Moore upset at 197, but Ohio State leads after quarterfinals

Photo: Micah Jordan reached his first NCAA semifinal with a 17-5 major decision over Rutgers’ John Van Brill. The Buckeye junior has scored four bonus points for OSU in three matches. (Photo by Ashley De Jager)

By Mike Finn

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio State’s Kollin Moore became the first No. 1 seed to lose a match in the 2018 NCAA Division I Championships, but the Buckeyes still hold the team lead heading into Friday night’s semifinals in the Quicken Loans Arena.

NCAA Standings & Brackets after Quarters

Overall, the Big Ten champions will send six wrestlers — Nathan Tomasello (125), Luke Pletcher (133), Joey McKenna (141), Micah Jordan (157), Myles Martin (174) and heavyweight Kyle Snyder — to the semifinals, which begin at 8 p.m. EDT and lead the field with 80.5 points.

Defending champion Penn State  sends five wrestlers to the finals — the Nittany Lions’ defending individual national champs Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174) and Bo Nickal (184) — and stand in second place with 67 points.

There will only be one head-to-head meeting between the top two teams: Nolf vs. Jordan at 157.

RETURN TO WIN’S NCAA HOME PAGE

The surprise team of Friday morning’s quarterfinals was Michigan, which also sends five wrestlers to the semifinals: 133-pound Stevan Micic, 157-pound Alec Pantaleo, 174-pound Myles Amine, 184-pound Dominic Abounader and heavyweight Adam Coon.

The Wolverines enter the semifinals with 59.5 points to hold a six-point lead over Iowa, which sends two wrestlers — Spencer Lee (125) and Alex Marinelli (165) — to Friday night’s championship bracket action.

Unseeded Kyle Conel of Kent State celebrated after pinning Ohio State’s top-ranked Kollin Moore in a 197-pound quarterfinal. (Juan Garcia photo)

The biggest surprise among the wrestlers was the Cinderella story of Kent State’s Kyle Conel, who came into the tournament unseeded but earned his first All-American honor when he bear-hugged and eventually pinned Ohio State’s Moore in the first round.

There will be two unseeded wrestlers in the semifinals. The other is NC State’s Tariq Wilson who dominated Oklahoma State All-American Kaid Brock at 133 pounds. The Wolfpack also feature two other semifinalists in top-ranked Hayden Hidlay at 157 pounds and 197-pound Michael Macchiavello.

Meanwhile, a two-time NCAA champion will not win a third after Oklahoma State’s Dean Heil lost 6-5 to Cornell freshman Yianni Diakomihalis in a 141-pound quarterfinal.

The following are the top ten teams in the standings and number of semifinalists:

Quarterfinal Highlights

125 pounds

#1 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. #9 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 2-0 — The defending champ rode the Beaver the entire second period and ended up with a 1:13 riding time advantage to go along with third period escape.

Rutgers’ Nick Suriano reached his first semi with a shutout of Virginia’s Louie Hayes at 125 pounds. (Tim Tushla photo)

#4 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) major dec. #12 Louie Hayes (Virginia), 8-0 — The Scarlet Knight scored two takedowns and eventually built up over four minutes of riding time for the shutout.

#3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) pinned #6 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), 3:58 — The young Hawkeye scored a first-period takedown and four-point tilt to lead 6-0 after one period, then used a second-period reversal that led to more back time for the Cowboy, who finally got caught in an arm bar by Lee.

#2 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State major dec. #7 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley), 12-4 — The Buckeye scored a total of five takedowns — two each in both the second and third periods — and added a 1:36 riding time advantage for his third straight bonus point victory in Cleveland.

133 pounds

#1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) dec. #8 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming), 6-3 — The defending national runner-up scored his second takedown early in the third period to lead before Bridges gave the Jackrabbit a scare with a takedown in the final 15 seconds. Gross had built up a 2:25 riding time advantage after the first period before Bridges eliminated that advantage in the second frame.

US Tariq Wilson (NC State) major dec. #4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State), 13-5 — A second takedown by the unheralded Wolfpack wrestler in the second perod also put the Cowboy on his back that gave Wilson an 8-1 lead. Wilson later added a third takedown and built up a 4:30 riding time advantage.

#3 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. #6 Scott Parker (Lehigh), 3-1 — The Buckeye scored the only takedown on a single leg with 10 seconds left in the first period before the two exchanged escapes in the second and third periods.

Michigan’s Stevan Micic became the first of five semifinalists when he dominated Drexel’s Austin DeSanto. (Tim Tushla photo)

#2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) major dec. #7 Austin DeSanto (Drexel) 13-1 — The Wolverine scored a pair of takedowns and added back points and nearly two minutes of riding time for the majo

141 pounds

#1 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) pinned US Sa’Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan), 1:22 — The Cowboy twice caught the unranked Eagle in a bar-arm/half-nelson hold in the first period and finally scored the fall.

#4 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) dec. #12 Tyler Smith (Bucknell) 8-3 — The transfer from Stanford clinched his second All-American honor when he scored a takedown in each period and put Smith on his back for two-point nearfall in the first period before adding a 3:16 riding time advantage.

Yianni Diakomihalis trailed much of the 141-pound quarterfinal before scoring late to beat Oklahoma State’s two-time champ Dean Heil. (Ashley De Jager photo)

#3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec. #6 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), 6-5 — The Big Red freshman trailed as much as 3-0 and 4-2 after two period before Diakomihalis opened the third period with a reversal at the 1:17 mark, then scored the clinching takedown with 29 seconds left.

#2 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) pinned #7 Brock Zacherl (Clarion), 2:04 — The Tiger trailed on a Zacherl takedown midway through the first period when he escaped and took the Clarion wrestler to his back and eventual fall.

149 pounds

#1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) won by TF over #8 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State), 20-2 — The defending two-time champ caught the Cowboy in his famous “bow and arrow” turk four different times to tally his fifth bonus points in three matches at the 2018 NCAAs.

#4 Troy Heilmann (North Carolina) dec. #5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) 2-1 tb — The deciding point came when Heilmann scored an escape his half of the tiebreaker period, then rode out the Buckeye in the second half. Hayes nearly scored a reversal with 10 seconds left in OT, but a video challenge failed to change the outcome.

#11 Matt Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. #3 Grant Leeth (Missouri) 4-3 — Down 3-2 (off a first-period takedown by the Leeth), Kolodzik rallied with a third-period takedown that also erased a riding time advantage by Leeth.

#15 Ronald Perry (Lock Haven) dec. #10 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) 7-4 — The Eagle scored a takedown in each period against the 2014 NCAA champions to claim his first All-American honor.

157 pounds

#1 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) dec. #8 Tyler Berger (Nebraska), 3-2 — The Wolfpack freshman’s first-period takedown held up for the win.

#5 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) s. #13 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State), 8-5 — The Wolverine broke a 4-4 deadlock on a takedown with about a minute left and added a 1:40 riding time advantage. Zilverberg tied the match on a reversal towards the end of the second period.

#3 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. #6 Michael Kemerer (Iowa), 6-2 — In a battle of former PA prep rivals, the Nittany Lion scored a takedown in the first and second periods and added a point for riding time.

#7 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) major dec. #15 John Van Brill (Rutgers), 17-5 — The Buckeye junior twice put the Scarlet Knight on his back, the second time giving Jordan a 14-4 lead. Jordan’s final point came from a 2:37 riding time advantage.

165 pounds

#1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) major dec. #9 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven), 10-1 — The two-time champ scored three takedowns — two in the first period — and controlled the Eagle for 3:46 for the major decision.

#5 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec. #4 Chad Walsh (Rider), 7-6 — Walsh actually scored the first two takedowns — the second off a head-and-arm throw — to lead 4-1 before the Hawkeye scored his first takedown midway through the second period and then scored off a high-crotch with 1:13 left for the victory.

#3 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) vs. #11 Isaiah White (Nebraska), 4-2 sv2 — The defending champ scored the deciding takedown with 50 seconds left in the second sudden victory period when he countered a single attempt by the former NCAA Div. II champion.

#2 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) dec. #10 Ethan Wick (Wisconsin), 3-1 — The Hokie scored the only takedown midway through the second period and added a 1:48 riding time advantage.

184-pound Zack Zavatsky knocked off Lehigh’s EIWA champ Ryan Preisch to become one of three Virginia Tech wrestlers to reach the semifinals. (Ashley De Jager photo)

174 pounds

#1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) pinned #8 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy), 0:38. — Leading 2-0, the Sun Devil used an effective tight-waist tilt to score the quick fall.

#5 Myles Amine (Michigan) vs. Jordan Kutler (Lehigh), 3-2 — The Wolverine scored the only takedown in the first period for the eventual win.

#3 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. #6 Bo Jordan (Ohio State), 3-1 — Lewis led 3-0 on a second-period takedown and third period, then held off a charge by Jordan, who earned a stalling point vs. the Tiger.

#2 Mark Hall (Penn State) dec. #7 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa), 6-2 — The Nittany Lion jumped on top 4-0 in the first period with a takedown and two-point nearfall, then added a 2:46 riding time advantage for the victory.

184 pounds

#1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) dec. #9 Max Dean (Cornell), 13-7 — The Nittany Lion scored two of this four takedowns in the first period to lead 4-1 before Dean — the younger brother of Gabe Dean (who lost to Nickal in the 2017 final) — rallied to score a pair of takedowns to pull within 9-7 in the final period. But Nickal escaped and iced the victory with another takedown with 24 seconds left. Nickal earned another point for over two minutes of riding time.

#5 Dominic Abounader (Michigan) dec. #4 Pete Renda (NC State), 11-9 tb2 — The Wolverine built a 6-1 lead in the second period — off a reversal and takedown — before the Wolfpack All-American rallied to take a 7-6 lead. Abounader followed that with a reversal but a locked-hands call against Abounader forced overtime. In the extra time, Renda was hit with stalling and gave up an escape to Abounader, who earned his first All-American honor in five years at Michigan.

#6 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) dec. #3 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) 3-1 sv — The Hokie scored the deciding takedown with 12 seconds left in sudden victory frame.

#2 Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. US Chip Ness (North Carolina), 10-6 — The 2016 NCAA champ scored three takedowns to build a 7-4 lead before adding a 2:02 riding time advantage point.

197 pounds

US Kyle Conel (Kent State) pinned #1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State), 1:30 — The unheralded Golden Flash added to his 2018 NCAA legend when he caught the top-ranked Buckeye in a underhooked bear hug and tripped Moore to his back for a first-period stunning fall.

#4 Michael Macchiavello (NC State) dec. #5 Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) 5-4 — The Wolfpacker scored the clinching takedown with 12 seconds left after the Nittany Lion led 2-0 (off a takedown) and 4-3.

NC State’s Michael Macchiavello rallied to beat Penn State’s Shakur Rasheed at 197 pounds. (Ginger Robinson photo)

#3 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) dec. #6 Willie Miklus (Missouri), 3-1 — A first-period takedown in the first period held up for the Hokie.

#2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) dec. US Chris Weiler (Lehigh), 5-4 — The Big Red freshman appeared to be heading for an easy win when Weiler scored two takedowns in the final period to actually tie the bout, 4-4.

Heavyweight

#1 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) dec. #9 Derek White (Oklahoma State), 6-3 — Snyder actually fell behind 3-2 off a second-period takedown by White before the Buckeye responded with a second takedown with 45 seconds left in the second frame. Snyder’s final point came off a third-period escape

#4 Jacob Kasper (Duke) dec. #12 Yousseif Hemida (Maryland), 7-2 — The undersized Blue Devil scored both takedowns in the first period, the second coming with seconds left, and added a 1:04 riding time advantage.

#6 Amarveer Dhesi (Oregon State) dec. #3 Nick Nevills (Penn State), 4-2 — Down 1-0, the Beaver used a second period reversal and locked-hands call against the Lion for the victory.

#2 Adam Coon (Michigan) dec. #7 Nathan Butler (Stanford) 7-0 — The Wolverine scored two takedowns, the second as the match ended, before adding a 2:25 riding time advantage.