NWCA National Duals: Finals results

In a tournament that went largely as seeded, the Ohio State wrestling team refused to concede third place to three-seed Oklahoma. Instead the Buckeyes came out firing, winning four of the first five matches en route to a 23-16 victory over the Sooners.

Nick Roberts got things going with a fall over Williams of Oklahoma. Johnni DiJulius and Logan Stieber followed up with wins by decision and tech fall respectively. After three matches the Buckeyes led 14-0. Ian Paddock lost a Major Decision to defending National Champion Kendrick Maple at 148, but Randy Languis (157) righted the ship with a 6-1 decision victory, giving the Buckeyes a 17-4 lead at intermission.

The Sooners won two of the next three matches, tightening the score at 20-11. Next up at 197 pounds was #8 Nick Heflin whose reward for beating #2 Scott Schiller in the semifinals was a matchup with #5 Travis Rutt. Once again, Heflin rose to the occaison, posting a 6-3 decision victory and securing the victory for the Buckeyes. Ohio State's Kosta Karagore would lose via tech fall in the final match of the evening, but it wouldn't matter as Ohio State held on 23-16.

Elsewhere in another match that some folks thought was of some importance, Minnesota took it to Cornell, winning by a score of 24-15 to earn the NWCA National Duals championship.

Semifinals Results

The Semifinals of the NWCA national duals ended up pretty much as expected, with the top four teams all making it through. In one matchup it was Cornell taking on Oklahoma. The other mat featured the Ohio State  Buckeyes tangling with #1 Minnesota.

Minnesota was the heavy favorite coming into its semifinal bout with the Buckeyes. Ohio State would likely need several upsets (and bonus points from its big guns) to pull off the upset. Nick Roberts got the Buckeyes started off right at 125 pounds, beating Sam Brancale 9-7. However, at 133 in a battle between ranked wrestlers, Johnni DiJulius fell 8-5 to David Thorn, tying the dual up at 3 points a piece. Following DiJulius was #2 Logan Stieber in a matchup versus #5 Chris Dardanes. Toward the end of the first period, Stieber exploded with a double-leg, taking Dardanes straight to his back for five points, paving the way for a 10-0 major decision victory. Next up was #20 Ian Paddock versus #3 Nick Dardanes at 149 pounds. Paddock fought hard, but fell 6-2, narrowing the Buckeye lead to 7-6. Unranked Randy Languis also battled, but dropped a 8-4 decision to #5 Dylan Ness of Minnesota. The Buckeyes went into intermission trailing 7-9.

After intermission, things began to go downhill for the Ohio State. Joe Grandominico lost a decision at 165, and backups Joey Bresciani (174) and Josh Fox (185) lost via 15-0 tech fall and 11-2 major decision respectively. The lone bright spot of the second half for Ohio State was #8 Nick Heflin (197) who took down #2 Scott Schiller via a thrilling 8-4 decision. Heflin took Schiller straight to his back in the first period, gaining a 5-0 lead that he would never relinquish. So frustrated was Schiller by the end of the match, that he shoved Heflin after the whistle.

At heavyweight Nick Tavanello faced Minnesota backup Michael Krolls (With the meet in hand, Tony Nelson was held out) and lost by way of an 11-3 major decision. The final match score was 25-10 Minnesota.

Semifinal 2: Cornell v. Oklahoma

The second semifinal of the evening saw Cornell eek out a 23-20 team victory over Oklahoma. Pins by #1 Nashon Garrett (125) and #3 Gabe Dean (184) and an upset by #8 Chris Villalonga (149) over defending national champion #3 Kendric Maple were the difference in a match where both teams won five matches.

The finals will feature Cornell taking on Minnesota in a battle of the two top seeds in the tournament. The Buckeyes will wrestle Oklahoma for third place. Wrestling will begin at 4pm and be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.