Columbus, Ohio, March 7, 2004 – It was a day of ups and downs for the Penn State wrestling team on the first day of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships in Columbus, Ohio, but in the end the ups stood out as the Nittany Lions placed three men in the finals and stood fourth in the team standings, just a half point out of third. Penn State went 3 of 4 in the semifinal round to gain its most finalist since getting three (and two champions) in 1999. Penn State held a team score of 81.5 at days end, just a half point behind Michigan (82.0). Iowa surged to the lead with five finalists on the day and 115.5 team points. Two-time defending champion Minnesota stood second with 97.5 points and two finalists. Senior Pat Cummins (Hwt.), sophomore Eric Bradley (184) and freshman Matt Storniolo (149) will represent Penn State in tomorrow’s championship round. They are among five Nittany Lions that guaranteed NCAA qualification on the day and eight still alive in the tournament. Senior Josh Moore (133) and junior James Woodall (157) are alive in the consolation semifinals with a chance to finish third and have solidified their NCAA tickets. Junior Adam Smith (125), sophomore DeWitt Driscoll (141) and freshman James Yonushonis (174) will all wrestle for seventh place and a ticket to the NCAA Tournament tomorrow. Cummins, the No. 3 seed, sent the Nittany Lion faithful home smiling as he closed out the days action with the last match of the night against No. 2 seed Greg Wagner (MI). The two had split matches on the year with Wagner winning the last meeting, 3-2, in Rec Hall. The pair battled to a 1-1 tie until the end of the third period as each escaped from the down position off the period start. Cummins shot in deep with just over a minute left and nearly converted until Wagner countered and nearly scored himself. The pair then settled into hand fighting until six seconds remained and Cummins calmly snapped down on Wagner’s head, dropped to his ankle and took him down for a 3-1 win. He will take on No. 1 ranked and No. 1 seed Tommy Rowlands, who he split a pair of one-point matches with on the year, in the final. At 184, Bradley also punched his ticket for the final in his first Big Ten Tournament with a controlled, 7-5, win over No. 6 seed Ben Wissell (PU). Bradley, the No. 2 seed, was motivated by a questionable fleeing the mat call in the second period and proceeded to reel off the only three takedowns of the match. He defeated No. 7 seed Nate Mesyn (MSU) 6-3 and Joseph Gulotta (NU) 12-4 earlier on the day and will face No. 5 seed Paul Bradley (IA) in the final. He has beaten Bradley twice on the year, 7-4 and 6-4. In the other semifinal bout on the night, No. 2 seed Josh Moore gave up four takedowns and three near-fall points to No. 3 seed Mark Jayne (ILL) and lost a 13-5 decision. He fell into the consolation quarterfinals after winning his first match on the day by a fall, his 23rd on the year. In consolation action, Woodall pulled of an 11-4 upset of No. 3 seed Tyler Turner (W) to advance into the consolation semifinals. Woodall, the No. 7 seed, took charge early with a pair of first period takedowns and a two-point near-fall. He went 2-1 on the day after pinning Ryan Rhodes in his first match and falling to No. 2 seed Ryan Bertin (MI), 9-5, in the quarterfinals. Smith, the No. 8 seed, lost a tough 7-5 decision to No. 5 seed Mark Moos (MI) in the consolation quarterfinals. Smith was the aggressor in the first-period and nearly converted a deep takedown attempt when Moos countered and turned him to his back. Smith continued to dominate the action and scored two takedowns but was unable to make up the deficit. Smith went 0-2 on the day after losing his first match to No. 1 seed Luke Eustice (IA) 5-1. Driscoll, the No. 7 seed, also fell in the consolation quarters going to his back at 6:02 of his match with No. 3 seed Coyte Cooper (IN). Driscoll was 1-2 on the day falling in his first match, 15-9, to Doug Withstandley (PU) and then beating Paul Augle (NU) 14-11. Yonushonis dropped a 9-5 decision to No. 4 seed Ralph DeNisco (W) in the consolation quarterfinals. He also went 1-2 on the day losing his opening match, 7-4, to No. 7 seed Nick Roy (MI) and then downing No. 8 seed Anthony Magistrelli (OSU). At 165 and 197, Jarrad Turner and Joel Edwards both exited the tournament early. Turner went 0-2 on the day dropping a tough 3-2 decision to Matt McCarty (MSU) and being pinned by No. 1 seed Johnny Clark in his first match. Edwards won his opening match 3-1 over Chase Verdoorn (MI) but then lost consecutive bouts, by fall to No. 2 Ryan Fulsaas in the quarterfinals and 10-7 to Jeff Clemens (MSU) in the consolation bracket, to end his tournament. Action continues Sunday morning beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Tournament Record – 13-12 125 – (8) Adam Smith 133 – (2) Josh Moore – NCAA Qualified 141 – (7) DeWitt Driscoll 149 – (3) Matt Storniolo – Finalist – NCAA Qualified 157 – (7) James Woodall – NCAA Qualified 165 – (8) Jarrad Turner – out of Tournament 174 – James Yonushonis 184 – (2) Eric Bradley – Finalist – NCAA Qualified 197 – (7) Joel Edwards – Out of Tournament Hwt. – (3) Pat Cummins – Finalist – NCAA Qualified
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