Completed Event: Men's Wrestling versus Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on January 18, 2026 , , One Champ
Final
Men's Wrestling
Harold Nichols Cyclone Open
One Champ
Iowa State University Athletics
Varner to Semis; Seven Clones Alive
03.21.2008 | Men's Wrestling
ST. LOUIS ? Iowa State's top-seeded Jake Varner advanced to the 184-pound semifinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships with a 2-0 win over eighth-seeded rival Roger Kish of Minnesota. ISU sent six grapplers to the quarterfinals, but Varner was the only Cyclone to advance in the championship bracket. Cyler Sanderson rallied Friday morning to win two consolation matches at 157 pounds. The six Cyclones still alive in the consolation bracket must win their match Friday night in order to earn All-America honors. In the team race, Iowa State is tied for 10th with Michigan with 33 points. Iowa has opened a 20-point lead with 67 points to Nebraska and Oklahoma State's 47.5 points. Ohio State (44.5) and Central Michigan (43) round out the top-five teams.
Friday night's semifinal session is set to get underway at 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPNU. Live stats will be available on cyclones.com.
“There's no question that we knew the quarterfinals would be a tough round coming in,” Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson said. “We needed to get some upsets and we didn't. Now we need to battle back. This round coming up is obviously real important to us. The winner is an All-American and we just need to score as many points as we can at this point. I feel real good about the kids we have coming back through the wrestlebacks.”
Now a two-time All-American, Varner defeated his Gopher rival on a second-period escape and was able to ride Kish for the entire third period en route to the victory. The Varner-Kish meeting is the third of the season and in all three meetings, Varner has held Kish scoreless. Varner returns to the semifinals for the second year in a row after a runner-up finish as a freshman. A sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif., Varner holds a 28-0 record.
In Friday night's semifinals, Varner will square off against fourth-seeded Christian Sinnott of Central Michigan. These two men have met twice on the mat earlier this season with the Varner taking a 2-1 decision in the Midlands semifinals and 4-2 tie-breaker victory at national duals in mid-January.
Fifth-seeded Nick Fanthorpe and fourth-seeded Joey Slaton of Iowa pushed their quarterfinal match into a tie-breaker, but it was the intentional release by the Cyclone of Slaton decided the match. Both wrestlers were unable to get a shot in during the initial three minutes of action and they traded escapes in the second and third periods to tie the bout at 1-1. With neither man able to score in sudden victory, the match was pushed to a tie-breaker, where Slaton was able to maintain a hold on Fanthorpe throughout his entire session of the tie-breaker. Fanthorpe cut Slaton immediately in an attempt to get a shot on the Hawkeye, but was unable to get the match-winning takedown. A sophomore from Naperville, Ill., Fanthorpe's record is now 30-5 and will take on sixth-seeded Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra.
Nick Gallick, the ninth-seed at 141 pounds, suffered a 5-0 set-back to the top-seeded Chad Mendes of Cal Poly in quarterfinal action. The match was scoreless heading into the second period, until Mendes got on the board with an escape in the second period and added to his lead on three-point neafall in the final stanza. Gallick slips to 25-12 and is set to face unseeded Drew Headlee of Pittsburgh.
Redshirt freshman Jon Reader dropped a 5-2 decision to third-seeded Nick Marable of Missouri at 165 pounds. The Tiger scored a takedown in the first and third periods and added a second-period escape. Reader is 28-8 heading into consolation action and will meet unseeded Chad Porter of Liberty.
At 197 pounds, David Bertolino responded to a quick takedown by Wisconsin's sixth-Dallas Herbst with an escape and a takedown with six seconds left in the first period. The senior Cyclone added to his lead with an escape in the second period, but Herbst evened the score with a third-period reversal. Over two minutes of riding time proved to be the difference that won the match for the Badger. Bertolino, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a second-round major upset of third-seeded Mike Tamillow of Northwestern, has a 24-12 record in his final ISU campaign. He faces unseeded Daren Burns of UNC Greensboro Friday night.
Seventh-seeded David Zabriskie suffered an 11-1 major decision to the second-seeded heavyweight, J.D. Bergman of Ohio State. Zabriskie is 27-6 and will meet ninth-seeded Jermail Porter of Kent State.
Cyler Sanderson rebounded from a second-round loss with a pair of consolation wins Friday morning. Sanderson, the seventh-seed at 157 pounds, notched a 7-3 decision over Drexel's Ryan Hluschak. He then took on Newly McSpadden of Oklahoma State and scored a 3-2 decision over the Cowboy on a first-period takedown and an escape in the final period. He will wrestle Hofstra's Jonny Bonilla-Bowman in the consolation bracket.
Sophomore 149-pounder Mitch Mueller bowed out of the tournament with a 2-1 consolation loss to Missouri's Josh Wagner. For the second time in three meetings, the match was determined based on riding time. Wagner was able to get the minute needed to earn the point and the match. Hailing from Iowa City, Iowa, Mueller concludes his second ISU campaign with a 23-13 record and finished as the Big 12 149-pound runner-up.
Aron Scott closed out his ISU wrestling career in consolation action, falling 8-2 to UT-Chattanooga's Lloyd Rogers. Scott, who was wrestling in his first NCAA Championships after a third-place finish at the Big 12 Championship, completed the season with a 13-13 mark in his senior campaign and a career record of 35-35.
Quarterfinal Matches
133 pounds - No. 4 Joey Slaton (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Nick Fanthorpe (Iowa State), 2-1 (TB)
141 pounds - No. 1 Chad Mendes (Cal Poly) dec. No. 9 Nick Gallick (Iowa State), 5-0
165 pounds - No. 3 Nick Marable (Missouri) dec. No. 7 Jon Reader (Iowa State), 5-2
184 pounds - No. 1 Jake Varner (Iowa State) dec. No. 8 Roger Kish (Minnesota), 2-0
197 pounds - No. 6 Dallas Herbst (Wisconsin) dec. David Bertolino (Iowa State), 5-4
HWT - No. 7 David Zabriskie (Iowa State) vs. No. 2 J.D. Bergman
Consolation Matches
149 pounds - Josh Wagner (Missouri) dec. Mitch Mueller (Iowa State), 2-1
157 pounds - No. 7 Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State) dec. Ryan Hluschak (Drexel), 7-3
174 pounds - Lloyd Rogers (UT-Chattanooga) dec. Aron Scott (Iowa State), 8-2
157 pounds - Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State) vs. Newly McSpadden (Oklahoma State)
TEAM SCORES AFTER QUARTERFINALS
1. Iowa 67
2. Nebraska 47.5
Oklahoma State
4. Ohio State 45.5
5. Central Michigan 43
6. Penn State 42
7. Missouri 38.5
8. Cornell 34.5
Minnesota 34.5
10. IOWA STATE 33
Michigan 33
Players Mentioned
PL
/ Men's WrestlingPL
/ Men's Wrestling
PL
/ Men's WrestlingPL
/ Men's Wrestling
PL
/ Men's WrestlingPL
/ Men's Wrestling
PL
/ Men's WrestlingPL
/ Men's Wrestling
PL
/ Men's WrestlingPL
/ Men's Wrestling
PL
/ Men's WrestlingPL
/ Men's Wrestling
PL
/ Men's WrestlingPL
/ Men's Wrestling
PL
/ Men's WrestlingPL
/ Men's WrestlingThursday, April 16
Saturday, March 21
Friday, March 20
Friday, March 20
