March 8, 2008
Big Ten Championships Brackets (End of Session One) 
Team Standings (End of Session One)
MINNEAPOLIS -- Session One of the Big Ten Championships is complete and the Wildcats sent four wrestlers into Saturday night's semifinals. Dustin Fox, Mike Tamillow, Nick Hayes and Keith Sulzer all advanced while the rest of the Wildcats are alive in the consolation bracket. Session Two begins at 6 p.m. Saturday night.
Fox had the most dominating first session, notching his first fall of the season and a 15-0 technical fall in the quarterfinals. Tamillow was also impressive, scoring two major decision victories. The first session of the 2008 Big Ten Championships drew over 6,000 fans to Minnesota's Williams Arena. Northwestern sits in fifth place after the first session.
The Big Ten Conference has 72 qualifiers for the NCAA Championships and the top seven Big Ten finishers at each weight class are guaranteed entry into the field. By advancing to the semifinals, all four Wildcats have earned a bid to the NCAA Championships.
Sulzer at 141 lbs. was the first Wildcat to advance to the semifinals. The seventh-seeded redshirt freshman had a bye in his first Big Ten Championships and scored an 8-0 major decision over Michigan State's Jeff Wimberley in his first match. Earlier in the session, Wimberley upset second-seeded Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin with a pin.
Sulzer will face Minnesota's sixth-seeded Manuel Rivera in Saturday night's semifinals. Rivera knocked off third-seeded J. Jaggers of Ohio State in the quarterfinals.
Hayes also had a bye through the first round and just like Sulzer, the fourth-seeded Hayes advanced with a win over No. 5 seed John Dergo of Illinois. Hayes took a 5-3 decision at 174 lbs.
Dergo struck first with a takedown in the opening frame, but the senior scored a reversal to event the score at 2-2 heading into the second period. The senior notched another takedown and went on to win the match 5-3. Hayes will face Michigan's top-seeded Steve Luke in the semifinals Saturday night.
The two 174-pounders are no strangers as they faced each other three times last season: dual meet, Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships. Luke is the defending Big Ten champion.
The top-seeded Tamillow was the next Wildcat to advance to the semifinals with a convincing 11-2 major decision victory over Michigan's Anthony Biondo. Tamillow dominated the match from start to finish with close to five minutes of riding time.
Tamillow took an early 2-0 lead with a takedown and then he rode out the period. The senior did most of his damage in the last two periods, scoring multiple takedowns and back points and only giving up two escapes in the process.
The defending Big Ten champion at 197 lbs. will face Wisconsin's fourth-seeded Dallas Herbst in the semifinals. Tamillow won their last meeting, 6-1, during the dual season.
Fox absolutely handled seventh-seeded John Laboranti of Penn State in the quarterfinals to the tune of a 15-0 technical fall.
Fox, not known for putting up big scores, notched an early takedown for a 2-0 lead and then proceeded to rack up two three-point near falls and a two-point near fall to lead 11-0 at the end of the first.
The wrestlers started neutral in the second and Fox went up 14-0 after a stalling point was handed out. With a quick escape to start the third, the match ended with a 15-0 technical fall.
Fox has one loss on the season and it was to Wisconsin's Kyle Massey during the dual season. Fox will have a chance to avenge that loss when the No. 2 seed takes on the third-seeded Wisconsin heavyweight in Saturday night's semifinals.
At 125 lbs., fourth-seeded Brandon Precin got things started for the Wildcats and for the entire tournament facing 2006 NCAA qualifier Mike Watts of Michigan. After a scoreless first period, Precin started down and picked up a reversal early in the second. The sophomore accumulated over a minute of riding time in the period and went on to win the match, 4-2.
In his quarterfinal match, fifth-seeded Gabe Flores of Illinois defeated Precin by a 6-0 decision. The fourth-seeded sophomore will face Michigan State's Joel Trombley in wrestleback action tonight. Precin earned a major decision over the Spartan in their last meeting.
Eric Metzler drew top-seeded Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois in the first round and fell 10-3 to fall into the wrestleback bracket. The redshirt sophomore trailed 2-1 after one period, but the third-ranked Kennedy scored several takedowns late. Metzler will face Ohio State's No. 7 seed Reece Humphrey in the consolation bracket.
At 149, seventh-seeded Ryan Lang fell in sudden victory to Kurt Kinser of Indiana. Lang led 2-1 after the first period and 3-1 after the second, but Kinser scored a late third-period takedown and followed that up with a takedown in overtime to take the upset victory.
Lang now faces Illinois eighth-seeded Grant Paswall. Lang won their last meeting with a major decision.
Unseeded Andrew Nadhir fell 10-4 to top-seeded Mike Poeta of Illinois in the first round and the Illini's fifth-seeded Roger Smith-Bergsrud topped unseeded Dominic Marella by a 6-2 decision at 165. Adil Kolovic also dropped into the consolation bracket when seventh-seeded Ben Friedl scored a 11-2 major decision in the first round.
Tamillow advanced to the quarterfinals with a 10-2 major decision at 197 lbs. over Joe Fagiano of Indiana. Tamillow put on a clinic the last time the two met, putting up more than 20 points in a technical fall, but the senior kept things closer to the vest this time around, scoring several takedowns, but accumulating close to three minutes of riding time.
Fox waited until the postseason to pick up his first pin of the year. Fox, facing a severely undersized Edward Phillips of Michigan. With both wrestlers neutral, the All-American senior hoisted his opponent up in the air and threw him to the ground for the early takedown.
Fox planted himself on top of Phillips and after close to a minute, picked up the fall at 2:03
Full results from session one and Northwestern's Saturday evening matchups appear below. Session Two begins at 6 p.m. It will feature two rounds of consolation action and the championship semifinals.
Northwestern Results
First Round
125: #4 Precin (NU) dec. Watts (MICH), 4-2
133: #1 Kennedy (ILL) dec. Metzler (NU), 10-3
149: Kinser (IU) dec. #7 Lang (NU), 6-4 (SV1)
157: #1 Poeta (ILL) dec. Nadhir (NU), 10-4
165: #5 Smith-Bergsrud (ILL) dec. Marella (NU), 6-2
184: #7 Friedl (ILL) MD Kolovic (NU), 11-4
197: #1 Tamillow (NU) MD Fagiano (IU), 10-2
285: #2 Fox (NU) pinned Phillips (MICH), 2:03
Northwestern Results
Quarterfinals
125: #5 Flores (ILL) dec. #4 Precin (NU), 6-0
141: #7 Sulzer (NU) MD Wimberley (MSU), 8-0
174: #4 Hayes (NU) dec. Dergo (ILL), 5-3
197: #1 Tamillow (NU) MD Biondo (MICH), 11-2
285: #2 Fox (NU) tech fall #7 Laboranti (PSU), 15-0
Saturday Night Matches
Semifinals
141: #7 Sulzer (NU) vs. #6 Rivera (MINN)
174: #4 Hayes (NU) vs. #1 Luke (MICH)
197: #1 Tamillow (NU) vs. #4 Herbst (WIS)
285: #2 Fox (NU) vs. #3 Massey (WIS)
Saturday Night Matches
Consolation
125: #4 Precin (NU) vs. Trombly (MSU)
133: Metzler (NU) vs. #7 Humphrey (OSU)
149: #7 Lang (NU) vs. #8 Paswall (ILL)
157: Nadhir (NU) vs. #7 Morningstar (IOWA)
165: Marella (NU) vs. #3 Safrotowich (MINN)
184: Kolovic (NU) vs. #8 Kissel (PUR)