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Northwestern: 1st/14 Teams (98.0 Points) Final Brackets  The Palestra Philadelphia, Pa. |
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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Northwestern placed three wrestlers in the finals and walked out of the Palestra with two individual champions -- Jason Tsirtsis at 149 pounds and Alex Polizzi at 197 pounds -- as well as the team title at Sunday's Keystone Classic tournament hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.
Fourth-ranked Pierce Harger also reached the finals at 165 pounds, while No. 18 Jameson Oster and Mitch Sliga wrestled their way to third place at 141 and 184 pounds, respectively.
The Wildcats managed to claim the Keystone Classic team championship for the third time in four years despite wrestling without two of their six ranked wrestlers (No. 1-ranked heavyweight Mike McMullan and No. 15-ranked 157-pounder Bryce Brill). NU won the event with 98.0 points to top Rider (92.5) and Eastern Michigan (89.0), while Pittsburgh and Indiana rounded out the top 5 in the team standings.
The top-ranked Tsirtsis opened with back-to-back major decision victories before bearing down for what proved to be three challenging matches, culminating in his 5-4 championship match victory over Appalachian State's 10th-ranked Dyllan Cottrell.
At 197, the ninth-ranked Polizzi wrestled his way to the championship match where he came up against No. 10 Nick Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh. Polizzi was able to control the action and earn a 6-2 decision win for the title, a victory that could pay dividends for NCAA Championships seeding come March.
Harger was strong in the early going of the 165-pound bracket with three consecutive bonus-point decisions to reach the championship match. There, he faced a fellow senior and Big Ten competitor in Indiana's 12th-ranked Taylor Walsh, who managed to catch Harger with a first-period pin for the tournament crown.
Oster also had an impressive tournament for the Wildcats, placing third with all four of his victories on the day coming by fall. Oster was defeated in the championship semifinals by Rider's 19th-ranked Chuck Zeisloft (4-1), but rallied with two more pins, including a fall in his third-place match with Lucas Zilverberg just as the first period was coming to a close.
At 184, Sliga was able to overcome a hard-fought 6-0 defeat to the nation's No. 3-ranked Lorenzo Thomas of Penn, eventually defeating Indiana's Matt Irick, 4-1, for the championship.
NU's Dominick Malone finished 3-2 on the day to claim fifth place at 133 pounds, while Garrison White was 1-2 at 125 pounds.
Complete results from Northwestern's participation at the Keystone Classic can be found below. Next Sunday (Nov. 30), the Wildcats make their 2014 home debut when they host Lehigh at 1 p.m. CT.
2014 Keystone Classic -- Weight-by-Weight Placings
125:
Dom Forys (PITT) maj. dec. Garrison White (NU), 17-6
Garrison White (NU) dec. Isaac Andrade (SD State), 11-5
Gerald Wert (Rider) FALL Garrison White (NU), 3:50
133:
Dominick Malone (NU) dec. Nick Zanetta (PITT), 6-5
Dominick Malone (NU) dec. Brance Simms (SD State), 8-3
Kevin Devoy (Drexel) dec. Dominick Malone (NU), 6-1
Caleb Richardson (PENN) dec. Dominick Malone (NU), 3-1 (SV-1)
Dominick Malone (NU) maj. dec. Vincent Pizzuto (EMU), 14-1
Final Placing: 5th
141:
Jameson Oster (NU) FALL Javon Johnson (APP ST), 1:55
Jameson Oster (NU) FALL Franco Ferraina (Drexel), 1:55
#19 Chuck Zeisloft (Rider) dec. Jameson Oster (NU), 4-2
Jameson Oster (NU) FALL Tanner Cahill (Bloomsburg), 1:19
Jameson Oster (NU) FALL Lucas Zilverberg (SD State), 3:00
Final Placing: 3rd
149:
Jason Tsirtsis (NU) maj. dec. Garrett Schaner (STAN), 10-2
Jason Tsirtsis (NU) maj. dec. Joe Randazzo (IND), 12-3
Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. Nick Barber (EMU), 4-0
Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. Bryant Clagon (Rider), 10-8
Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. #10 Dyllan Cottrell (APP ST), 5-4
Final Placing: 1st
157:
No wrestlers
165:
Pierce Harger (NU) FALL Nicholas Elmer (Drexel), 6:58
Pierce Harger (NU) maj. dec. Tyler Grimaldi (Harvard), 16-5
Pierce Harger (NU) maj. dec. Shabaka Johns (VMI), 9-1
Taylor Walsh (IND) FALL Pierce Harger (NU), 1:28
Final Placing: 2nd
174:
No wrestlers
184:
Mitch Sliga (NU) dec. Brady Ayers (SD State), 3-2
Mitch Sliga (NU) dec. Matt Irick (IND), 4-2
Lorenzo Thomas (PENN) dec. Mitch Sliga (NU), 6-0
Mitch Sliga (NU) dec. Michael Curby (EMU), 4-3 (TB-2)
Mitch Sliga (NU) dec. Matt Irick (IND), 4-1
Final Placing: 3rd
197:
Alex Polizzi (NU) FALL Mike Mirra (Bloomsburg), 4:54
Alex Polizzi (NU) dec. Ryan Solomon (PITT), 6-2
Alex Polizzi (NU) maj. dec. Anthony Abro (EMU), 12-0
Alex Polizzi (NU) dec. Nick Bonaccorsi (PITT), 6-2
Final Placing: 1st
Hwt: No wrestlers
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