2016 NCAA Division 1 Wrestling TournamentMar 17, 2016 by Ryan Holmes
The Juice: Best Moments From 2016 NCAA's
The Juice: Best Moments From 2016 NCAA's
It was an incredible three days of wrestling where upsets and surprises were of the essence. Check out the best moments from the tournament and get first ha
It was an incredible three days of wrestling where upsets and surprises were of the essence. Check out the best moments from the tournament and get first hand comments from the wrestlers themselves in their post match interviews below.
Mission Complete: After two runner-up finishes in previous years, Nico Megaludis finally won an NCAA National title.
133
Ain't No Stoppin' Nahshon: His leg attacks and quickness earn Nahshon Garrett his first National title over Cory Clark.
141
Cowboy Up: Dean Heil stopped Bryce Meredith's miracle story of going from the #14-seed to champ with a 3-2 close win.
149
Wire-To-Wire: Zain Retherford was #1 coming into the season and he capped it off at the top with a bonus finish where he won each match with bonus points. In the finals he claimed his final takedown with 15-seconds remaining to get the 10-1 win with riding time over Brandon Sorensen.
157
The Champ Is Here: Isaiah Martinez does it again. IMar collected the winning takedown on a sick slide-by to claim his second straight NCAA title with a 6-5 win over Jason Nolf.
165
There Goes That Man: Alex Dieringer completed his career with a 6-2 decision over Isaac Jordan to become a 3x National Champion.
174
True Freshman National Champion: They pulled the redshirt of Myles Martin and it pays off. Coming into the finals, Martin was 0-3 against Bo Nickal and he got it done when it counted to become a true freshman National Champion.
184
Dean Doubles Up: Gabe Dean is the third wrestler this year to begin and end his season as the #1-ranked wrestler in the country as he finished things off with a 5-3 win of TJ Dudley to claim his second straight National title.
197
Tiger Gets Another Stripe: J'Den Cox made his way back to the top of the podium after claiming his first title as a freshman with a 4-2 win over Morgan McIntosh to win his second National title.
285
Greatest Heavyweight Match Ever: Kyle Snyder knocks off two time NCAA Champ Nick Gwiazdowski to claim his first NCAA title.
Gilman Pins NATO!: They go into overtime where Thomas Gilman fended off Nathan Tomasello and ended up putting him on his back and getting the fall to advance to the finals.
Nico Punches Another Ticket To Finals: Nico Megaludis makes it to another final with a great performance against David Terao.
133
21-seconds!: Nahshon Garrett comes out firing and pins returning National Champion Cody Brewer in 21-seconds.
Clutch Clark: Cory Clark is headed to the finals once again after getting the match-winning takedown to beat Zane Richards 4-2.
141
Miracle Meredith: From the #14-seed all the way to the finals. Bryce Meredith got the job done against Joey McKenna with a clutch takedown to advance to the finals with nearly 2-minutes of riding time.
Mean Dean Stops Schnaulty From Mobbin': Dean Heil continues to pick up speed as he handles Anthony Ashnault to punch his ticket to the finals.
149
Stay Off The Tracks: The Zain Train steam rolls Alec Pantaleo. After building up a huge lead with multiple turns, Zain Retherford turned Pantaleo one final time and finished with a fall.
Sorensen Makes It 3-For-3: Brandon Sorensen put Anthony Collica's run to an end with a 4-2 decision to make it 3-for-3 for the Hawkeyes in the semifinals.
157
No Stopping Nolf: Jason Nolf gets a 19-4 tech fall completed by a peterson to get the necessary points to close out the match and move on to the finals.
IMar's Defense Seals Rematch: Ian Miller went for it hard but returning champ Isaiah Martinez was able to fight his way out of trouble before getting the OT win.
165
Jordan On Jordan Violence...Again: Isaac Jordan does it again. It came down to the final seconds of the match and Bo Jordan just couldn't come up with another takedown to get the win and Zeke went on to win 4-3.
Still Ringin' 'Em Up: Two-time Champ Alex Dieringer made a statement that the last time he met up with Daniel Lewis and was ridden for over 3-minutes was a thing of the past. Ringer claimed a 14-4 major to make it to the finals for the third straight year.
174
Texas Tough: Bo Nickal was able to avenge his lone loss of the season as he somehow held off the late attacks of Nate Jackson to make the finals.
Myles Ahead Of The Competition: Myles Martin will meet Bo Nickal for the 4th time this season after he handles Lelund Weatherspoon in the semis, 8-2.
184
Dominant Dean: Once again Gabe Dean put on a dominant showing as he defeated Pete Renda to advance to his second straight NCAA final.
Dudley Do Right: After giving up the initial takedown TJ Dudley fought back to get the 12-4 win over Willie Miklus.
197
McIntosh Locks Up PSU's Team Title: Morgan McIntosh claimed another win over Nathan Burak to make the finals and lock up the Nittany Lions team title.
Cox Crushes Pfarr: He's going back to the finals. J'Den Cox dominated Brett Pfarr in the semis and sealed his finals appearance with a fall.
285
Snyder To The Final: Kyle Snyder came out of his Olympic redshirt for a reason and he will have a chance to get the job done against Gwiz tomorrow night in an epic heavyweight final.
Gwiz Goes Back To Finals: In a rematch of last year's final, Nick Gwiazdowski collected another win over Adam Coon to make his third straight NCAA final.
Dylan Peters pins Rodriguez: Peters tossed Rodriguez to his back on the edge of the mat and managed to keep a foot in to get the fall.
Milhof Pulls It Off Against Cruz: In another OT thriller at 125, Ryan Milhof came up with the winning takedown to claim AA status.
133
Montoya Goes For It: Eric Montoya threw Ryan Taylor to his back with a cement job and got the pin.
1-Second Short: Mason Beckman comes 1 second away from gaining riding time and forcing overtime against Jordan Conaway. With 59-seconds of riding time, Beckman loses 5-4.
165
Bump Proves Effective: Steven Rodriguez moved up three weight classes from a year ago and claims AA status.
174
Meyer Battles Back: Alex Meyer dropped his first round match and fought all the way back to become an All-American.
Walters Wins It: Cody Walters gets the win over Blaise Butler, 4-2.
184
Weird Stoppage No Prob For Brooks: Sammy Brooks nearly picked up the fall but the match was stopped for an unknown reason. However, it didn't stop him from cementing his AA status with a win over Dom Abounader.
197
Too Haught To Handle: Jared Haught got the job done to add to VT's AA collection.
Other Notables:
Mecate Seals AA Status With A Fall Over Abidin
RsFr Chishko Makes The Podium
Last Year's Surprise Can't Repeat: Joey Ward defeats Kevin Jack
Cruz Shuts Down Micah Jordan
Brescetta Becomes 3x AA
Palacio Pounds Pack
True Frosh AA's Joe Smith & David McFadden
Harner Picks Up The Pin
Wessell Can Wrestle
Conaway Contends, But Brewer Is Better: Jordan Conaway pushed returning NCAA Champ Cody Brewer in a wild match full of scrambles. Ultimately, Brewer got the job done to advance to the semis and lock up his 4th AA finish.
Heil's Revenge: A takedown and turn in the third period with less than minute left pushed Dean Heil over Joey Ward, who gave him his only loss of the season.
Meredith's Miracle: After giving up a takedown late in the match, Bryce Meredith scored a reversal when he locked up a cradle off a switch and turned Micah Jordan in the final seconds of the match to get the win in the quarters.
Power Of The Pinfall: Zain Retherford and Alec Panteleo will meet in the semis, but it was the power of the pin that sealed AA status for both guys.
Cowboy Collica Continues To Roll: It was close but Anthony Collica was able to hold off a heavy-handed Lavion Mayes to get the 3-2 win and advance to the semis where he will meet Brandon Sorensen.
Rider Die: Chad Walsh comes back to get the 11-10 win over Cody Pack after being down 6-0 early in the match.
174 Craziness Continues: Unseeded Lelund Weatherspoon and true freshman #11-Myles Martin will meet in the semis. Weatherspoon claimed a 5-3 win over #7-Cody Walters in the quarters as Martin took out Matt Reed. Top-seed Bo Nickal is the only one keeping order as he rolled over #9-Chandler Rogers 15-4 in the quarters. Jadaen Bernstein and Nate Jackson had a long wait in the middle of their bout as Bernstein went through concussion protocol for about 5 to 8 minutes. Bernstein ultimately came back to finish the match, but it was all Jackson as he advanced to the semis.
Renda Gets It Done, Dudley Avenges B1G Loss: TJ Dudley built up a big lead on #2-Sammy Brooks and somehow managed to keep Brooks at bay despite getting hit for stalling to give up a point and looking as if he hit a wall to get the 9-6 win with riding time. Pete Renda locked up his AA status as he defeated #4-Zach Zavatsky, 4-3.
Bad Move By Bresser: A caution on an optional start comes back to bite #11-Ronnie Bresser as Dalton Macri gets the win on OT.
Unseeded Russell Rolls In OT Against #12-Petrov: Sean Russell got the upset siren started when he took Paul Petrov into deep waters to record the overtime win.
Clagan Holds Off #8-Henderson: BJ Clagon picked up a pair of back points late in the bout before giving up an escape and holding off Evan Henderson to get the 3-1 win.
#11-Collica Cowboys Up Against #6-Tsirtsis: Anthony Collica continues to channel his inner Cowboy as he gained a late escape to knock off former NCAA Champ Jason Tsirtsis.
#14-Meredith Gets Best Of Ex-Teammate #3-Jack: It looked as if Kevin Jack had Bryce Meredith stacked up, but the referee didn’t seem to see it in the closing seconds of the match and Meredith picked up the win.
#2-Gantt Gets 1st Season Loss: Tommy Gantt came in with an unblemished record of 25-0, but all that came to an end when he met Rider's Chad Walsh in the second round.
#6-Stauffer Gets Stuffed: #11-Lorenzo Thomas wasn't messing around when he came up against Blake Stauffer. Thomas dominated every facet of the match to get a 10-1 major decision.
Returning AA's Go 0-2: Returning All-Americans Brian Realbuto, Kenny Courts and Eddie Klimara go 0-2 and are eliminated after the first day at the NCAA Championships. Realbuto, the returning runner-up, lost his opening round match to Lelund Weatherspoon then took a 1-point loss to Sean Mappes in the wrestlebacks. After a close 3-2 loss to Blake Stauffer, Courts was eliminated by Jakob Scheffel. Lastly, Klimara was another victim of close losses as he was downed by Conor Youtsey (7-6) and Ronnie Bresser, 2-1 in OT.
Other Notable Day 1 Upsets
Morelli Stops #11-Staudenmayer
Brooks Black Downs #6-Dejournette
Down(ey) Goes Haught
Ariola Edged Avery
McCutcheon Gets "Sleighed"
Reamed Out: Clayton Techs Henderson To Knock Him Out Of Tournament
Jensen Hands Stolfi 1st Round Loss
Hear McKenna's thoughts after coming off the mat with Horan below.
Coaches' Kids Clash: Joe Smith and Jake Ryan light up the scoreboard in an overtime thriller where a late stall call against Ryan gives Smith a second chance.
Burak vs Noon: Another OT thriller gets the crowd on their feet as Trent Noon give Nathan Burak an early round scare.
#12-Murphy Pushes #5-Palacio: As always Dylan Palacio was involved in another match that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Only this time his opponent, Brian Murphy, was up for the challenge.
#15-David Terao Holds On To Defeat #2-Dance: David Terao wrestled close to perfect as he collected a clutch win over Joey Dance.
Get Terao's post-match thoughts below.
Finals
125Mission Complete: After two runner-up finishes in previous years, Nico Megaludis finally won an NCAA National title.
133
Ain't No Stoppin' Nahshon: His leg attacks and quickness earn Nahshon Garrett his first National title over Cory Clark.
141
Cowboy Up: Dean Heil stopped Bryce Meredith's miracle story of going from the #14-seed to champ with a 3-2 close win.
149
Wire-To-Wire: Zain Retherford was #1 coming into the season and he capped it off at the top with a bonus finish where he won each match with bonus points. In the finals he claimed his final takedown with 15-seconds remaining to get the 10-1 win with riding time over Brandon Sorensen.
157
The Champ Is Here: Isaiah Martinez does it again. IMar collected the winning takedown on a sick slide-by to claim his second straight NCAA title with a 6-5 win over Jason Nolf.
165
There Goes That Man: Alex Dieringer completed his career with a 6-2 decision over Isaac Jordan to become a 3x National Champion.
174
True Freshman National Champion: They pulled the redshirt of Myles Martin and it pays off. Coming into the finals, Martin was 0-3 against Bo Nickal and he got it done when it counted to become a true freshman National Champion.
184
Dean Doubles Up: Gabe Dean is the third wrestler this year to begin and end his season as the #1-ranked wrestler in the country as he finished things off with a 5-3 win of TJ Dudley to claim his second straight National title.
197
Tiger Gets Another Stripe: J'Den Cox made his way back to the top of the podium after claiming his first title as a freshman with a 4-2 win over Morgan McIntosh to win his second National title.
285
Greatest Heavyweight Match Ever: Kyle Snyder knocks off two time NCAA Champ Nick Gwiazdowski to claim his first NCAA title.
Day 2
Semis
125Gilman Pins NATO!: They go into overtime where Thomas Gilman fended off Nathan Tomasello and ended up putting him on his back and getting the fall to advance to the finals.
Nico Punches Another Ticket To Finals: Nico Megaludis makes it to another final with a great performance against David Terao.
133
21-seconds!: Nahshon Garrett comes out firing and pins returning National Champion Cody Brewer in 21-seconds.
Clutch Clark: Cory Clark is headed to the finals once again after getting the match-winning takedown to beat Zane Richards 4-2.
141
Miracle Meredith: From the #14-seed all the way to the finals. Bryce Meredith got the job done against Joey McKenna with a clutch takedown to advance to the finals with nearly 2-minutes of riding time.
Mean Dean Stops Schnaulty From Mobbin': Dean Heil continues to pick up speed as he handles Anthony Ashnault to punch his ticket to the finals.
149
Stay Off The Tracks: The Zain Train steam rolls Alec Pantaleo. After building up a huge lead with multiple turns, Zain Retherford turned Pantaleo one final time and finished with a fall.
Sorensen Makes It 3-For-3: Brandon Sorensen put Anthony Collica's run to an end with a 4-2 decision to make it 3-for-3 for the Hawkeyes in the semifinals.
157
No Stopping Nolf: Jason Nolf gets a 19-4 tech fall completed by a peterson to get the necessary points to close out the match and move on to the finals.
IMar's Defense Seals Rematch: Ian Miller went for it hard but returning champ Isaiah Martinez was able to fight his way out of trouble before getting the OT win.
165
Jordan On Jordan Violence...Again: Isaac Jordan does it again. It came down to the final seconds of the match and Bo Jordan just couldn't come up with another takedown to get the win and Zeke went on to win 4-3.
Still Ringin' 'Em Up: Two-time Champ Alex Dieringer made a statement that the last time he met up with Daniel Lewis and was ridden for over 3-minutes was a thing of the past. Ringer claimed a 14-4 major to make it to the finals for the third straight year.
174
Texas Tough: Bo Nickal was able to avenge his lone loss of the season as he somehow held off the late attacks of Nate Jackson to make the finals.
Myles Ahead Of The Competition: Myles Martin will meet Bo Nickal for the 4th time this season after he handles Lelund Weatherspoon in the semis, 8-2.
184
Dominant Dean: Once again Gabe Dean put on a dominant showing as he defeated Pete Renda to advance to his second straight NCAA final.
Dudley Do Right: After giving up the initial takedown TJ Dudley fought back to get the 12-4 win over Willie Miklus.
197
McIntosh Locks Up PSU's Team Title: Morgan McIntosh claimed another win over Nathan Burak to make the finals and lock up the Nittany Lions team title.
Cox Crushes Pfarr: He's going back to the finals. J'Den Cox dominated Brett Pfarr in the semis and sealed his finals appearance with a fall.
285
Snyder To The Final: Kyle Snyder came out of his Olympic redshirt for a reason and he will have a chance to get the job done against Gwiz tomorrow night in an epic heavyweight final.
Gwiz Goes Back To Finals: In a rematch of last year's final, Nick Gwiazdowski collected another win over Adam Coon to make his third straight NCAA final.
Blood Round
125Dylan Peters pins Rodriguez: Peters tossed Rodriguez to his back on the edge of the mat and managed to keep a foot in to get the fall.
Milhof Pulls It Off Against Cruz: In another OT thriller at 125, Ryan Milhof came up with the winning takedown to claim AA status.
133
Montoya Goes For It: Eric Montoya threw Ryan Taylor to his back with a cement job and got the pin.
1-Second Short: Mason Beckman comes 1 second away from gaining riding time and forcing overtime against Jordan Conaway. With 59-seconds of riding time, Beckman loses 5-4.
165
Bump Proves Effective: Steven Rodriguez moved up three weight classes from a year ago and claims AA status.
174
Meyer Battles Back: Alex Meyer dropped his first round match and fought all the way back to become an All-American.
Walters Wins It: Cody Walters gets the win over Blaise Butler, 4-2.
184
Weird Stoppage No Prob For Brooks: Sammy Brooks nearly picked up the fall but the match was stopped for an unknown reason. However, it didn't stop him from cementing his AA status with a win over Dom Abounader.
197
Too Haught To Handle: Jared Haught got the job done to add to VT's AA collection.
Other Notables:
Mecate Seals AA Status With A Fall Over Abidin
RsFr Chishko Makes The Podium
Last Year's Surprise Can't Repeat: Joey Ward defeats Kevin Jack
Cruz Shuts Down Micah Jordan
Brescetta Becomes 3x AA
Palacio Pounds Pack
True Frosh AA's Joe Smith & David McFadden
Harner Picks Up The Pin
Wessell Can Wrestle
Key Quarters
Lefty Headlock Seals It For Terao: In a wild exchange, David Terao threw a deadly left-handed headlock to pick up the fall over Conor Schram to get the fall and advance to semifinals.Conaway Contends, But Brewer Is Better: Jordan Conaway pushed returning NCAA Champ Cody Brewer in a wild match full of scrambles. Ultimately, Brewer got the job done to advance to the semis and lock up his 4th AA finish.
Heil's Revenge: A takedown and turn in the third period with less than minute left pushed Dean Heil over Joey Ward, who gave him his only loss of the season.
Meredith's Miracle: After giving up a takedown late in the match, Bryce Meredith scored a reversal when he locked up a cradle off a switch and turned Micah Jordan in the final seconds of the match to get the win in the quarters.
Power Of The Pinfall: Zain Retherford and Alec Panteleo will meet in the semis, but it was the power of the pin that sealed AA status for both guys.
Cowboy Collica Continues To Roll: It was close but Anthony Collica was able to hold off a heavy-handed Lavion Mayes to get the 3-2 win and advance to the semis where he will meet Brandon Sorensen.
Rider Die: Chad Walsh comes back to get the 11-10 win over Cody Pack after being down 6-0 early in the match.
174 Craziness Continues: Unseeded Lelund Weatherspoon and true freshman #11-Myles Martin will meet in the semis. Weatherspoon claimed a 5-3 win over #7-Cody Walters in the quarters as Martin took out Matt Reed. Top-seed Bo Nickal is the only one keeping order as he rolled over #9-Chandler Rogers 15-4 in the quarters. Jadaen Bernstein and Nate Jackson had a long wait in the middle of their bout as Bernstein went through concussion protocol for about 5 to 8 minutes. Bernstein ultimately came back to finish the match, but it was all Jackson as he advanced to the semis.
Renda Gets It Done, Dudley Avenges B1G Loss: TJ Dudley built up a big lead on #2-Sammy Brooks and somehow managed to keep Brooks at bay despite getting hit for stalling to give up a point and looking as if he hit a wall to get the 9-6 win with riding time. Pete Renda locked up his AA status as he defeated #4-Zach Zavatsky, 4-3.
Day 1
Top Upsets
174-Pound Bracket Explodes: Within a 5-minute span, #2-Brian Realbuto, #3-Blaise Butler, #4-Ethan Ramos and #13-Alex Meyer all were served losses in the first round by unseeded guys. Realbuto lost to Lelund Weatherspoon, Butler lost to Matt Reed, Ramos was rolled over by Jadaen Bernstein and Lehigh’s Gordon Wolf edged Meyer late in the match.Bad Move By Bresser: A caution on an optional start comes back to bite #11-Ronnie Bresser as Dalton Macri gets the win on OT.
Unseeded Russell Rolls In OT Against #12-Petrov: Sean Russell got the upset siren started when he took Paul Petrov into deep waters to record the overtime win.
Clagan Holds Off #8-Henderson: BJ Clagon picked up a pair of back points late in the bout before giving up an escape and holding off Evan Henderson to get the 3-1 win.
#11-Collica Cowboys Up Against #6-Tsirtsis: Anthony Collica continues to channel his inner Cowboy as he gained a late escape to knock off former NCAA Champ Jason Tsirtsis.
#14-Meredith Gets Best Of Ex-Teammate #3-Jack: It looked as if Kevin Jack had Bryce Meredith stacked up, but the referee didn’t seem to see it in the closing seconds of the match and Meredith picked up the win.
#2-Gantt Gets 1st Season Loss: Tommy Gantt came in with an unblemished record of 25-0, but all that came to an end when he met Rider's Chad Walsh in the second round.
#6-Stauffer Gets Stuffed: #11-Lorenzo Thomas wasn't messing around when he came up against Blake Stauffer. Thomas dominated every facet of the match to get a 10-1 major decision.
Returning AA's Go 0-2: Returning All-Americans Brian Realbuto, Kenny Courts and Eddie Klimara go 0-2 and are eliminated after the first day at the NCAA Championships. Realbuto, the returning runner-up, lost his opening round match to Lelund Weatherspoon then took a 1-point loss to Sean Mappes in the wrestlebacks. After a close 3-2 loss to Blake Stauffer, Courts was eliminated by Jakob Scheffel. Lastly, Klimara was another victim of close losses as he was downed by Conor Youtsey (7-6) and Ronnie Bresser, 2-1 in OT.
Other Notable Day 1 Upsets
Morelli Stops #11-Staudenmayer
Brooks Black Downs #6-Dejournette
Down(ey) Goes Haught
Ariola Edged Avery
McCutcheon Gets "Sleighed"
Reamed Out: Clayton Techs Henderson To Knock Him Out Of Tournament
Jensen Hands Stolfi 1st Round Loss
SHOW STOPPERS!
Horan vs McKenna: Everything but the kitchen sink was thrown in this crazy first round match. McKenna went for the a trip on the edge of the mat that was fought off by Horan, who nearly came up with the takedown himself when he put McKenna on his back. A takedown was awarded by then after review was taken away. They went into overtime where both guys almost scored takedowns in a wild scramble. It went to rideout where McKenna came out on top.Hear McKenna's thoughts after coming off the mat with Horan below.
Coaches' Kids Clash: Joe Smith and Jake Ryan light up the scoreboard in an overtime thriller where a late stall call against Ryan gives Smith a second chance.
Burak vs Noon: Another OT thriller gets the crowd on their feet as Trent Noon give Nathan Burak an early round scare.
#12-Murphy Pushes #5-Palacio: As always Dylan Palacio was involved in another match that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Only this time his opponent, Brian Murphy, was up for the challenge.
#15-David Terao Holds On To Defeat #2-Dance: David Terao wrestled close to perfect as he collected a clutch win over Joey Dance.
Get Terao's post-match thoughts below.