The semifinals and consolation bloodround action helped to sort the contenders from the All-Americans as the Buckeyes ended the second day of the NCAA tournament trailing only Penn State in the team race.
The Buckeyes advanced two wrestlers to the finals on Saturday with Bo Jordan earning his first trip to the finals and Kyle Snyder earning his third. Nathan Tomasello and Kollin Moore suffered heart-breaking losses in the semifinals, but both join Myles Martin and Micah Jordan as All-Americans.
Nathan Tomasello
Nathan Tomasello fell short for the second straight year to an Iowa opponent in the NCAA semifinals, losing a tough bout to No. 4 Cory Clark 7-4. Clark was able to hit two merkles to earn late takedowns as a response to Tomasello's leg attacks. Tomasello will face the winner of No. 7 Eric Montoya (Nebraska) and No. 9 Scott Parker of Lehigh tomorrow in the consolation semifinals. Clark advances to the finals for a third time, where he will face former Iowa teammate Seth Gross, who now wrestles at South Dakota State.
Micah Jordan
Micah Jordan lost in the quarterfinals, but earned his first career All-American finish with two straight wins in the consolation bracket. Jordan defeated Lehigh's Laike Gardner and South Dakota State's Alex Kocer at 149 to advance to the consolation semifinals on Saturday morning. There he will face Northern Iowa's outstanding freshman Max Thomsen. Penn State's Zain Retherford will be looking for his second NCAA title at 149 on Saturday night, but will have to defeat Missouri's No. 3 Lavion Mayes to do so.
Bo Jordan
Micah's brother Bo Jordan punched his ticket to his first NCAA championship match with a wild comeback win over No. 2 Brian Realbuto of Cornell. Jordan was frustrated throughout the match as Realbuto was able to counter Bo's takedown attempts and score points of his own. In the last minute of the third period, Realbuto attempted a risky counter to a Jordan shot, but Bo anticipated the throw attempt and caught Realbuto on his back. Jordan scored a takedown and four nearfall points to earn the 11-7 victory. Jordan will face Penn State's No. 5 Mark Hall in the championship match in a rematch of their Big Ten finals bout.
Myles Martin
Myles Martin was stunned in the quarterfinals on Thursday night, but battled back with four wins on Friday to earn a spot in the consolation semifinals. While it wasn't the repeat championship that he'd hoped for, Martin can now finish no lower than sixth place at 184. In the bloodround, Myles had to defeat former All-American Jack Dechow of Old Dominion, which he did in dramatic fashion. Martin then outlasted Northern Iowa's Drew Foster to earn a spot in the consolation semifinals, where he'll meet Iowa's Sammy Brooks. Penn State's Bo Nickal will look to prevent Cornell's No. 1 Gabe Dean from ending his career with a third NCAA title in the finals at 184 on Saturday night.
Kollin Moore
Kollin Moore defeated Brett Pfarr in the Big Ten championship match, but was unable to recreate the magic as the Minnesota senior won an exciting 13-9 match. The two athletic big men traded takedowns throughout the match, but a Pfarr takedown off of a Moore shot attempt sealed the deal. Moore will now drop to the consolation semifinals, where he will face Aaron Studebaker of Nebraska.
Kyle Snyder
Kyle Snyder was able to stay undefeated, despite sore ribs, and put a beating on Duke's Jake Kasper. Snyder started slowly, but managed a 19-6 major decision in the semifinals to advance to the big stage on Saturday night. Snyder will have a rematch against No. 2 Connor Medbery of Wisconsin, who edged Ty Walz of Virginia Tech. Snyder defeated Medbery in the Big Ten final two weeks ago, and will look to repeat the victory for a second NCAA title.
Team Race
The Penn State Nittany Lions went five for five in the semifinals and pulled way ahead in the team race, scoring 121.0 points after Session IV. Ohio State is in second place with 89.5. Oklahoma State and Missouri are nipping at the Buckeyes' heels with 86.0 and 81.5 points, respectively.
The consolation semifinals begin on Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN with the medal rounds to immediately follow. The championship finals will air live on ESPN at 8 p.m. on Saturday night, beginning with the match at 197.
