2006 Big Ten Wrestling Championships-Updated Through Day One
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March 4, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Northwestern's 13th-ranked wrestling team stands in fifth place after full day of competition at the 2006 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. Individually, Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) qualified for the championship finals in their respective weight classes.
Herbert, a sophomore All-American, is headed to the championship finals for his second-straight year after defeating Penn State's fourth-seeded James Yonushonis. Herbert never gave Yonushonis a chance as he tallied an early takedown and accrued 2:45 seconds of riding time in the first round. Herbert continued his domination throughout the match and took a 10-0 win. He will face Iowa's second-seeded Mark Perry in the finals--a rematch from the Midlands finals where Herbert took a 5-3 victory.
Fifth-seeded Lang also is headed to the finals after he defeated Michigan's top-seeded Josh Churella in the 141-pound semifinal match. Lang recorded a takedown and a two-point nearfall in the first, almost pinning Churella, en route to a dominating win. Churella made it closer in the end with a pair of third-period takedowns, but Lang recorded more than three minutes of riding time in the 7-5 win.
Third-seeded John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) wrestled a fantastic match in his semifinal match versus Michigan State's second-seeded Nick Simmons, but was edged in overtime, 6-3. Velez took an early 2-0 lead when he hit a shot one minute into the first period. Simmons responded with an escape, but Velez entered the second period holding a 2-1 lead.
There, Velez seemed to have Simmons' number, getting in on Simmons a number of times, and hitting what appeared to a be a takedown on the match's edge, but the wrestlers were ruled out of bounds. Velez did tally an escape in the period and entered the final round with a 3-1 lead.
In the third, Velez kept up his intensity and caught Simmons on a number of shot attempts. With the match seemingly wrapped up, Simmons got good position on Velez and was awarded a takedown as time expired to force overtime.
In the first tiebreaker, Simmons rolled Velez and earned the three-point nearfall. He held on for the win. Velez faces Indiana's top-seeded Joe Dubuque in the consolation semifinal.
In his 197-pound semifinal match, third-seeded Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) was edged by Penn State's second-seeded Philip Davis 2-1. After the first two periods went by without a score, Delguyd needed some offense as Davis has almost two minutes of riding time. Delguyd tallied an escape in the third, but Davis recorded one as well and walked off with the 2-1 win with riding time.
In the 165-pound consolation round, Will Durkee (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) fell in tight overtime bout to Purdue's Dan Bedoy. After the first two periods went by without score, Durkee got on the board first with an escape. Bedoy then tallied a takedown, but Durkee responded with an escape to make it 2-2. The sudden victory period went by without score and Durkee started up in the first tiebreaker, but didn't allow Bedoy to score. Durkee recorded an escape in the second tiebreaker, but Bedoy tallied a takedown late in the period to take the 4-3 win.
In his first consolation match, Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) stayed alive in the tournament with a win over Indiana's Justin Curran. Curran took an early 4-1 lead with a pair of first-period takedowns, but Tamillow cut it to 4-3 with a reversal. Tamillow turned on the offense midway through the second when he got a hold of Curran's left leg and drove him down for the takedown to take a 6-5 lead. Tamillow notched one more escape and took the 7-5 victory.
Tamillow then faced Michigan State's Joe Williams in his second wrestleback match. Tamillow took a 2-1 lead into the second period, then tallied an escape and a takedown to go up 5-1. While Williams got a third-period escape, Tamillow recorded one more takedown and won the match 7-3.
After falling in the second overtime in his second match of the day, Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) entered the consolation round with renewed energy and focus in his match versus Iowa's Mike Bucklin. Fox tallied two takedowns and a two-point nearfall in the first period and dominated Bucklin throughout the match. Bucklin tallied escapes in the second and third periods, but Fox walked off with the 9-2 win.
In his second consolation match, Fox topped Indiana's seventh-seeded Dave Herman, 4-2. Fox got on the board with a reversal in the second, but Herman tied the score in the third with a pair of escapes, but Fox walked off with the 4-2 win.
Greg Hagel (Linwood, N.J./Blair Academy) faced Ohio State's seventh-ranked Steve Sommer in his first consolation match. Sommer got up with an early takedown, but Hagel quickly evened the score at 2-2 with a reversal. Sommer went up again with a two-point nearfall, but Hagel stayed tough and notched a takedown to tie the score at 4-4. After Sommer went up 6-4 with a reversal, Hagel roared back with an escape and a takedown to take his first lead of the match. When Sommer tied the score early in the third period with an escape, the stage was set for an exciting final minute and a half of wrestling.
With 1:12 remaining, Sommer notched an escape to take the 8-7 lead. Hagel went on the offensive and nearly came through on a number of shots, but Sommer escaped with the win, 8-7.
After falling to Wisconsin's third-seeded Tom Clum in the first session, Daniel Quintela (St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park) drew another tough assignment when he took the mat versus Penn State's fifth-seeded Jake Strayer in the wrestleback bracket.
Strayer got up early with three first-period takedowns, but Quintela stayed in the match with a pair of escapes. Strayer proved to be too much in the end, however, and topped Quintela 11-3.
Marty Gould (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) faced Michigan State's eighth-seeded Darren McKnight in his first wrestleback match. Gould stayed tough with McKnight early in the match, but couldn't keep up with McKnight's offense and dropped the match, 15-3.