Dake earns a historic four-peat; Penn State collects a team three-peat at NCAAs
DES MOINES, IOWA — Cornell’s Kyle Dake made history and Penn State clinched a third straight team championship Saturday night in Wells Fargo Arena.
With the NCAA saving the 165-pound final as the last match contested in this year’s tournament, Dake rallied to defeat last year’s national champ David Taylor, 5-4 on a riding time point, to become the first wrestler to win four championships at four weights in four years.
Penn State, which saw Oklahoma State take a 115.5-114.5 after Oklahoma State’s Chris Perry defeated PSU’s Matt Brown in the night’s first match at 174 pounds, regained the lead for good when both Ed Ruth (184) and Quentin Wright (197) won their second individual championships.
Also winning second championships before a packed crowd and nationally-television audience on ESPN were Ohio State’s Logan Stieber (133), Oklahoma State’s Jordan Oliver (149) and heavyweight Anthony Nelson.
The following is a list of highlights of all ten championship matches in the order they were wrestled:
174 pounds —Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) dec. Mathew Brown (Penn State), 2-1 tb — The deciding point came after Perry rode the Lion the entire 30 seconds of the his tiebreaker advantage before scoring an escape two seconds in the second 30-second phase. Perry, who was warned for stalling in the third period, still had to be aggressive the rest of the tiebreaker, before falling to his knees in celebration as the time expired.
184 pounds — Edward Ruth (Penn State) major dec. Robert Hamlin (Lehigh), 12-4 — The two-time national champion was only leading 5-2 before scoring three of his five takedowns in the final 36 seconds. Ruth’s 3:55 riding time advantage then provide the final point in the match and a team bonus point for the Lions. Over two minutes of that control came in the first period after Ruth scored his first takedown with 2:38 left in the first frame when the Lion was penalized for locking hands. The second takedown came on an inside single with 17 seconds left in the second period.
197 pounds — Quentin Wright (Penn State) dec. Dustin Kilgore (Kent State), 8-6 — The match was tied 4-4 in the third period before the Lion scored two takedowns: a double with 1:24 left and a throw-by with 58 seconds remaining to clinch his second championship. Wright also scored a takedown 50 seconds into the match before Kilgore, the 2011 champion scored a duck-under as the first period ended 3-3.
Hwt —Anthony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. Michael McMullan (Northwestern), 6-2 — Shortly after McMullan’s escape cut the Gopher’s winning margin to 3-2 nine seconds into the final frame, Nelson captured his second straight championship by scoring two of his three takedowns. Nelson’s first takedown came with 32 seconds left in the first.
125 pounds — Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. Nicholas Megaludis (Penn State), 7-3 — Leading 1-0 entering the third period, the Illini scored five surprising points when he countered a shot by the Nittany Lion and turned it into a takedown and unorthodox suicide cradle when he caught Megaludis’ leg up by his head, which gave Delgado a 5-1 lead. The California native then added another takedown with 20 seconds left.
133 pounds —Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. Tony Ramos (Iowa), 6-4 — A pair of takedowns by the defending champion gave Stieber a 4-1 first period lead before Ramos battled back to score a second-period reversal, which also allowed the Hawkeye to lock up a cradle … but was not allowed any back points; even after a video challenge. Stieber prevailed when he escaped that hold and later benefitted from a 1:10 riding time advantage.
141 pounds —Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) dec. Mitchell Port (Edinboro), 4-3 — A 2:04 riding time advantage gave the Sooner junior his first national championship. Much of that control came after Maple scored the match’s only takedown nearly a minute into the bout. Port cut the margin to 2-1 and 3-2 with a pair of escapes and temporarily tied the match 3-3 when Maple was penalized for stalling with three seconds left.
149 pounds —Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) dec. Jason Chamberlain (Boise State), 3-2 — The Cowboy ended his career with a second championship when he scored the match’s only takedown with ten seconds left.
157 pounds — Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. Jason Welch (Northwestern), 3-2— A locked hands penalty against the Wildcat ten seconds into the third period provided the match’s first points and deciding factor in St. John collecting his first championship after losing to Cornell’s Kyle Dake in the 2012 final. After Northwestern’s protest was denied on the locked hands, St. John escaped but lost his balance and allowed Welch to score a takedown to tie the bout. The Hawkeye escaped with 37 seconds and held off Welch the rest of the matc.
165 pounds — Kyle Dake (Cornell) dec. David Taylor (Penn State), 5-4 — The Big Red senior accomplished his historic moment — becoming the first wrestler to win four championships at four different weights in four straight years — when his third period ride gave him a 1:13 advantage and the deciding margin in the match. Taylor, last year’s champion and Hodge Trophy winner, scored the bout’s first takedown 27 seconds in the first period, before Dake escaped and later scored a takedown with 16 seconds left, also in the first period. A second period escape helped Dake build his lead to 4-2 and did not allow any more points until Taylor finally escaped in the third period with 1:12 left. Dake then gave up a stalling point with six seconds left for a temporary 4-4 tie.
