 7th-seed Ben Apland, MI (1:13)

Cameron had a so-so tournament qualifying for NCAA's by pinning Ben Apland in the 5th place bout. The loser of that match went home so it was really nice to see Cameron come through and get to Nationals.


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