In what was described as odd or unfair by many in the wrestling community, the decision to have the final wrestling match be the 165 pound final appears to be a gamble that paid off. Top seeds, and arguably the two best wrestlers in all of college, Kyle Dake and David Taylor will move onto the finals tonight.
Taylor is among five Penn State wrestlers who will be competing in the finals along with Nicolas Megaludis, Quentin Wright, Ed Ruth and Matthew Brown. Cael Sanderson’s team headed into the tournament with a wide bonus point lead and headed into the finals, currently carry 114.5 points. Oklahoma State is in second with 94 while Minnesota is in third with 88. The Cowboys have Chris Perry and Jordan Oliver headed into the finals, but will need a round of poor performances from the Nittany Lions for their team to have any chance of winning the title.
The complete list of semifinal results are as follows:
125
Semifinal – Nicholas Megaludis (Penn State) 28-3 won in tie breaker – 2 over Alan Waters (Missouri) 32-1 (TB-2 3-2)
Semifinal – Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 25-3 won by decision over Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 41-5 (Dec 10-5)
133
Semifinal – Logan Stieber (Ohio St.) 25-0 won by tech fall over A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) 32-4 (TF-1.5 7:00 (18-2))
Semifinal – Tony Ramos (Iowa) 31-1 won in sudden victory – 2 over Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) 31-5 (SV-2 6-4)
141
Semifinal – Mitchell Port (Edinboro) 34-3 won by decision over Hunter Stieber (Ohio St.) 34-1 (Dec 7-6)
Semifinal – Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) 29-0 won by decision over Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (The Citadel) 41-5 (Dec 4-0)
149
Semifinal – Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma St.) 37-0 won by major decision over Steve Santos (Columbia) 29-2 (MD 14-3)
Semifinal – Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) 30-1 won by decision over Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) 31-10 (Dec 7-3)
157
Semifinal – Jason Welch (Northwestern) 34-1 won by decision over David Bonin (Northern Iowa) 29-8 (Dec 7-1)
Semifinal – Derek St. John (Iowa) 30-2 won in tie breaker – 2 over Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma St.) 33-3 (TB-2 3-2)
165
Semifinal – Kyle Dake (Cornell) 36-0 won by decision over Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma St.) 32-5 (Dec 2-0)
Semifinal – David Taylor (Penn State) 30-1 won by fall over Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) 33-2 (Fall 3:25)
174
Semifinal – Chris Perry (Oklahoma St.) 34-2 won in sudden victory – 1 over Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) 36-4 (SV-1 4-2)
Semifinal – Mathew Brown (Penn State) 29-4 won by decision over Logan Storley (Minnesota) 27-4 (Dec 3-2)
184
Semifinal – Edward Ruth (Penn State) 32-0 won by decision over Steve Bosak (Cornell) 23-3 (Dec 4-1)
Semifinal – Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) 26-3 won by decision over Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) 30-1 (Dec 3-2)
197
Semifinal – Dustin Kilgore (Kent St.) 43-0 won by decision over Taylor Meeks (Oregon St.) 34-6 (Dec 8-6)
Semifinal – Quentin Wright (Penn State) 31-0 won in tie breaker – 2 over Matthew Wilps (Pittsburgh) 22-3 (TB-2 4-3)
285
Semifinal – Michael McMullan (Northwestern) 22-3 won in sudden victory – 1 over Dominque Bradley (Missouri) 38-2 (SV-1 3-1)
Semifinal – Anthony Nelson (Minnesota) 32-1 won by decision over Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma St.) 27-4 (Dec 5-4)