Brown a Finalist to Lead Nittany Lions at NCAA Championships
ST. LOUIS – Senior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) led the charge for Penn State at the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships Friday night in St. Louis. Brown, already a three-time All-American, became a two-time national finalist with a 1-0 win over Iowa’s Mike Evans in the national semifinals at 174. Brown will wrestle for his first NCAA individual title tomorrow night, live on ESPN at 8 p.m.
Buoyed by Brown’s win in the semifinals, Penn State upped its All-America total at this year’s championships to five. Joining Brown and Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), who lost in the national semifinals and was already an All-American, were junior Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.), junior Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) and senior Jimmy Lawson (Toms River, N.J.).
Gulibon, the No. 7 seed at 133, met No. 3 Cory Clark of Iowa in Penn State’s first national semifinal. Gulibon got in on a quick high single but Clark was able to fight off the move and keep the bout scoreless early. After a scoreless first period, Gulibon chose down to start the second period. After :30 of work, the Lion works his way to a reversal and led 2-1 after a quick Clark escape. Clark then countered a Gulibon shot to take a 3-2 lead with 1:04 in riding time into the third. Clark chose down to start the third and Gulibon controlled him long enough to kill the riding time edge before Clark escaped to a 4-2 lead. Clark notched another counter takedown on the edge of the mat to open up a 6-2 lead. Gulibon escaped to a 6-3 score with :40 left and finished off a takedown at the :06 mark. But the score was too late and Clark posted the 7-5 win, sending Gulibon to tomorrow morning’s consolation semifinal action.
Brown, the No. 2 seed at 174, took on No. 3 Mike Evans of Iowa in his national semifinal. The duo, meeting for the third time this year, battled through a scoreless first period in the middle of the mat. With the score tied at 0-0, Brown chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. Like the first period, once Brown escaped the wrestlers traded jabs for control on their feet with no one breaking through for a score. Trailing by one, Evans chose neutral to start the third period. Brown broke free of a slick low single by Evans, kicking out of trouble to maintain his lead at the 1:30 mark. Brown then got in on a low single and nearly got the takedown. But Evans worked out of trouble, getting out of bounds at the :20 mark. The late offensive effort was enough to kill the clock and Brown posted the 1-0 win, advancing to the National Finals tomorrow night. Brown will meet No. 8 Tyler Wilps of Pittsburgh in tomorrow night’s national championship bout.
Conaway, the No. 11 seed at 125, met American’s David Terao in the round of 12, needing one more win to become an All-American. Terao opened up an early 2-1 lead with a first period takedown and carried that lead into the second period. Conaway chose down to start the second and quickly escaped to a 2-2 tie. He then slipped behind Terao for a takedown and a 4-2 lead at the 1:30 mark. Conaway maintained control for the rest of the period and led 4-2 with 1:24 in riding time after two. Terao chose down to start the third period and quickly reversed the Lion. Conaway escaped and led 5-4 with 1:37 in riding time with 1:30 on the clock. Conaway added one more takedown and, with riding time, rolled to the 8-5 win to stay alive for third and become an All-American.
In the consolation quarterfinals, Conaway met No. 2 Nashon Garrett of Cornell. Garrett notched a quick takedown in the first period to open up a 2-1 lead. The two-time Cornell All-American controlled action in the first and led 6-1 after one. The first period burst was too much for Conaway to overcome and the Lion junior dropped a 10-1 major decision. The loss drops Conaway into tomorrow morning’s seventh place match.
Freshman Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.), the No. 14 seed at 184, took on No. 16 T.J. Dudley of Nebraska, with the winner becoming an All-American. Dudley opened up an early 2-1 lead with a takedown midway through the first period. Trailing by one, McCutcheon chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 2-2 tie. Dudley chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 3-2 lead. Dudley would add one more takedown and post the 5-2 win. McCutcheon ends his first NCAA Championship in the round of 12 with a 2-2 mark, including a technical fall.
McIntosh, the No. 2 seed at 197, met No. 13 Shane Woods of Wyoming in the round of 12, looking to become a two-time All-American with a victory. McIntosh was aggressive early in the bout and slipped down to a low double and a 2-0 lead with a takedown on the edge of the mat. Leading by one, he chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 3-1 lead. He added another takedown in the second to lead 5-2 after two periods. Woods chose down and McIntosh dominated action in the third period and rolled to an 8-3 win. The victory made McIntosh a two-time All-American and moved him into the consolation quarters.
In the conso quarters, McIntosh took on No. 6 Nathan Burak of Iowa. McIntosh was all offense out of the gates, setting the tempo early and turning a low single into a scramble and a takedown for a 2-1 lead midway through the period. The Lion junior continued to dominate the period, adding a second takedown to up his lead to 4-2. McIntosh escaped to a 5-2 lead to start the second period, the only scoring of the period. Burak escaped to start the third period but McIntosh was able to build up enough riding time to move over a minute. McIntosh went on to post the strong 6-3 decision, moving into the consolation semifinals.
Lawson, the No. 8 seed at 285, faced off against No. 11 Devin Mellon of Missouri, needing a victory to earn his first All-America honor. The duo battled through a scoreless first period and Mellon took down to start the second. Lawson controlled the action long enough to build up a 1:08 riding time edge before Mellon escaped to a 1-0 lead. Lawson chose down to start the third period and escaped in just three seconds to tie the score and keep his time edge. He added a final takedown and, with the riding time, posted the 4-1 win to become an All-American and move into the consolation quarterfinals.
In the consolation quarterfinals, Lawson met No. 10 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech. The duo battled through a scoreless first period, with neither wrestler working into a chance for a takedown. Walz chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. The duo continued to work in the middle of the mat, both on their feet. Trailing by one, Lawson chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 1-1 tie. Lawson fought off a late Walz shot and the bout moved to sudden victory. In extra time, Lawson scrambled his way through a low double with just :02 left to grab the win with a takedown. The 3-1 (sv) decision sends Lawson into the consolation semifinals tomorrow morning.
Sophomore Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.), the No.12 seed at 149, concluded his tournament this morning, dropping a tough 5-4 decision to No. 6 Alec Pantaleo of Michigan. Beitz went 1-2 at his first NCAA Championship and finished the year with a 19-11 record.
Penn State went 6-3 on Friday night and upped its record to 22-9 through two days of action. The Nittany Lions find themselves in sixth place and 15 out of second and 8.5 out of third. Conaway, McIntosh and Lawson join Gulibon and Brown as All-Americans, giving Penn State five All-Americans at this year’s tournament. Three of the five (Conaway, Gulibon, Lawson) are first timers while McIntosh is a two-time honoree and Brown a three-timer. Brown advances to his second NCAA finals bout, having dropped an overtime decision two years ago. Penn State has now earned 194 All-America honors in its long history, with 31 of them coming in Sanderson’s six years at the helm of the Nittany Lions.
The fifth session begins at 11 a.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Central.
2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships – Team Score – Top Ten
Friday, March 20, 2015 – Scottrade Center – St. Louis, Mo.
1: Ohio State – 86.5
2: Iowa – 73.0
3: Cornell – 66.5
4: Edinboro – 64.5
5: Missouri – 60.0
6: PENN STATE – 58.0
7: Oklahoma State – 55.5
8: Michigan – 51.0
9: Nebraska – 49.0
9: Minnesota – 49.0
