NCAA Wrestling Championships Day 1 recap: Iowa, Iowa State tied for second place
More: NCAA Wrestling Championships: Day 2 live updates and analysis for Iowa, Iowa State, UNI
KANSAS CITY — After a crazy first day of action, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones are in a tie for second place at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
The Hawkeyes were 13-5 on Thursday and will send four to the quarterfinals in Drake Ayala, Real Woods, Jared Franek and Michael Caliendo. Brody Teske, Caleb Rathjen, Patrick Kennedy, Zach Glazier and Bradley Hill all remain alive in consolations. Bonus points were big for Iowa to get to second place, with five major decisions, four technical falls and Rathjen advancing by injury default (2.5 team points including advancement points).
Iowa State also had a good day, sending Evan Frost, Anthony Echemendia, Casey Swiderski, David Carr and Yonger Bastida to the quarterfinals. Kysen Terukina, Cody Chittum, MJ Gaitan and Will Feldkamp are all still competing in the consolations. The Cyclones had one major decision, four technical falls and three pins to get 15 bonus points.
"Today was nice, I'm excited about a lot of stuff that happened today," coach Kevin Dresser said. "But (Friday) is the big day."
Northern Iowa will take Jared Simma, the No. 28 seed, to the quarterfinals alongside Parker Keckeisen. Cael Happel, Ryder Downey and Wyatt Voelker are still wrestling in consolations, while Julian Farber (0-2) and Jack Thomsen (1-2) had their seasons come to an end on Thursday night. Northern Iowa is in 16th place heading into Day 2.
More: NCAA Wrestling Championships: Day 2 live updates and analysis for Iowa, Iowa State, UNI
Here's a look at the top 10 in a fiery team race that saw Penn State pull ahead in the second session:
1st - Penn State (34.5 points)
T2nd - Iowa and Iowa State (24.5 points)
T4th - Michigan and North Carolina State (22 points)
6th - Nebraska (21 points)
7th - Ohio State (20.5 points)
8th - Cornell (18.5 points)
9th - Virginia Tech (17.5 points)
T10th - Missouri and Oklahoma State (14 team points)
16th - Northern Iowa (12 points)
Miss some of the action? Want to know what certain wins mean for specific guys at Iowa, Iowa State or Northern Iowa? Want to know Friday's matchups? Below, we've got you covered from the first match to the last. Updated brackets can be found on trackwrestling.com
9:45: Iowa's Bradley Hill has special day end with loss, Iowa State's Yonger Bastida dominates again
Stop us if you have heard this before, but Bastida had a heck of an effort against No. 15 Lewis Fernandes of Cornell. In the Collegiate Duals in December, Fernandes rode Bastida for an entire period. On Thursday night while on bottom against Fernandes, Bastida flipped his fortunes with a reversal and eventually a win by technical fall to reach the quarterfinals. Yet another key development as his undefated season continues on.
He'll now have a rematch with Michigan's Lucas Davison, who he beat at the Cliff Keen Invitational early this year, for a spot in the semifinals and potentially his second All-American honors if he gets a win.
Hill did not have the same luck, falling by major decision to Ohio State's Nick Feldman. He drops to the consolations and will face Virginia Tech's Hunter Catka Friday morning.
9:20: Iowa's Zach Glazier, UNI's Wyatt Voelker advance in consolations
Voelker was particularly dominant in his consolation match with Sam Mitchel of Buffalo, rolling to a 19-3 technical fall. Glazier had a tougher match, facing Ohio State's Luke Geog (No. 23 seed). Regardless, Glazier advanced by major decision and will face No. 9 Stephen Little of Little Rock.
Glazier getting those bonus points on the back side for the Hawkeyes can be a huge benefit, despite his early loss. If he can stay alive in the consolations and keep doing that, his early loss might be a blessing in disguise if he can get bonus point that might not have been available to him on the front side against tougher opponents.
9:00: UNI's Parker Keckeisen wins by technical fall over ISU's Feldkamp
Two matches, two bonus-point decisions for Keckeisen. This time it was via technical fall over Iowa State's Will Feldkamp in a 19-4 decision. As a result, he's got Navy's David Key, a No. 25 seed to try and make the semifinals Friday morning.
Keckeisen is 28-8 with all but three matches won in bonus-point fashion. It's likely down to him and Aaron Brooks for the Dan Hodge trophy and may come down to which one can emerge in their respective weight class. If they both do, Brooks would likely get the nod being a four-time NCAA champion.
8:30: Simma!
You're not going to find anyone in this tournament having a better day than Jared Simma of UNI.
Factoring in riding time, Simma was down 5-4 to North Carolina's Tyler Eischens. On bottom, Simma rolled and scrambled until he found his way on top for a reversal and the 65 win by decision to make the quarterfinals as the No. 28 seed. He'll face Michigan's Shane Griffith tomorrow for an All-American spot. You can hear about how he's getting it done below.
Iowa's Patrick Kennedy, who lost to Eischens in the first round, rallied in the consolations with a stern 18-3 win over Harvard's No. 5 Philip Conigilaro. Brands praised his effort in the press conference following the first day.
Iowa State's MJ Gaitan advanced with a pin, because how else would Gaitan win, over Rider Michael Wilson.
8:10: Michael Caliendo, David Carr roll into quarterfinals
Offense, offense and more offense from Caliendo and Carr. Against No. 22 Noah Mulvaney of Bucknell, Caliendo dominated en route to a 26-10 technical fall with eight takedowns. As a result, he'll face No. 3 Julian Ramirez of Cornell for an All-American spot tomorrow morning. To this point, Iowa was 5-1 in the second session.
Carr had similar success, winning a 10-1 bout over Stanford's Hunter Garvin. Garvin, coincidentally, is an Iowa City West alumni. Carr now has Wisconsin's Dean Hamiti, a two-time All-American, for a spot in the semifinals. A win for Carr would likely set up Carr vs. Keegan O'Toole part five on Friday night, which every wrestling fan in the country wants to see.
Northern Iowa's Jack Thomsen had his NCAAs also come to an end after a 4-1 sudden defeat to Indiana's Tyler Lillard. He's the second UNI wrestler to be eliminated as the Panthers sit in a tie for 20th at the moment.
7:50: Jared Franek onto quarterfinals, Downey falls to All-American
Franek got after MAC champion and No. 10 Peyten Keller in the first period, scoring the first takedown. From there, he did what he does best by holding on defensively to advance with a 4-3 decision. He's now one win away from All-American status for the second time of his career.
That, momentarily, pushed Iowa into second with 18.5 team points until Nebraska quickly took back over with 19. Franek will face Arizona State's Jacori Teemer, the No. 2 seed. Iowa State's Cody Chittum, who remained alive in the consolations with a 20-4 technical fall over Rider's Colton Washleski, beat Teemer in a dual earlier this year. On the flip side, Franek beat Chittum in the Cy-Hawk dual.
What's all that mean? Considering those are results from months ago, probably not a whole lot, but it does go to show Franek has a shot to make the semifinals in that bout.
Downey had a tough draw at 157, facing two-time All-American Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech. Downey fought admirably, but fell in a 9-6 decision. He should be primed to do some damage on the backside.
7:25: Casey Swiderski advances to quarterfinals in thriller
Tied at five heading into the tiebreakers of overtime, Swiderski rode Cornell's Ethan Fernandez for the entirety of the 30 second frame. He then chose neutral and got a takedown as time expired.
Ultimately, that was a frustrating match for Swiderski, who was in on a few shots by could not finish. He stayed composed and finished off the win late by not letting his emotions get the best of him, which bodes well for his quarterfinal match with No. 1 Ridge Lovett of Nebraska.
"He kept his S--- together, and I don't know if he would have kept his S--- together last year," Dresser said. "It was good for him, he kept his composure."
On the backside, Iowa's Caleb Rathjen advanced by injury default over South Dakota State's Alek Martin to stay alive. 133-pound sophomore Julian Farber of Northern Iowa had his NCAAs cut short with a late injury default against Indiana's Cayden Rooks.
7:10: Real Woods dominates to advance to quarterfinals
Controlled. That's the word you can use to describe Woods' match against No. 14 Jesse Vasquez of Arizona State. He rolled to a 8-0 decision against Vasquez, including 2:31 of riding time in his bout. He also had a reversal wiped from the scoreboard. He didn't fire away on shots a lot, but executed them when he did and had a mean ride on top through the first period in particular.
If Woods keeps doing that, as Brands says he likes to see from him, he'll be tough to beat, He's got North Carolina's Lachlan McNeil next, who he beat in convincing fashion at the Soldier Salute in December.
Iowa State's Anthony Echemendia got another win over Missouri's Josh Edmond (No. 21), this time with a 8-2 decision. UNI's Cael Happel remains alive in the consolations as well, defeating Oklahoma State's No. 10 Tagen Jamison for the third time this season.
6:40: Evan Frost advances to quarterfinals with takedown at buzzer
How about the freshman!
Tied at one in the third period with No. 24 Julian Chlebove of Arizona State, Frist was in deep on a high-crotch shot and finished the takedown with under 10 seconds to go to advance. He'll face Oklahoma State's Daton Fix in the quarterfinals, who he's 0-2 against this year including a defeat in the Big 12 finals at 133 pounds.
Iowa's Brody Teske suffered his first loss to No. 1 Ryan Crookham of Lehigh in an 8-3 loss by decision. Teske was aggressive, but conceded a pair of takedowns in the first period as a result.
6:20: Drake Ayala kicks off session two, defeats former No. 1 Nico Provo
If anyone knows that defeating someone who was once ranked at No. 1 doesn't mean a whole lot, it's probably Ayala after he lost that honor right after he got it. Regardless, he got a nice win over Provo by getting to his offense early with three takedowns in the first period. He secured a 19-4 technical fall with aa total of six takedowns by the beginning of the third period.
That, in all reality, was Ayala's most complete match of the year. He was attacking as much as we've seen him do so all season and re-attacked well on Provo's shots.
"Give him credit, let's keep a good thing going," Brands said.
With Lehigh's No. 2 Luke Stanich falling in his bout, Ayala is the highest remaining seed on his side of the bracket. In short, he's got a nice path to the finals to keep Iowa's streak alive. He's got Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley in the quarterfinals, who he beat in overtime with a takedown into a near-fall at the end of the dual season. His potential semifinal opponent would be the winner of Wisconsin's Eric Barnett and Nebraska's Caleb Smith, who Ayala also beat this season.
Iowa State's Kysen Terukina remains alive with a win over Army's Ethan Bergnic with a 4-2 decision, but will draw ACC champion Jakob Camacho next.
2:50: Hear from UNI coach Doug Schwab, ISU assistant coach Brent Metcalf after session one
Here is how things left off after session one in the team race:
1st - Penn State (15.5 points)
2nd - Nebraska (14 points)
3rd - Michigan (13.5 points)
4th - Ohio State (12.5 points)
5th - Iowa State (12 points)
6th - Virginia Tech (11.5 points)
7th - Cornell and North Carolina State (11 points)
9th - Iowa (10.5 points)
10th - Oklahoma State (10 points)
18th - Northern Iowa (six points)
2:30: Bradley Hill strikes back
Coach Tom Brands said Hill was not chopped liver, and Hill proved why in the first round.
Hill sat back and watched his teammates fall in back-to-back fashion, so he took it upon himself to strike back. Facing the No. 8 seed Owen Trephan of North Carolina State, Hill's third period takedown pushed him to a 4-2 victory over the two-time ACC heavyweight champion.
That, by far, is Hill's biggest win of the season after not having a marquee win on his resume thus far. He'll now face Ohio State's Nick Feldman, who Hill injury defaulted out of the Big Ten's against.
As a result, Iowa will finish the first session with 10.5 team points.
For Iowa State, Yonger Bastida continued his pinning ways, with his third of the postseason over Minnesota's Bennett Tabor. He was leading 9-2 prior to the fall, showcasing his explosive offense as he has all season long. He's got Cornell's Lewis Fernandes in the second round for a spot in the quarterfinals.
2:15: Iowa's Zach Glazier upset in first round by Virginia Tech's Andy Smith
Glazier and Smith each traded escapes in regulation, but Smith got in on a single and toppled Glazier for an upset in the first round, which is yet another tough blow in the heavier weights for Iowa after Patrick Kennedy's early loss. The Hawkeyes are 5-3 on the afternoon, but four bonus point wins have kept them afloat.
UNI's Wyatt Voelker was also toppled in the first round by Rutgers' John Poznanski in a 4-2 bout.
1:45: UNI's Parker Keckeisen, Iowa State's Will Feldkamp roll at 184 pounds
Keckeisen got his tourney started with a slow, but dominant 10-0 major decision over LIU's Anthony D'Alesio (No. 32). D'Alesio concerted his efforts on limiting points, but Keckeisen got his 24th win in bonus point fashion of the season with six third period points.
On the mat beside Keckeisen was Feldkamp, who pinned Princeton's Nate Dugan in the first period to setup a ISU vs. UNI second round between the two. Feldkamp, a former All-American, has been battling injury in the last month or so, so we'll find out how healthy he is pretty darn quick in that one. Iowa State assistant coach Brent Metcalf of Iowa State said his arm is feeling much better than it was at the Big 12's as of now and that the quick win will only help that going forward.
1:30: "Simma!"
Anytime you watch Northern Iowa, you'll hear the entire coaching staff yell Jared Simma's last name. The sophomore has a knack for getting guys on his back for falls or back points, and that's exactly what he did in a 7-0 decision over Harvard's No. 5 Philip Conigliaro with four near-fall points for a huge upset.
Simma controlled that match from start to finish and will now face North Carolina's Tyler Eischens. Eischens (No. 21) secured a late takedown on a scramble to defeat Iowa's Patrick Kennedy in the third period (9-7 decision), which is a tough blow for the Hawkeyes and their team efforts.
Iowa State's MJ Gaitan, who also is known for going after pins, was nearly pinned himself and lost an 18-11 bout to Army's Benjamin Pasiuk by conceding a plethora of back points in the first period and couldn't dig his way out.
1:20: Iowa's Michael Caliendo, Iowa State's David Carr roll in first round
This was the third time Caliendo had scrapped with No. 27 seeded Blaine Brenner of Minnesota. He had little trouble once again, moving to 3-0 against Brenner on the year with an 11-2 major decision this time around. Caliendo's offense was solid with a trio of takedowns, including two in the second period, but his defense on Brenner's attacks were particularly sound to advance.
Caliendo will wrestle Bucknell's Noah Mulvaney (No. 22), who upset Navy's Andrew Cerniglia (No. 11) in a 10-9 decision.
Carr did what Carr usually does, with an 18-2 technical fall on 12 second period points. He has Stanford's Hunter Garvin (No. 20) next, but he's going to be hard to beat if he keeps that up.
After advancing to the first round, UNI's Jack Thomsen was pinned by Keegan O'Toole of Missouri, sending him to the consolations with a 1-1 record.
1:00: Iowa's Jared Franek, UNI's Ryder Downey advance, ISU's Cody Chittum upset
Franek, literally and figuratively, narrowly escaped against Purdue's Joey Blaze. Heading into overtime, Franek got an escape four seconds faster than Blaze, allowing him to advance to the second round with a sudden victory.
Ultimately, with this being the third time these two have seen one another, there was a lot of defensive efforts going on. There was a ton of hand fighting in this bout with little shots taken, so against Ohio's Peyton Kellar in the second round, Franek may need to open the offense more against the reigning MAC champion.
Downey faced Oklahoma's Jared Hill in the first round. After a scoreless first two periods, Downey got an escape to open the third and picked up a takedown to secure a 4-1 result. He moves on to face a tough Virginia Tech's Bryce Andonian, who's a two-time All-American.
Chittum had a tough draw in his first round despite being the No. 14 seed, facing two-time SOCON champion Tommy Askey of Appalachian State. Askey scored five takedowns to Chittum's zero, as Askey continued to evade Chittum's shots with some shifty footwork. As a result, we'll miss out on the anticipated Chittum vs. Cornell's Meyer Shapiro, who were both top recruits coming out of high school and could have faced in the following round.
12:40: Iowa State's Casey Swiderski gets chippy, Iowa suffers first loss
After rolling in the previous bouts, Iowa suffered its first loss of the afternoon versus Oklahoma State's Jordan Williams. Tied at five, Rathjen looked like he was certain for a takedown via ankle pick, but Williams brought into a scramble and won the bout with a takedown into a cradle near-fall to advance in a 12-5 decision.
Swiderski advanced at 149 pounds for Iowa State, winning a 2-1 decision over Army's Matthew Williams. Swiderski was the aggressor in the match, firing away for the full seven minutes as he promised. It was to the point where after Williams was dinged for a stalling point and Swiderski shoved Williams in an effort seemingly to rile him Williams up to wrestle.
An ongoing development here is a rocky start for Penn State by its standard. Aaron Nagao (133 pounds) and Tyler Kasak (149 pounds) each suffered upsets, dropping Penn State to 3-2 in the first round. It's hammers in No. 1 seeded Braeden Davis (8-1 decision) and Levi Haines (technical fall, 17-2) rolled to wins to keep the Nittany Lions in a decent spot as expected.
12:00: Real Woods keeps it rolling for Iowa, Cael Happel suffers upset
This is about as good as a start as you could have drawn up for the Hawkeyes, with Woods rolling to a 15-0 technical fall. He had a pair of four-point near falls in the match, showing a bit more of that control he's been looking for in matches rather than rapid-fire shots we've seen from him in the past.
As a result, Iowa led the team race after the first three weight classes of the first round concluded with 6.5 points. How long will that stay? Stats and the prowess of Penn State say not long, but these bonus points will help a ton down the line regardless of position.
In a surprise, Northern Iowa's Cael Happel fell in sudden defeat fashion to Minnesota's No. 26 Vince Vombaur (8-5 sudden defeat). On the day, the Panthers are 1-2 going into the 149-pound class. Iowa State's Anthony Echemendia rolled to a 20-4 technical fall of his own, taking the Cyclones to 2-1 thus far on the afternoon.
11:30: Iowa's Brody Teske starts with a bang, Evan Frost skates by for ISU
Bonus points are going to big, as always, in this tournament. However, perhaps nobody more than Iowa needs them with how tight this team race for second should be.
Teske did that for the Hawkeyes, with a 12-4 major decision over South Dakota State's Derrick Cardinal with a trio of takedowns. Next, he'll get Lehigh's Ryan Crookham, the No. 2 seed and widely considered by many to be one of three guys who can win the class alongside Oklahoma State's Daton Fix and Cornell's Vito Arujau.
Frost had a shaky start in his bout by conceding a takedown to Army's Braeden Basile to trail 3-0. He railed for an 8-5 decision to survive and advance, which is what the tournament is all about. He'll get the No. 24 seed Julian Chlebove of Arizona State, who upset No. 9 Dominick Serrano in a 4-1 decision.
UNI's Julian Farber also dropped his match, losing to Nebraska's Jacob Van Dee for the first time this season win a 5-1 decision. Van Dee had perviously lost to Farber twice this year.
11:15: Results from 125-pound class from Iowa schools
Two Iowa schools got rolling here, with Iowa's Drake Ayala and Iowa State's Kysen Terukina. Ayala had a battle initially with Cal Baptist's Elijah Griffin, but heated up late in the match with a pair of takedowns to open up the match for a 10-2 major decision. He'll get Stanford's Nico Provo later tonight, a wrestler who spent some time ranked No. 1 for a short time this season.
Terukina had a tough bout with Minnesota's Patrick McKee, but McKee's ability to win scrambles saw him advance to the next round with a 9-4 decision.
In a shocker across the weight class, Wyoming's Jore Volk (No. 5, Big 12 Champion) fell to Harvard's Diego Sotelo. Of the 16 bouts, there were actually only three upsets in the wild 125-pound class through the season.
11:00: Wrestling is underway with pigtail bouts
Northern Iowa's Jack Thomsen was the first wrestlers from the state of Iowa to get things rolling at 165 pounds in the No. 32 vs. No. 33 matchup. Thomsen came through for the Panthers, with a 13-3 major decision over a Lehigh wrestler.
His gift? Reigning champion Keegan O'Toole of Missouri.
Welcome to March.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: NCAA Wrestling Championships Day 1 recap: Iowa, Iowa State and UNI
