2014 NCAA Championships • 125 pounds
The following is a breakdown of the 125-pound weight class at the 2014 NCAA Division I Championships, March 20-22, in Oklahoma City. WIN Magazine will preview this weight class as well as update brackets and provide notes and quotes during the tournament.
All-American Placement Highlights
3rd Place — Nico Megaludis (Penn St.) dec. Joey Dance (Virginia Tech), 6-1 — The two-time defending national runner-up scored takedowns in the first and third periods and added a 1:47 riding time advantage
5th Place — Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa), 8-1 — The Hawkeye freshman scored a takedown in each period and amassed a 3:40 riding time advantage, including 2:45 in the first frame.
7th Place — Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Earl Hall (Iowa St.) 2-1 tb2 — After escaping in the first tiebreaker phase, the MountainHawk rode out the Cyclone for 30 seconds.
Semifinal Highlights
No. 1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 5 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa), 9-6 — The defending champ sandwiched a couple first-period takedowns around a takedown Peters to take a 5-3 lead into the second period. Delgado then continued to roll with a takedown and escape in the second, and a riding-time point to make it a 9-6 win.
No. 2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) dec. No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State), 6-4 —Garrett’s first- and second-period takedowns gave him a 5-1 lead before the Lion pulled within 5-4, and nearly had a match-tying takedown in the final 10 seconds of the match.
Quarterfinal Highlights
No. 1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 8 Cory Clark (Iowa), 10-5 — After the Hawkeye rallied to cut Delgado’s lead to 4-3 with an escape at the 1:24 mark in the third period, the defending national champion scored his second takedown and immediately put Clark on his back for a three-point nearfall and 9-3 lead. Delgado also built a 1:20 riding time advantage.
No. 5 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa) dec. Earl Hall (Iowa State), 4-2 — Down 1-0 and choosing neutral, the Panther scored both of his takedowns in the final period.
No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. No. 6 Jarrod Patterson, 6-0 — The Nittany Lion scored the first of two takedowns with 20 seconds left in the first period. Megaludis ended any doubt on a third period takedown and a 1:52 riding time advantage.
No. 2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) major dec. No. 10 David Terao (American U), 11-0 — The first of three takedowns by the Big Red sophomore also put Terao on his back for a 5-0 lead a minute into the match. Garrett, who defeated the EIWA rival for a fourth time this season, also scored a takedown in both the second and third periods and added a 3:44 riding time advantage.
Second-round Notes
• Iowa State’s unseeded Earl Hall upset his second seeded wrestler, beating No. 4 seed Josh Martinez (Air Force) 8-1.
• Riding time advantage gave Oklahoma’s Jarrod Patterson a 2-1 victory over Rider’s Robert Deutsch.
First-Round Notes
• Joe Germaine (Eastern Michigan) earned the only upset at this weight when he pinned No. 7 seed Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin) in 46 seconds. This is Germaine’s second national tournament, going 1-2 in 2012. The native of Saginaw, Mich., was 20-2 this year. Taylor finished third in the 2014 Big Tens.
• There were three pins at this weight class. In addition to Germaine’s pin, No. 1 seeded (and defending champ) Jesse Delgado (Illinois) flattened Utah Valley’s Jade Rauser with seven seconds left in the bout. Meanwhile Pitt’s Anthony Zanetta pinned Michigan’s Conor Youtsey in 3:44.
• Nick Roberts (Ohio State) not only lost to No. 5 seed Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa) 8-4 but also cost the Buckeyes a team point when he was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after the match ended.
Returning All-Americans
- Jesse Delgado, Illinois — Champion (2013), 7th (2012)
- Nico Megaludis, Penn State — Runner-up (2012 & ’13)
- Nahshon Garrett, Cornell — 3rd (2013)
- Jarrod Patterson, Oklahoma — 7th (2011)
- Tyler Cox, Wyoming — 8th (2013)
125-pound Preview
Illinois’ Jesse Delgado (top) held on to defeat Penn State’s Nico Megaludis in double overtime of their Big Ten final, which was a rematch of last year’s NCAA final won by the Illini
In last year’s national tournament, Illinois’ Jesse Delgado defeated Penn State’s Nico Megaludis, 7-4, while Cornell’s Nahshon Garrett finished third. All three return this year, but it is hard to see who is the favorite.
Delgado is coming off a double overtime Big Ten championship over Megaludis, but only after the Nittany Lion — a two-time national runner-up — defeated Delgado, 5-4, earlier this season.
And Delgado defeated Garrett, 6-2, in early December. That was the last loss the Big Red sophomore endured and comes to Oklahoma City with a 25-match winning streak, which included a pair of victories over Megaludis.
Is there anyone else out there who could challenge this trio of All-Americans?
One might be Oklahoma’s Jarrod Patterson, who finished seventh at the 2011 Nationals and who redshirted last season. Injuries limited him to just seven matches after Dec. 6 through his recent Big 12 championship.
Meanwhile, there’s a trio of freshmen expected to shake up this weight class: Northern Iowa’s Dylan Peters, Wisconsin’s Ryan Taylor and Iowa’s Cory Clark.
Peters is coming off a Mid-American Conference championship and entering the NCAAs with a 31-4 record, which include 18 pins, the most by any 125 pounder.
Taylor comes to OKC with a 17-4 record but is coming off a third-place finish at the Big Tens, where he avenged an earlier-season loss to Iowa’s Clark.
Clark shared starting duties with teammate Thomas Gillman. But the Hawkeye is 17-3 on the year with nine pins.
Two potential All-Americans come from the Western Wrestling Conference where Wyoming’s Tyler Cox and Air Force’s Josh Martinez have appeared in the Top-10 rankings all winter. At this year’s national qualifier, Cox won by injury default over the Falcon, who defeated the Cowboy, 2-1, on Feb. 11.
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