Recap of what happened in the Friday evening session and on Saturday:
125: Triggas picked up a huge 7-6 victory over Jarrod Garnett to earn All-American honors. After two Garnett TDs, Triggas trailed 4-2 after the first period. Nikko chose to start the second neutral, and got a TD, taking Garnett to his back to pick up an extra 2. 6-4 Triggas going into the third. Garnett started down and got the reversal to tie it up 6-6, but Nikko got out out to pick up the 7-6 victory.
Triggas would go on to fall 8-2 to Minnesota's #6 seed Zach Sanders, who Triggas has always struggled against. He then fell 9-3 to ASU's #4 seed Anthony Robles to finish 8th.
Incredible tournament for Triggas. Hopefully he continues to wrestle at this level next season.
141: Humphrey fell 3-2 in the first tiebreaker period to Cornell's #1 seed Kyle Dake in the semifinals. For me, this was probably the most disappointing match of the tournament for OSU. Not because Reece lost, but because I think the match was his to win.
In the first period they got into a scramble, with Reece picking up the TD and nearly getting back points to go up 2-0. But then with 20 or seconds left in the period he just cut Dake loose. I am still trying to figure out why he didn't at least attempt to ride Dake out for the remainder of the period. Then to start the second period Reece decided to start neutral. I understand that Dake is great on top, but if you want to be a national champion, I think you have to at least believe you have the ability to start down and get an escape. If Reece started down and got out in less than a minute, he wins the match. If he gets out and Dake gets riding time, its a wash, same as staring neutral. In any event, no one scored in the second, and they went into the third with Reece up 2-1. Dake started down in the third and got the escape to send the match to sudden victory 2-2. No scoring in SV. Reece started down and Dake rode him out for the entire 30 seconds. Dake then took down and got out quickly. Dake got a stalling warning, but Reece couldn't take him down. Dake wins 3-2.
Humphrey moved on to the consolation semifinals where he absolutely destroyed Ohio's Germane Lindsey 17-4.
Reece would go on to finish 3rd, defeating Oklahoma's #5 seed Zack Bailey 3-2. Bailey had impressively fought back from a first round loss all the way to the 3rd place match. Reece picked up the first period TD and went into the second period leading 2-1 after a Bailey escape. Reece chose down to start the second and got out to lead 3-1 going into the third period. Bailey started down and got the escape to trail 3-2. Reece in a few shots but couldn't finish. Fended off a good attempt by Bailey and got the victory. This was really how I had hoped the Dake match would have turned out.
149: Lance defeated PSU's #5 seed Frank Molinaro 2-0 before falling in the finals to Iowa's #2 seed Brent Metcalf, 3-2.
In the semis, nothing happened in the first period, Lance started down and got the escpae in the second to lead 1-0 going into the third. Lance rode Molinaro out the entire period to pick up the riding time point and the 2-0 victory.
In the finals, Metcalf picked up an early TD and it took a while for Lance to get out. 2-1 Metcalf going into the second and Lance started down. Picked up the escape, but not before Metcalf got 1:00 of RT. 2-2 going into the third, Metcalf starts neutral. No scoring, Metcalf gets the RT point and the 3-2 win. Palmer becomes on the second OSU wrestler to be a four-time All-American.
165: Colt loses his AA match 2-0 to Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui. After no scoring in the first, Colt started the second down, where Amuchastegui proceeded to ride him out for the entire period. Amuchastegui started down in the third, got the escape as well as the riding point and the 2-0 win.
No AA finish for Colt yet again, is, to say the least, too bad. He was just abused on the bottom in his two losses, and has to improve from that position. Losing to to two unseeded wrestlers also stings, but in his defense, they went on to finish 4th and 5th.
184: Pucillo falls 8-7 to Oklahoma State's #5 seed Clayton Foster, falling one win shy of becoming a four-time All-American. I know Mike has to be disappointed about the way things ended, but he certainly didn't go down without a fight.
Foster got a TD and NF in the first, to lead 4-1 going into the second. Foster started down, got the escape, and then picked up another TD to go up 7-1. I thought the match was all but over at this point, but Mike fought back, first getting the escape, and then picking up a TD of his own to trail 7-4 going into the third. Pucillo started down and go the escape, now down 7-5. Mike was able to get in for another TD to tie it up 7-7, but couldn't ride out Foster, who was able to get the escape and the 8-7 win. But what an effort from Mike Pucillo.
Team: As a team, the Bucks would finish in 8th place.
Final Team Results
1. 134.5 Iowa
2. 90.0 Cornell
3. 75.0 Iowa State
4. 70.5 Wisconsin
5. 69.0 Oklahoma
6. 65.0 Oklahoma State
7. 63.0 Minnesota
8. 62.0 Ohio State
9. 49.0 Penn State
10. 48.0 Missouri