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Iowa State University Athletics
Seven Cyclone All-Americans; Varner to Finals
03.21.2008 | Men's Wrestling
ST. LOUIS ? In one of the best single-session rounds in Iowa State history, seven Cyclone wrestlers earned All-America honors and ISU's Jake Varner advanced to the 184-pound title match for the second time with a 4-2 win over Central Michigan's Christian Sinnott Friday night at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in the Scottrade Center. The Cyclones rebounded from Friday's morning session by moving into third place with 68 points. Iowa leads the team race with 102 points, followed by Ohio State with 71. Penn State (63) and Central Michigan (61.5) round out the top-five.
ISU's seven All-Americans is a school-high since 1993 and marks the ninth time in the program's history that at least seven Iowa State wrestlers have placed among the top eight spots in each weight class. Earning All-America honors heading into Saturday's medal round are Varner, Nick Fanthorpe (133), Nick Gallick (141), Cyler Sanderson (157), Jon Reader (165), David Bertolino (197) and David Zabriskie (HWT).
Saturday's consolation medal round session is slated to get under way at 10 a.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU. Live stats will be available on cyclones.com.
“We were down there for a while today and it wasn't looking pretty, but we knew we'd be able to come back and score some points in the consolation matches,” head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson said. “We obviously had a big round tonight, but the second half we were hoping would have gone better. We have to keep our heads up and keep plugging away.
“This morning, we just didn't get any upsets and we knew to really compete for the title we needed to get some upsets,” Sanderson continued. “We were looking for it and it just didn't happen. Tonight we came back and everyone wrestled well. I am proud of them. These guys work hard and for them to get All-American status, it really means a lot.”
Varner, a two-time All-American, struck in his semifinal bout's opening period with a takedown for a 2-0 lead and added an escape early in the second period for a 3-0 advantage over Sinnott. The Chippewa opted to start the final period from neutral and while he scored only the second takedown of Varner this season, it was too little too late.
“You go one match at a time and I had already wrestled Sinnott twice this year,” Varner said. “You go out there and make sure you wrestle your match. If you start changing your style to match theirs then you are wrestling their match. I try to force my opponent to wrestle my match.”
Varner, a sophomore with a 29-0 record, will contend for his first title against second-seeded Mike Pucillo of Ohio State. Pucillo is a sophomore who has racked up two major-decision wins in the tournament and sports a 29-1 record. Although the two have not met in collegiate action, the finalists have met before in the senior nationals during their prep career.
“I am excited to be back in the finals,” Varner said. “I am happy with the way I am wrestling. Even though I don't think I wrestled my best, I go out there and give it my best and give my all.”
Cael Sanderson was pleased with his 184-pounder's performance throughout the tournament.
“Varner is real solid, he looked great. He's doing a phenomenal job and he's wrestling at the top of his game right now.”
The first of the Cyclone 7-0 All-Amercan round surge was fifth-seeded Fanthorpe, avenging a January loss to Hofstra's sixth-seeded Lou Ruggirello with a 5-1 decision. In the consolation quarterfinals he suffered a 4-2 setback at the hands of eighth-seeded Mack Reiter of Minnesota. The 31-6 sophomore will wrestle for seventh place against Navy's 11-th seeded Joe Baker Saturday.
“At national duals he [Ruggirello] caught me in a pinning combination that I couldn't get out of,” Fanthorpe said. “This time I came out to wrestle smart and keep on him the entire match.”
At 141 pounds, Gallick scored two impressive consolation victories. Wrestling as the ninth-seed, he defeated Pittsburgh's Drew Headlee 9-2, to earn All-America honors. The sophomore then avenged a dual loss to Minnesota's fifth-seeded Manuel Rivera on an 8-2 decision. Gallick is now 27-12 and will wrestle in the consolation semifinals against second-seeded Charles Griffin of Hofstra.
“The coaches want me to go out strong and take it to my opponents,” Gallick said.
Like his brother, 2006 ISU NCAA champion Nate Gallick, Nick is tough to score on.
“[Over the years] wrestling with my brother has made it tough to score on me,” he said. “We work on offense, but you also have to have a good defense. We worked on basic defense every day. Our coaches at Iowa State stress this as well.”
The third sophomore to earn All-America honors Friday night was No. 7 Cyler Sanderson at 157 pounds. He did so in dramatic fashion, with a takedown of Hofstra's Jonny Bonilla-Bowman down to the final 15 seconds for a 7-6 win. In his second match of the night, Sanderson faced the top-seed at 157 pounds, Edinboro's Gregor Gillespie, and was pinned in 40 seconds. The sophomore from Heber City, Utah, will wrestle for seventh-place honors against Bloomsburg's Matt Moley. These two wrestlers met in the opening round of the tournament with Sanderson winning 11-6.
“I moved and snapped deep into his [Bonilla-Bowman] leg,” Sanderson said. “I knew I had to finish quick because there wasn't much time left. I kept driving through until I got it. I had to ride him out and keep him down. It feels good [to be an All-American]. Actually it feels great. That round was the round I lost last year to not be an All-American. I had a close match again and it feels great to get over that little bump.”
Reader, a redshirt freshman, opened consolation action against No. 9 Trevor Stewert of Central Michigan and won on a 5-1 decision to earn All-America honors. In his second match against No. 10 Michael Cannon riding time proved to be the difference, with the Cyclone suffering a 7-6 loss. Reader will vie for seventh-place honors against Big 12 foe Stephen Dwyer. Reader's record stands at 29-9 entering his final match of the season.
“He [Stewert] was in real good position,” Reader said. “I knew he was going to slow on the pace. That's what he did the first time we wrestled, he just slows down a lot. I'm not used to that slow pace but you have to adapt to it. My conditioning pays off in the end.”
The unseeded Bertolino garnered All-American status on 1:49 worth of riding time and a 3-2 decision over Daren Burns of UNC Greensboro. Bertolino, 25-13 this season, faced seventh-seeded Hudson Taylor of Maryland in his second consolation match of the night and pushed the bout to the final seconds, but suffered a 6-5 defeat. He faces conference opponent and fifth-seeded Max Askren of Missouri in the seventh-place match.
Seventh-seeded heavyweight David Zabriskie snagged two wins Friday night with a 3-2 decision over Kent State's ninth-seeded Jermail Porter and a 7-2 redemption win over sixth-seeded Kenny Massey of Wisconsin. Massey had pinned Zabriskie earlier this season. In Saturday's consolation semifinals Zabriskie (29-6) will face an Big 12 foe in Jared Rosholt. Zabriskie is 4-1 lifetime against the Poke.
ISU's seven All-Americans is a school-high since 1993 and marks the ninth time in the program's history that at least seven Iowa State wrestlers have placed among the top eight spots in each weight class. Earning All-America honors heading into Saturday's medal round are Varner, Nick Fanthorpe (133), Nick Gallick (141), Cyler Sanderson (157), Jon Reader (165), David Bertolino (197) and David Zabriskie (HWT).
Saturday's consolation medal round session is slated to get under way at 10 a.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU. Live stats will be available on cyclones.com.
“We were down there for a while today and it wasn't looking pretty, but we knew we'd be able to come back and score some points in the consolation matches,” head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson said. “We obviously had a big round tonight, but the second half we were hoping would have gone better. We have to keep our heads up and keep plugging away.
“This morning, we just didn't get any upsets and we knew to really compete for the title we needed to get some upsets,” Sanderson continued. “We were looking for it and it just didn't happen. Tonight we came back and everyone wrestled well. I am proud of them. These guys work hard and for them to get All-American status, it really means a lot.”
Varner, a two-time All-American, struck in his semifinal bout's opening period with a takedown for a 2-0 lead and added an escape early in the second period for a 3-0 advantage over Sinnott. The Chippewa opted to start the final period from neutral and while he scored only the second takedown of Varner this season, it was too little too late.
“You go one match at a time and I had already wrestled Sinnott twice this year,” Varner said. “You go out there and make sure you wrestle your match. If you start changing your style to match theirs then you are wrestling their match. I try to force my opponent to wrestle my match.”
Varner, a sophomore with a 29-0 record, will contend for his first title against second-seeded Mike Pucillo of Ohio State. Pucillo is a sophomore who has racked up two major-decision wins in the tournament and sports a 29-1 record. Although the two have not met in collegiate action, the finalists have met before in the senior nationals during their prep career.
“I am excited to be back in the finals,” Varner said. “I am happy with the way I am wrestling. Even though I don't think I wrestled my best, I go out there and give it my best and give my all.”
Cael Sanderson was pleased with his 184-pounder's performance throughout the tournament.
“Varner is real solid, he looked great. He's doing a phenomenal job and he's wrestling at the top of his game right now.”
The first of the Cyclone 7-0 All-Amercan round surge was fifth-seeded Fanthorpe, avenging a January loss to Hofstra's sixth-seeded Lou Ruggirello with a 5-1 decision. In the consolation quarterfinals he suffered a 4-2 setback at the hands of eighth-seeded Mack Reiter of Minnesota. The 31-6 sophomore will wrestle for seventh place against Navy's 11-th seeded Joe Baker Saturday.
“At national duals he [Ruggirello] caught me in a pinning combination that I couldn't get out of,” Fanthorpe said. “This time I came out to wrestle smart and keep on him the entire match.”
At 141 pounds, Gallick scored two impressive consolation victories. Wrestling as the ninth-seed, he defeated Pittsburgh's Drew Headlee 9-2, to earn All-America honors. The sophomore then avenged a dual loss to Minnesota's fifth-seeded Manuel Rivera on an 8-2 decision. Gallick is now 27-12 and will wrestle in the consolation semifinals against second-seeded Charles Griffin of Hofstra.
“The coaches want me to go out strong and take it to my opponents,” Gallick said.
Like his brother, 2006 ISU NCAA champion Nate Gallick, Nick is tough to score on.
“[Over the years] wrestling with my brother has made it tough to score on me,” he said. “We work on offense, but you also have to have a good defense. We worked on basic defense every day. Our coaches at Iowa State stress this as well.”
The third sophomore to earn All-America honors Friday night was No. 7 Cyler Sanderson at 157 pounds. He did so in dramatic fashion, with a takedown of Hofstra's Jonny Bonilla-Bowman down to the final 15 seconds for a 7-6 win. In his second match of the night, Sanderson faced the top-seed at 157 pounds, Edinboro's Gregor Gillespie, and was pinned in 40 seconds. The sophomore from Heber City, Utah, will wrestle for seventh-place honors against Bloomsburg's Matt Moley. These two wrestlers met in the opening round of the tournament with Sanderson winning 11-6.
“I moved and snapped deep into his [Bonilla-Bowman] leg,” Sanderson said. “I knew I had to finish quick because there wasn't much time left. I kept driving through until I got it. I had to ride him out and keep him down. It feels good [to be an All-American]. Actually it feels great. That round was the round I lost last year to not be an All-American. I had a close match again and it feels great to get over that little bump.”
Reader, a redshirt freshman, opened consolation action against No. 9 Trevor Stewert of Central Michigan and won on a 5-1 decision to earn All-America honors. In his second match against No. 10 Michael Cannon riding time proved to be the difference, with the Cyclone suffering a 7-6 loss. Reader will vie for seventh-place honors against Big 12 foe Stephen Dwyer. Reader's record stands at 29-9 entering his final match of the season.
“He [Stewert] was in real good position,” Reader said. “I knew he was going to slow on the pace. That's what he did the first time we wrestled, he just slows down a lot. I'm not used to that slow pace but you have to adapt to it. My conditioning pays off in the end.”
The unseeded Bertolino garnered All-American status on 1:49 worth of riding time and a 3-2 decision over Daren Burns of UNC Greensboro. Bertolino, 25-13 this season, faced seventh-seeded Hudson Taylor of Maryland in his second consolation match of the night and pushed the bout to the final seconds, but suffered a 6-5 defeat. He faces conference opponent and fifth-seeded Max Askren of Missouri in the seventh-place match.
Seventh-seeded heavyweight David Zabriskie snagged two wins Friday night with a 3-2 decision over Kent State's ninth-seeded Jermail Porter and a 7-2 redemption win over sixth-seeded Kenny Massey of Wisconsin. Massey had pinned Zabriskie earlier this season. In Saturday's consolation semifinals Zabriskie (29-6) will face an Big 12 foe in Jared Rosholt. Zabriskie is 4-1 lifetime against the Poke.
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