Semifinals set at EAS Sports Nutrition/NWCA National Duals as Iowa, Missouri, Cornell and Lehigh advance

Saturday’s first session of the National Duals showed why matches aren’t wrestled on paper. Lehigh came away with the biggest upset in the quarterfinals, knocking off third-ranked Ohio State 21-18 at the EAS Sports Nutrition/NWCA National Duals presented by Hibiclens and the United States Marine Corps in honor of Cliff Keen at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

Saturday’s 3 p.m. semifinals will pit Iowa vs. Cornell and Missouri vs. Lehigh.

Lehigh heavyweight Doug Vollaro scored a takedown in the second sudden victory period to beat Ohio State’s Nick Tavanello and break an 18-18 tie. The win pushed the Mountain Hawks into a semifinal against second-ranked Missouri.

Things went right for Lehigh as Mason Beckman, Drew Longo, Mitch Minotti, Santiago Martinez and Vollaro all won bouts decided by two points are less.

Beckman edged Johnni DiJullius 1-0 in a matchup of nationally-ranked wrestlers, while All-American Minotti topped nationally-ranked Josh Demas 3-1. Martinez, transfer from the club program at Central Florida, pulled a monster upset. Unranked by the latest NCAA Coaches Panel Rankings, Martinez topped 11th-ranked Mark Martin 4-2. Lehigh’s Nathaniel Brown then registered a momentum-building fall over nationally-ranked Kenny Courts at 184 pounds. Ohio State’s Kyle Snyder registered a 9-1 major decision to tie the score at 18 heading into the heavyweight bout.

Lehigh will face second-ranked Missouri. The Tigers improved to 22-0 with a 23-13 win over Illinois.

Missouri’s Alan Waters remained undefeated on the season with a 6-2 victory over returning two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado at 125 pounds. Waters scored a takedown and two nearfall points in the first period. He extended his lead to 5-0 after a second-period escape. Delgado nearly had Waters in a position for a defensive fall, but Waters held his position, although he did eventually give up a late reversal.

A key swing match came at 174 pounds where John Eblen of Missouri headlocked Zac Brunson early in the bout and finished for the fall at just 50 seconds. The fall gave Missouri a 16-10 lead. Illinois would get one back as Nikko Reyes upended Willie Miklus 3-1 in sudden victory. Returning NCAA champion J’Den Cox sealed the dual with a 15-3 major decision over Jeff Koepke.

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Fifth-ranked Cornell knocked off fourth-ranked Minnesota 19-17 to advance to face Iowa. The key swing bout came at 157 pounds between a pair of All-Americans.

Cornell’s Brian Realbuto knocked off top-ranked Dylan Ness of Minnesota 7-3. Realbuto led the entire way, but with Ness trailing 5-3 late, the two got into a scramble and Realbuto countered to ice the match. It’s Ness’ first loss of the year. Last year at the National Duals, Ness pinned Realbuto in 1:12.

Top-ranked Iowa finished off Chattanooga 44-3 in the quarterfinal round to improve to 16-0. The Hawkeyes won nine straight after an upset loss at 125 pounds and of those nine wins, five were falls. Two-time All-American heavyweight Bobby Telford finished the dual with a fall in the first period over last week’s hero from Chattanooga, Jared Johnson.

Chattanooga graduate student Sean Boyle was used to wrestling Big Ten competition. Boyle topped fourth-ranked Thomas Gilman of Iowa at 125 pounds with a takedown in sudden victory. Boyle transferred to Chattanooga for his last year of eligibility after competing at Michigan. He finished a match away from placing at the NCAA championships as a sophomore. Boyle came in ranked ninth.

The Hawkeyes got falls from Cory Clark (133), Mike Kelly (157), Mike Evans (174), Sam Brooks (184) and Telford.

RESULTS via TRACKWRESTLING.COM: www.bit.ly/MatMayhemIC
LIVE VIDEO via BIG TEN NETWORK: btn2go.com
(Semis and Finals on Big Ten Network)

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
National Rank Noted

#1 IOWA 44, CHATTANOOGA 3
125 – Sean Boyle (Chattanooga) over Thomas Gilman (Iowa) SV-1 3-1
133 – Cory Clark (Iowa) over Nick Soto (Chattanooga) Fall 4:16
141 – Josh Dziewa (Iowa) over Mike Pongracz (Chattanooga) Dec 4-2
149 – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) over Jacob Murphy (Chattanooga) TF 20-4
157 – Mike Kelly (Iowa) over Austin Sams (Chattanooga) Fall 4:32
165 – Nick Moore (Iowa) over Justin Lampe (Chattanooga) Dec 11-6
174 – Michael Evans (Iowa) over Sean Mappes (Chattanooga) Fall 4:44
184 – Sam Brooks (Iowa) over McCoy Newberg (Chattanooga) Fall 1:53
197 – Nathan Burak (Iowa) over Scottie Boykin (Chattanooga) Dec 7-4
285 – Bobby Telford (Iowa) over Jared Johnson (Chattanooga) Fall 2:50

#5 CORNELL 19, #4 MINNESOTA 17
125 – Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) over Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) TF 18-2
133 – Christopher Dardanes (Minnesota) over Mark Grey (Cornell) Dec 7-4
141 – Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) over Logan David (Cornell) Maj 19-10
149 – Christopher Villalonga (Cornell) over Jake Short (Minnesota) Dec 2-1
157 – Brian Realbuto (Cornell) over Dylan Ness (Minnesota) Dec 9-3
165 – Dylan Palacio (Cornell) over Nicholas Wanzek (Minnesota) TF 18-2
174 – Logan Storley (Minnesota) over George Pickett (Cornell) Dec 7-5
184 – Gabriel Dean (Cornell) over Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) Dec 10-4
197 – Scott Schiller (Minnesota) over Jace Bennett (Cornell) Dec 7-1
285 – Michael Kroells (Minnesota) over Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell) Maj 10-1

#11 LEHIGH 21, #3 OHIO STATE 18
125 – Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) over Scott Parker (Lehigh) Dec 10-3
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) over Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State) Dec 1-0
141 – Logan Stieber (Ohio State) over Randy Cruz (Lehigh) Fall 4:52
149 – Drew Longo (Lehigh) over Randall Languis (Ohio State) TB-1 2-1
157 – Mitchell Minotti (Lehigh) over Josh Demas (Ohio State) Dec 3-1
165 – Bo Jordan (Ohio State) over Marshall Peppelman (Lehigh) TF 22-6
174 – Santiago Martinez (Lehigh) over Mark Martin (Ohio State) Dec 4-2
184 – Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) over Kenny Courts (Ohio State) Fall 3:30
197 – Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) over Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) Maj 9-1
285 – Douglas Vollaro (Lehigh) over Nick Tavanello (Ohio State) SV-2 4-2

#2 MISSOURI 23, #12 ILLINOIS 13
125 – Alan Waters (Missouri) over Jesse Delgado (Illinois) Dec 6-2
133 – Zane Richards (Illinois) over Zach Synon (Missouri) Dec 9-2
141 – Lavion Mayes (Missouri) over Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) Maj 11-3
149 – Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) over Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois) Dec 6-3
157 – Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) over Joseph LaVallee (Missouri) Maj 17-6
165 – Jackson Morse (Illinois) over Mike England (Missouri) Dec 4-3
174 – John Eblen (Missouri) over Zach Brunson (Illinois) Fall 0:50
184 – Lazarus Reyes (Illinois) over Willie Miklus (Missouri) SV-1 3-1
197 – J`Den Cox (Missouri) over Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois) Maj 15-3
285 – Devin Mellon (Missouri) over Brooks Black (Illinois) TB-1 5-1

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