McIntosh pin puts Penn State on top heading into NCAA quarters

NEW YORK — Down 4-1 in his second-round match with Kent State’s Kyle Conel, Penn State’s top-ranked Morgan McIntosh came back to pin the Golden Flash with just under a minute left to also preserve the two-time All-American’s final shot at winning a national title at the 2016 NCAA Championships in Madison Square Garden.

Session2-TeamScores

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And by rallying to dominate his lesser-known opponent, McIntosh’s fall — which guaranteed Penn State six wrestlers in Friday morning’s quarterfinals — also provided the Nittany Lions the top billing after two rounds as Penn State leads Ohio State and Oklahoma State by a 27-24 margin heading into Friday’s action, which begins at 11 a.m. (EDT).

RETURN TO WIN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS CENTRAL

Among the other five Lions advancing, top-ranked Zain Retherford (149) pinned Edinboro’s Pat Lugo in 6:37 and Jason Nolf (157) scored a 25-10 technical fall over Penn’s May Bethea. Also remaining alive in the championship bracket for Penn State are Nico Megaludis (125), Jordan Conaway (133) and Bo Nickal, who all scored decisions.

Ohio State, which will send five wrestlers to the quarterfinals, earned bonus points from defending national champ Nathan Tomasello (who scored a 11-2 major decision vs. Indiana’s Elijah Oliver) and heavyweight Kyle Snyder, who recorded a 26-10 technical fall over Wyoming’s Tanner Harms. Other Buckeyes advancing are the Jordan brothers — Micah (141) and Bo (165) — and Myles Martin (174).

Oklahoma State’s Anthony Collica celebrated after upsetting No. 6 seed Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern, 3-2, in a second-round match. The second-place Cowboys feature the most (7) quarterfinalists. (Ashley De Jager photo)

The school that will send the most wrestlers to the quarterfinals is Oklahoma State, which saw seven Cowboys win second-round bouts to put Okie State in third place with 22 points. Earning the most impressive wins for the Cowboys were 149-pound Anthony Collica, who upset No. 6 Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern, 3-2, and 174-pound freshman Chandler Rogers, who pinned Penn’s Casey Kent. Also advancing for OSU are top-seed Dean Heil (141), freshman Joe Smith (157), two-time defending champ Alex Dieringer (165), Nolan Boyd (184) and heavyweight Austin Marsden.

Meanwhile Nebraska held a 20-17.5 margin over Big Ten rival Iowa, Missouri and Virginia Tech for fourth place. The Huskers and Hawkeyes send five wrestlers each to the quarterfinals, while the Tigers and Hokies still have four wrestlers alive in the championship bracket.

One higher-ranked school that had a tough night was NC State. The Wolfpack advances two wrestlers (Pete Renda at 184 and heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski) to the quarterfinals, but a trio of seeded wrestlers (No. 3 Kevin Jack at 141, No. 2 Thomas Gantt at 157 and No. 5 Max Rohskopf at 165) all suffered upsets.

Gantt and Rohskopf both lost to a pair of wrestlers from Rider, respectively, Chad Walsh 11-8, and Connor Brennan, 4-2 in sudden victory, while Bryce Meredith of Wyoming used a 1:30 riding time advantage to beating Jack (a 2015 All-American) by a 5-4 margin.

This has been a tough tournament for No. 2 seeds as Virginia Tech’s Joey Dance suffered just his second loss on the season when No. 15 David Terao of American knocked off the second-ranked Hokie, 5-3, at 125 pounds. Earlier in the day, Cornell’s Brian Realbuto, No. 2 at 174, lost to Iowa State’s Lelund Weatherspoon.

A total of six unseeded wrestlers advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals, including two from Iowa State: Weatherspoon, who defeated Army’s No. 15 Brian Harvey, 3-2, and 197-pound Patrick Downey, who pinned Virginia Tech’s Jared Haught in overtime.

The 174-pound weight class will feature three unseeded wrestlers in the quarters. In addition to Weatherspoon, unseeded Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) and Matt Reed (Oklahoma) also advanced.

Bernstein, who defeated No. 4 Ethan Ramos (North Carolina) in the first round, defeated Lehigh’s Gordon Wolf, 15-4. Reed, who upset No. 3 Blaise Butler (Missouri) earlier in the day, scored an 11-5 win over No. 14 Nick Kee of Appalachian State.

The 2016 NCAAs drew 17,805 to the second round, providing an overall total of 35,569 for two sessions.

Top 10 Team Standings

Friday’s Quarterfinal Matchups

125 pounds

#1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) vs. #9 Dylan Peters (No. Iowa)

#5 Ryan Millhof (Oklahoma) vs. #4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa)

#3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) vs. UN Conor Youtsey (Michigan)

#10 Connor Schram (Stanford) vs. No. 15 David Terao (American U.)

133 pounds

#1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) vs. #8 Earl Hall (Iowa State)

#5 Jordan Conaway (Penn State) vs. #4 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma)

#3 Zane Richards (Illinois) vs. #6 George DiCamillo (Virginia)

#2 Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. #7 Eric Montoya (Nebraska)

141 pounds

#1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) vs. #8 Joey Ward (North Carolina)

#4 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. #12 Chris Mecate (Old Dominion)

#6 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs. #14 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming)

#2 Joey McKenna (Stanford) vs. #7 Solomon Chishko (Va. Tech)

149 pounds

#1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. #9 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan)

#4 Matt Cimato (Drexel) vs. #5 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan)

#3 Lavion Mayes (Missouri) vs. #11 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State)

#2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) vs. #7 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska)

157 pounds

#1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. #8 Nick Brascetta (Va. Tech)

#4 Ian Miller (Kent State) vs. #12 Brian Murphy (Michigan)

#3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. #6 Joe Smith (Oklahoma State)

#7 Cody Pack (So. Dakota State) vs. #15 Chad Walsh (Rider)

165 pounds

#1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) vs. #9 Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State)

#4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. #12 Connor Brennan (Rider)

#3 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) vs. #6 Stephen Rodrigues (Illinois)

#2 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) vs. #10 Austin Wilson (Nebraska)

174 pounds

#1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. #9 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State)

#12 Nate Jackson (Indiana) vs. UN Jadaen Bernstein (Navy)

#11 Myles Martin (Ohio State) vs. UN Matt Reed (Oklahoma)

#7 Cody Walters (Ohio U.) vs. UN Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State)

184 pounds

#1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) vs. #8 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State)

#5 Zach Zavatsky (Va. Tech) vs. #13 Pete Renda (NC State)

#11 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) vs. #14 Willie Miklus (Missouri)

#2 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) vs. #7 T.J. Dudley (Nebraska)

197 pounds

#1 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) vs. #8 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska)

#4 Nathan Burak (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Conner Hartmann (Duke)

#3 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) vs. UN Patrick Downey (Iowa State)

#2 J’den Cox (Missouri) vs. #7 Brett Harner (Princeton)

Heavyweight

#1 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) vs. #8 Max Wessell (Lehigh)

#4 Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State) vs. #5 Adam Coon (Michigan)

#3 Ty Walz (Va Tech) vs. UN Brooks Black (Illinois)

#2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) vs. #7 Amarveer Dhesi (Oregon State)