125

#4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) 26-4 vs #5 Ryan Millhof (Oklahoma) 23-6

Gilman dominated Lambert from Nebraska 12-4 in their second round matchup, but the competition gets a little bit stiffer in the quarterfinals, where Ryan Millhof is coming off a (very exciting I’m sure) 1-0 win over Sean Russel from Edinboro. The quarterfinal should see a much higher score, as at least Gilman will look for his single legs and try to score as many points as possible.

#9 Dylan Peters (UNI) 16-2 vs #1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) 24-0

This is a rematch from the Cliff Keen Invitational two seasons ago, when Peters pinned Tomasello with a cow catcher. If Peters wants to advance this time he’s going to have to have to find something on offense, or be a brick wall on defense like he was against McGhee in the second round. Hopefully his knee can hold up for one match for Peters to become an All-American.

133

#2 Cory Clark (Iowa) 24-1 vs. #7 Eric Montoya (Nebraska) 26-8
Cory Clark has looked pretty good for the Hawkeyes in two matches. In his last match with UNI’s Josh Alber he took advantage of the freshman running out periods and rode him very well. Clark and Montoya have wrestled once before, with Clark coming out on top 2-0. I could see that same result again this time around.

#8 Earl Hall (Iowa State) 31-7 vs #1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 34-0
Hall had a really nice win over Mack McGuire from Kent State in the second round, but now comes up against the #1 seeded Garrett. Garrett has looked unstoppable this season, so Hall will have to come up with a way to score points on him.

149

#2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) 27-1 vs #7 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) 29-6
Sorensen had a tougher match than I think any of us thought he would with unseeded Victor Lopez from Bucknell, only winning 3-1. However I don’t think that will carry over to Friday’s first match, where Sorensen holds a 3-0 match lead all time against Sueflohn. His last win against the Cornhusker was 5-2.

157:

Backside

#13 Edwin Cooper Jr. (Iowa) 18-10 vs #14 Austin Matthews (Edinboro) 11-5
Cooper was pinned in just 1:11 against the #4 seed Ian Miller to fall to the backside of the tournament. Hopefully Cooper can put together two or three more wins to help Iowa with the team race. This will be a pretty even match between these two.

Bryce Steiert (UNI) 23-9 vs Justin Staudenmayer (Brown) 29-8
Steiert dropped a hard fought 6-2 match with Oklahoma State’s Joseph Smith, where the Cowboy kept him out of ties and didn’t let him get any offense going at all. That will have to be reversed if Steiert wants to advance on the backside.

165

#9 Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State) 30-8 vs. #1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma St.) 30-0
Much like his 133 pound teammate, Weatherman wrestled two really solid matches to advance to the semifinals, but he’ll need solid wrestling and a little bit of luck to defeat Dieringer.

174

Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State) 26-10 vs #7 Cody Walters (Ohio) 18-4
Weatherspoon had the biggest two rounds for the Cyclones, defeating #2 Brian Realbuto and then #15 Brian Harvey to advance to the quarterfinals. He’s in a nice position against Walters, who took third in the MAC and got a win over 2nd place finisher Mike Ottinger in the second round.

Backside
#13 Alex Meyer (Iowa) 24-5 vs #14 Nick Kee (Appalachian State) 29-8
Meyer had a disappointing opening match against Wolf from Lehigh to take on the #4 seeded Ethan Ramos from UNC. Meyer scored a takedown and a four point nearfall on the edge to advance on the backside, where he’ll get the #14 seeded Kee.

184

#2 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) 26-3 vs #7 TJ Dudley (Nebraska) 23-6
This is the matchup that I think will decide who goes to finals. Brooks is 1-1 against Dudley this season, getting a win back at the Big Ten championship, but that doesn’t mean that Dudley is going to roll over for him. If Brooks wrestles Dudley like he did two weeks ago he’ll be moving to the semifinals, if not, I think we’re seeing Dudley.

#14 Willie Miklus (Missouri) 20-5 vs Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) 32-6
Miklus had a little bit of a rough go in his first match, but eventually went on to win 15-6. It was all him though in his rematch with Joe Ariola, who he’s beaten four times this season now. He needs to have a solid match against Thomas, and although he’s good at it, it would be nice to see Miklus not have to rely on his funk for once.

197

#4 Nathan Burak (Iowa) 25-2 vs #5 Conner Hartmann (Duke) 28-1

The seeds held true for this part of the bracket, as Burak won going away, 8-2, over Jacob Smith from West Virginia in the second round. This is where the #4 seed comes to bite Burak a little bit, as the #3 seed Pfarr gets Patrick Downey in the quarters (a tough match for sure) which might be a bit easier than the one-loss Hartmann. Burak, and all the Iowa wrestlers really, need to advance to keep in the team race.

Patrick Downey (Iowa State) 7-2 vs #3 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) 37-3
Downey battled with Haught for a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation before catching him with an inside trip in the second ride-out period of overtime. Downey surprised me a little bit here, as he was able to work out of a copule really deep shots by Haught to keep the scoring low. I think that’s the type of match he’ll want to wrestle again against Pfarr to come out on top.

285

Backside

Ross Larson (Oklahoma) 20-12 vs #6 Denzel Dejournette (Appalachian State) 32-3
Larson represents the state of Iowa’s last hope at heavyweight, as both Stoll and Cabell had to forfeit out of the tournament. Larson will take on the #6 seeded wrestler in Dejournette, who lost to Brooks Black 7-2 in the opening round of the tournament.