Five Cyclones Into Big 12 Championship Semifinals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After one session at the 2016 Big 12 Championship, No. 17 Iowa State (10-6, 2-2 Big 12) sits in fourth-place with 31 points. Five Cyclones are headed to the semifinals tonight at the Sprint Center.

First Session – Prelims
The opening session of the 2016 Big 12 Championship began with a preliminary round of wrestling between the 7-10 seeds. The Cyclones posted a 2-2 record in this round.

It took all of the seven minutes and then some to decide a winner between No. 8 Kyle Larson and No. 9 Drew Romero of Air Force. In the end, it was Romero who came up with a takedown in sudden-victory to take the match by 5-3 decision.

No. 7 Nathan Boston drew Air Force's No. 10 Dylan Hyder in his prelim matchup. Boston scored first to take a 2-0 lead, but Hyder would counter with a reversal to tie the match a 2-2. The Falcon would extend his lead to win the match by 4-2 decision.

No. 10 John Meeks preliminary match with No. 7 Jerry McGinty also produced a sudden-victory decision. This time, Iowa State came out on top. With the match tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, Meeks won a huge scramble to get the takedown and the 3-1 decision.

Up to 197-pounds for the postseason, No. 9 Patrick Downey defeated No. 8 Brad Johnson by 7-5 decision in the opening round. Downey scored on three takedowns and an escape to advance to the quarterfinals.

First Session – Quarterfinals
Eight Cyclones remained alive on the front side of the bracket to begin the quarterfinals. Iowa State recorded a 5-3, sending five to the semifinals.

No. 2 Earl Hall pulled off a few third-period heroics to win his match by 6-5 decision over No. 7 Rico Montoya of Northern Colorado. With 20 seconds on the clock, Hall trailed 5-4. He shot a double-leg, connected and scored the takedown to advance to the semifinals.

Iowa State dropped its next two matches at 149 and 157-pounds. No. 10 John Meeks fell to No. 2 Alex Kocer by 1-0 decision, and No. 5 Logan Breitenbach surrendered a 14-3 loss to No. 4 Archie Colgan.

It took an eight-point third period, but No. 2 Tanner Weatherman came away with an 11-8 decision over No. 7 Chaz Poloson. In the closing seconds of the second period, Poloson had held Weatherman scoreless in the contest. Weatherman scored on an escape and tacked on a takedown in short time to cut Poloson's lead to 5-3. The senior then went on to score three takedowns and a two-point near-fall to solidify his spot in the semifinals.

No. 3 Lelund Weatherspoon and No. 4 Dane Pestano are also headed to the semifinals. Weatherspoon bounced No. 6 Ross Renzi by 5-3 decision and Pestano locked up a 3-1 decision over No. 5 Anthony McLaughlin.

With the upset of the session, No. 9 Patrick Downey sent No. 1 Jacob Smith of West Virginia to the backside of the bracket with a 4-1 decision. The sophomore scored on an escape, stall point and added an insurance takedown to earn a spot in the semifinals.

Wrestling will resume tonight at 5 p.m. CT at the Sprint Center. Semifinal matches and consolation matches will be wrestled.

First Session Match-by-Match
125: Drew Romero (AF) dec. Kyle Larson (ISU), 5-3 (SV-1.)
133: Earl Hall (ISU) dec. Rico Montoya (UNC), 6-5.
141: Dylan Hyder (AF) dec. Nathan Boston (ISU), 4-2.
149: John Meeks (ISU) dec. Jerry McGinty (AF), 3-1 (SV-1.)
Alex Kocer (SDSU) dec. John Meeks (ISU), 1-0.
157: Archie Colgan (WYO) maj. dec. Logan Breitenbach (ISU), 14-3.
165: Tanner Weatherman (ISU) dec. Chaz Poloson (WYO), 11-8.
174: Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) dec. Ross Renzi (WVU), 5-3.
184: Dane Pestano (ISU) dec. Anthony McLaughlin (AF), 3-1.
197: Patrick Downey (ISU) dec. Brad Johnson (OU), 7-5.
Patrick Downey (ISU) dec. Jacob Smith (WVU), 4-1.
285: Tanner Harms (WYO) maj. dec. Joe Scanlan (ISU), 9-0.

Team Standings
Oklahoma State – 72 pts
Oklahoma – 40 pts
South Dakota State – 37.5 pts
Iowa State – 31 pts
North Dakota State – 26 pts
Wyoming – 25 pts
Northern Colorado – 23 pts
Utah Valley – 21 pts
West Virginia – 17.5 pts
Air Force – 5 pts

Five Cyclones Into Big 12 Championship Semifinals

Players Mentioned

Nathan Boston

Logan Breitenbach

Earl Hall

Kyle Larson

John Meeks

Dane Pestano

Joe Scanlan

Tanner Weatherman

Lelund Weatherspoon

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Iowa State University Athletics

Five Cyclones Into Big 12 Championship Semifinals

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Players Mentioned

Nathan Boston

Logan Breitenbach

Earl Hall

Kyle Larson

John Meeks

Dane Pestano

Joe Scanlan

Tanner Weatherman

Lelund Weatherspoon

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