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Iowa State Set To Wrestle At 2016 NCAA Championship
03.16.2016 | Men's Wrestling
NEW YORK CITY – The No. 17 Iowa State wrestling team (10-6, 2-2 Big 12) is set for the 2016 NCAA Championship. This year's national finals will take place in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Six Cyclones have qualified for the tournament. Seniors Earl Hall (133) and Tanner Weatherman (165) are each seeded in their respective brackets. Hall enters as the No. 8 seed, Weatherman as No. 9.
Juniors Kyle Larson (125) and Lelund Weatherspoon (174) are both unseeded to begin the tournament. Sophomores Dane Pestano (184) and Patrick Downey (197) are also unseeded in New York.
Wrestling begins tomorrow with session one at 11 p.m. CT and session two at 6 p.m. CT.
Where: Madison Square Garden - New York City
When: Thursday March 17-Saturday March 19
Broadcast: ESPNU and ESPN3 will bring you coverage from every match up until the semifinal rounds. The semifinals and finals will be broadcast on ESPN.
Live Stats: Live results from the NCAA Championship will be available at Trackwrestling.com and NCAA.com.
Social Media: Be sure to follow @CycloneWR on Twitter for live updates from the NCAA Championship, as well as exclusive Periscope content.
First Round Matchups
125: Kyle Larson (ISU) vs. No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (OSU)
133: No. 8 Earl Hall (ISU) vs. Josh Martinez (AF)
165: No. 9 Tanner Weatherman (ISU) vs. Dakota Juarez (EMU)
174: Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) vs. No. 2 Brian Realbuto (Cornell)
184: Dane Pestano (ISU) vs. No. 14 Hayden Zillmer (NDSU)
197: Patrick Downey (ISU) vs. No. 11 Phil Wellington (Ohio)
Tournament Schedule
Session one: Thursday, March 17 at 11 a.m. CT (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Session two: Thursday, March 17 at 6 p.m. CT (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Session three: Friday, March 18 at 10 a.m. CT (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Session four: Friday, March 18 at 7 p.m. CT (ESPN/ESPNU/ESPN3)
Session five: Saturday, March 19 at 10 a.m. CT (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Session six: Saturday, March 19 at 7 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Cyclone Notebook
- No. 17 Iowa State will conclude its 2015-16 campaign at the NCAA Championship in New York City. Six Cyclones have qualified for a shot at a national title this year. (Earl Hall - 8 seed, Kyle Larson - Unseeded, Tanner Weatherman - 9 seed, Lelund Weatherspoon - Unseeded, Dane Pestano - Unseeded and Patrick Downey - Unseeded.)
- The Cyclones are coming off of a third-place finish at the 2016 Big 12 Championship. Lelund Weatherspoon went 3-0 to capture his second Big 12 title in Kansas City. Iowa State now has 56 multi-time conference championships.
- Weatherspoon, seeded No. 3, knocked off Oklahoma State's No. 1 Chandler Rogers in the 174-pound finals by 8-5 decision.
- In total, Iowa State had one champion, three finalists and eight medalists at the Big 12 Championship.
- Larson finished fifth at the Big 12 Championship to earn an automatic-qualifying spot. Hall, Weatherman and Weatherspoon all punched their tickets to the national tournament after they earned a spot in the Big 12 finals. Downey secured a third-place finish to qualify and Pestano earned an at-large bid following a fourth-place finish in Kansas City.
- With their qualifications, Hall, Weatherman and Weatherspoon have now qualified every year while wrestling for head coach Kevin Jackson. This will be Larson, Pestano and Downey's first trip to the NCAA Championship.
- Cardinal and Gold qualifiers are a combined 134-55 on the year.
- With the dual win over West Virginia, Iowa State will post back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time since the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
- Weatherspoon became the third Cyclone to earn Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors this season with his 8-3 dec. over No. 9 Mike Ottinger,
- Currently, Iowa State has five wrestlers with 23 or more wins on the year: Kyle Larson (23) Earl Hall (29) Tanner Weatherman (28) Lelund Weatherspoon (24) and Dane Pestano (24).
- Seniors Earl Hall and Tanner Weatherman are currently recognized in the national rankings. Hall is pegged as No. 7 in both Flowrestling and Intermat and No. 10 by TheOpenMat. Weatherman is slated at No. 11 by Flowrestling, No. 10 by Intermat and No. 14 by TheOpenMat. Lelund Weatherspoon and Patrick Downey are also receiving national attention. Weatherspoon comes in at No. 17 in Intermat, No. 15 in Flo and No. 13 by TheOpenMat. Downey is No. 20 in Intermat and No. 16 in Flo.
- At the Virginia Duals, the Cyclones went 4-0 en route to taking home the 2016 Virginia Duals title. Iowa State defeated No. 5 Virginia Tech in the finals, 16-14.
- Tanner Weatherman was named the Viginia Duals Outstanding Wrestler. Weatherman's performance at the Virginia Duals also earned him Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors.
- Four wrestlers notched podium finishes in Evanston. Earl Hall (7th), Gabe Moreno (8th), Tanner Weatherman (2nd) and Lelund Weatherspoon (7th) all took home hardware.
- ISU placed two wrestlers on the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in Earl Hall (4th) and Tanner Weatherman (7th).
Players Mentioned
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