University of Northern Iowa
NCAA Championships
Fay Moves to Quarterfinals at NCAA Wrestling Championships
3/20/2008 8:00:00 AM | Wrestling
NCAA Division I Wrestling Brackets
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team has five wrestlers still alive and looking for All-America honors after Thursday's two sessions at the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships in the Scottrade Center.
The Panthers sit in 18th place in the team standings with 13.0 points after day one.
Junior 165-pounder Moza Fay is the lone Panther alive in the winner's side of the bracket as he moved on to the quarterfinals.
Four other Panthers will be looking to move through the wrestlebacks. Junior Josh Baldridge (133 lbs.), sophomore Tyson Reiner (157 lbs.), senior Alex Dolly (174 lbs.) and junior Andrew Anderson (197 lbs.) all won wrestleback matches on Thursday night.
The championships continue Friday at 10 a.m. with quarterfinal and consolation matches.
Preliminary Round - Thursday Night
Junior Moza Fay moved into the quarterfinals with a third-period fall over Central Michigan's Trevor Stewert in the 165-pound bracket.
Fay scored the first points of the match with a first-period takedown. Stewert then tallied a reversal to knot the match at 2-2. But Fay responded with a five-point move on a reversal and three-point nearfall to take a 7-2 lead after one period. Fay upped the lead to 9-2 early in the second period with another reversal. Stewert recorded his second reversal of the match but that would be the end of the scoring for the Chippewa grappler. Fay tallied another reversal at the end of the second period and then notched the fall midway through the third period.
"Actually I felt like I was in pretty good control in the first period and my confidence really kicked in when I hit the Granby Roll and got my hips up and stayed there," Fay said after the match. "He was real physical though."
Fay will now take on No. 1-seeded Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan in Friday's quarterfinals beginning at 10 a.m. ESPNU will have live coverage of the quarterfinals. Fay wrestled Tannenbaum at the National Duals with the Michigan wrestler scoring an 8-2 victory.
"When I wrestled him at the National Duals I wasn't feeling well, so I'm sort of looking at this like it's the first time I have wrestled him," Fay said. "I'll have to stay in my stance because he takes real low shots and doesn't like to tie up."
Nick Pickerell locked up with Missouri's Joshua Wagner in a consolation pigtail match at 149 pounds to begin Thursday night's session. Wagner was able to catch Pickerell in a headlock and scored a fall at the 2:04 mark of their bout.
Caleb Flores lost by fall in the second period to Ohio State's Nikko Triggas in their 125-pound wrestleback. The match was scoreless in the first period, but Triggas locked in a tight half nelson and got the fall 24 seconds into the second period.
Josh Baldridge tallied a second-period fall over Edinboro's Rick Deubel to advance to Friday's wrestleback action at 133 pounds. Deubel scored first with a takedown and Baldridge got on the board with an escape to end the first period. Baldridge knotted the bout at 2-2 with an escape to begin the second period. The Panther grappler then scored a takedown and got the fall at the 4:33 mark.
C.J. Ettelson saw his Panther wrestling career come to an end with a 3-1 loss to Northern Illinois' Patrick McLemore in their 141-pound wrestleback. Ettelson trailed 2-1 entering the final period but could not gain any nearfall points while riding out McLemore in the third stanza.
At 157 pounds Tyson Reiner moved on to Friday's wrestleback action with a 5-2 win over Michigan's Jeff Marsh. Reiner and Marsh battled to a scoreless tie after one period before the Wolverine wrestler dented the scoreboard with a second-period escape. Reiner took the lead on a duck-under takedown at the 1:38 mark of the second period. Marsh tied it up at 2-2 with an escape. Reiner then scored on a double-leg takedown with five seconds left in the second period to take control of the bout.
"I felt I was really in control on my feet," Reiner said. "I knew he'd be tough on top because the coaches said he was legs guy. The double-leg was there earlier but he was coming at me because he was behind. I saw it again and took it."
Senior Alex Dolly extended his collegiate wrestling career for at least one more day and kept his All-America hopes alive with a first-period pin of Bucknell's Shane Riccio. Dolly earned the fall at the 1:18 mark of their 174-pound wrestleback match.
"He came at me and his feet were out front and I was able to reach down and pick his ankle," Dolly said. "I was on my rear and he sat into me and then again and I used barnyard-style. It was just a bunch of junk. I feel really good right now. That was nice to get the first one in a long-list of matches I need to win. Right now I'm getting ready for tomorrow."
UNI's Andy O'Loughlin dropped a high-scoring affair to West Virginia's Kurt Brenner in the 184-pound wrestleback, 16-8.
The Panthers' Andrew Anderson earned his right to continue for All-America honors as he earned the first NCAA championship victory in three trips to the tournament with a 13-3 major decision over Cal State Bakersfield's Riley Orozco.
"Anytime you score four points right off the whistle you feel you can control the match," Anderson said following his victory. "But this is the national tournament and you don't want to do anything stupid. It seems like I do my best wrestling coming through the backside. After coming here two years in a row and going 0-2 each time, I want to prove that I belong here. I'm really fired up for tomorrow."
Preliminary Round - Thursday Morning
Caleb Flores could not overcome a 7-0 deficit midway through the second period and dropped a 10-3 decision to Cal State Bakersfield's Brandon Zoetewey in the first round matchup at 125 pounds.
Josh Baldridge dropped a 12-4 major decision to No. 1-seeded Franklin Gomez of Michigan State in a 133-pound first-round bout.
At 141 pounds, C.J. Ettelson registered only an escape in a 16-1 technical fall against Cornell's Adam Frey. Frey used four nearfalls in the first period to put the match out of reach. Frey then ended the bout 14 seconds into the second period with his second takedown of the match.
Nick Pickerell had a strong start to his 149-pound first-round match with Cal State Fullerton's Morgan Atkinson. Pickerell led the No. 12 seed 5-1 midway through the second period and even held a 5-3 lead into the final stanza. However, Atkinson scored a reversal and a three-point nearfall in the third period to take the lead. Pickerell did register an escape with three seconds left but it was not enough as Atkinson was able to score an 8-6 win.
At 157 pounds, Tyson Reiner put up a valiant effort in his matchup with No. 5-seeded C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota. Reiner trailed 2-1 entering the third period but ended up falling 4-2. Reiner shot multiple times in the final moments of the match but could not get the takedown he needed to knot the bout.
Moza Fay, the No. 8 seed at 165 pounds, earned the Panthers' first win of the day with a convincing 9-0 major decision over Virginia Tech's Matt Epperly. Fay racked up over five minutes (5:12) of riding time in the match as he tallied two takedowns, a reversal and a two-point nearfall in advancing to the second round.
Alex Dolly ran into top-seeded Keith Gavin in his first-round matchup. Gavin, the national runner-up a year ago, scored a 17-3 major decision over Dolly in their 174-pound matchup.
At 184 pounds, Andy O'Loughlin took on Nebraska's Vince Jones in an opening round bout. Jones scored a pair of first-period takedowns to go along with an escape, while O'Loughlin notched an escape and a reversal to trail only 5-3 after one period. Unfortunately, O'Loughlin could manage only one more point via an escape and dropped a 9-4 decision to Jones.
Andrew Anderson fell into the consolation bracket after falling 6-3 to Purdue's Logan Brown in their 197-pound first-round match. The duo were tied 2-2 entering the third period, but Brown scored a takedown with only 42 seconds left in the match to ensure the win for the Boilermaker wrestler. Anderson scored an escape in the closing seconds, but Brown was awarded a riding time point for the final tally.
TEAM STANDINGS (at the conclusion of day one)
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9. Cornell 17.5
9. Penn State 17.5
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12. Northwestern 15.5
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14. Hofstra 14.0
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16. Stanford 13.5
18. UNI 13.0
19. Edinboro 12.5
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Players Mentioned
