Home NCAA Tournament Finals Recap

Finals Recap

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Here are some comments on each of the finals matches from this past weekend.

125 Jake Oster (Elmhurst) dec Mike McInally (RIT) 8-7
A scary moment at the beginning when McInally brought Oster to mat after lifting him up in a single leg.  Oster landed flat on his back, making a resounding thud on the elevated platform.  McInally was penalized, and Oster was ok.  After that, it was vintage Oster, as he scored on some step overs while giving up points of his own, but never enough to cough up the lead.  He’s just a really tough matchup who is now a three time All-American with a year left to go.

133 Zac Bartlett (Luther) dec Nichalos Nothern (Cornell) 6-0
Nothern was on the offensive most of the match, but couldn’t convert any of his leg attacks into points.  The battle of IIAC foes was scoreless until Nothern got in on another leg attack, but Bartlett stepped over the ankle and scored five with the rarely seen leg cradle.  Nothern fought off his back, but there wasn’t enough time to do anything, and Bartlett became one of this weekend’s more unlikely champs.

141 Minga Batsukh (St. John’s) dec Zach McKray (Wartburg) 5-2
Batsukh took out the #1 seed in the semifinals and kept the momentum going in the finals against #2 McKray.  He was able to turn McKray’s pressure against him and score with some nice slidebys.  They spent a lot of time on their feet going back and forth, but McKray couldn’t penetrate Batsukh’s defense.

149 Matt Mauseth (UW-Lax) dec Paul LeBlanc (Cortland) 6-3
No one predicted this final, but Mauseth upset Holst and LeBlanc stopped Naig.  Mauseth was in control most of the way, mostly shutting down anything LeBlanc tried to get going.  His head started bleeding again from a wound sustained that morning, but he was able to stay focused and finish out a championship as a sophomore.

157 Aaron Wernimont (Wartburg) dec Jason Brew (Olivet) 2-1
It was a rematch of last year, but this time it was a closer fight.  Wernimont set the pace from the beginning and was constantly attacking, but he couldn’t finish any of his attempts.  He did, however, get the stalling point that proved the difference.  Later in the match, Brew opened up, but Wernimont did enough to fight him off while still continuing to attack at a slower pace.  He finished out the match to earn his second title and hsi 80th straight win.

165 Justin Hanson (Wartburg) dec Ben Youel (North Central) 7-3
These guys knew each other well, having wrestled twice this year and at least once last season.  Hanson was able to avenge his only loss of the year with a controlling victory.  It was a very tough weight class featuring last year’s champ and runner up, though neither made it to the finals.

174 Evan Brown (Dubuque) dec Rocky Mantella (Delaware Valley) 1-0
Mantella was favored, but he could not get anything going.  Brown’s extreme right footed stance made it impossible for Mantella to hit his left handed high crotch, so he had to shoot low sweeps to the other side, and he was not as adept at finishing.  Brown did almost nothing on his feet, but did enough to avoid the stalling call.  On the mat, Mantella never seemed to make a real attempt to get up and spent the whole second period on the mat.  He never got the takedown he needed, and Brown won on riding time.

184 Mike Wilcox (Delaware Valley) maj dec Phil Moenkedick (Concordia) 15-1
A couple of undefeated wrestlers went at it, but it didn’t take long for Wilcox to assert his control.  He scored with a few huge double legs, but also was able to score on the mat, which is his specialty.  Near the end Moenkedick was going for some big moves to try to get back into it, but Wilcox just took him straight to his back.  It had been a long year for Wilcox after a runner-up finish last year, but he made it count with a performance that earned him the OW award.

197 Jared Massey (Augsburg) maj dec Ryan Malo (Williams) 11-2
Massey wrestled a great tournament, and he was able to keep the momentum going against Malo in a matchup of D1 transfers.  Malo couldn’t get anything going against the aggressive Massey.  Massey rolled to a regional title and kept it going at the NCAA tournament, winning every match he wrestled against a DIII opponent.

285 Dan Laurent (UW-Lax) dec Mark Corsello (Elmhurst) 6-3
Laurent successfully defended his title after dropping a few DIII matches this season.  He scored his first takedown on a questionable call near the edge, but he thankfully got a few more to make that call moot.  He’s an aggressive heavyweight who uses his athleticism to keep the attack going, and he put it all together when it mattered most.

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24 COMMENTS

  2. Saying Brown did “almost nothing” is a bit of an understatement. I don’t think he took a shot in the whole tournament and was content to ride on top without any real attempts to turn anyone. It may have been poor sportsmanship for 1/2 the stadium to boo him when he won the title, but it was certainly understandable.

  3. IIACwrestlingfan. Brown outscored his opponents 19-3 during the tournament. He had 3 Takedowns in 3 matches, his opponents had 0. He had 9 points in Near falls one resulting in a fall, his opponents had 0. He could ride all of his opponents which scored him riding time. In the finals he knew which leg to keep back to stop Rockys high crotch, he tried his own shuck and throw bys several times and dropped to his knee enough to keep from getting the stall call. Bottom line …In 4 matches he outscored his opponents in every category. To take a shot – just to take a shot – is poor strategy, they have to count. I agree it was poor sportsmanship for (ONE) section to boo after Brown won the title, but most people there knew who it was.

  4. How many of those takedowns were offensive? I agree that taking a shot just to take a shot is poor strategy, apparently so is wrestling just to wrestle. I really think he deserves the standing there until someone makes a mistake national championship, but not the wrestling national championship. It is as much the officials fault as his, they should have made him wrestle, but most of the officials were pretty reluctant to call stalling when it was necessary. None (and I mean NONE) of his “attempts” in the finals were legitimate attempts at a takedown.

  5. he had no offensive takedowns. he may have turned some of his earlier opponents but in the last couple of matches, he just clung on top(the takedown and bp against kehrli were a bad call on the refs part, the td should have never been called as brown was out in front and not in control and the bp would not have happened if the ref didnt give him the bs takedown). and way more than just one section was booing, it seemed like about half of the stadium, and it was well deserved.

  6. I agree with RamBalls, there were many sections booing. I was sitting in an area with little booing, and would say that about 1/4-1/3 of the stadium was booing. People came to watch some good wrestling and I wouldn’t say that was it.

    Also, the ‘riding time’ comment is exactly my point. It is a lot harder to keep someone down if you are trying to turn them and aren’t just riding.

    To know all of his stats you have to either be his coach or his mom. In that case, I understand defending him. If you were a true wrestling fan without a biased opinion there is no way that you could argue that he wrestled well and shouldn’t have lost every match from stalling calls.

  7. How many of you won a title this weekend??? So back off the kid, I mean seriously the kid wins a title and you jump all over him. How about Wernimont won on a stalling call and I felt that Brew was pushing the pace a little bit more. I am not going to jump on this wall and bash someone how about you give them there credit they did something right to win the title. Congrats to all the DIII National Champions.

  8. wernimont was clearly the one on the offensive for the first two periods, the stall calls were warranted. once he got the call, he became much more defensive and almost lost himself the match.

  9. With few exceptions all of the officials at the tournament were rough. There were some HUGE calls in the semis and finals that cost kids matches where officials simply didn’t do a good job. With that said,officiating has to be the worst job in the world, evidenced by the fact that young guys aren’t getting into it. So as much as I think 8 of the 12 refs at the NCAA’s should retire (or just read the rule book, or fall in love with the sport again) we need anyone we can get right now to do the officiating. Biggest officiating blunder of the meet: Semifinals at 133 (stalemate)…are you kidding me!?!? total joke. Other notable blunders: Brew/wernimont; Brown/mantella; any others?? By the way…CONGRATS to all the ALL-Americans and National Champions!!! it is not a competitors fault if the officials bungle a match in their favor. GREAT JOB to all the competitors!

  13. From the NCAA wrestling rule book (5.10.3 Neutral Position. Each wrestler must make an honest attempt to work toward the center of the mat and maintain an attack to secure a takedown, regardless of the time or score of the match.)… As you can clearly read, “wrestletowin”, it is in the rules that a wrestler must attempt to take his opponent down while in the neutral position. Strategy or not, since Brown didn’t try to take his opponents down at any time, he was clearly in violation of the rule and should have lost at least his last 2 matches. If it was his strategy to break the rules to win a national championship, then both he and his coach should be embarrassed for setting and carrying out this strategy.

    I do agree that the officials should have also made him follow this rule. (it does say “When a referee recognizes stalling unquestionably occurring at any time and in any position, the offender will be warned and subsequent violations will be penalized without hesitation.” in an earlier section of the rule book, which also clearly didn’t happen).

  14. I watched the finals replay. Didn’t look like Mantella could take Brown down and he couldn’t get out from underneath. Don’t know if I would say Brown was stalling. Mantella didn’t score any points so I don’t know how anybody can think he should’ve won.

  15. I agree with Ivy. Anyone who wins a national title deserves credit for doing so. It seems a little ridiculous that we’re pulling out the rule book.

  17. Ramballs and IIACWRESTLINGFAN are obviously from Cornell. Sounds like Kehrli’s parents. Maybe upset that Brown beat their guy.

  18. Another blown call was in the all-american round at 285. Where Witzel(Aug)got points for pushing over Plattner(Lut). Plattner was attempting most of the offensive shots. “Real shots” for a Heavyweight.

  19. yeah im kehrli’s parents, idiot. and youre evan browns third cousin. sweet deduction sherlock! and yeah, plattner got screwed

  21. EMPIRE = HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF ALL AMERICANS

    EMPIRE = HIGHEST ACEDEMIC STANDING

    EMPIRE = CONFERENCE OF THE YEAR!!!!

    #1.Empire- 66.6%
    #2.Great Lakes- 65.3%
    #3.Wisconsin- 63.1%
    #4.Iowa-60.6%
    #5.MidWest- 53.3%
    #6.New England- 35.7%
    #7.Metro- 25%
    #8.Ohio- 18%
    #9.Centennial- 18%

  23. Congratualations to Empire Conference!

    We all know the extra effort these athletes must put in to attain this.
    Congrats

  24. Conference of the year…Empire?

    I’d say the conference had a nice run this year. But best conference? That’s a hard sell.

    Zero National Champs.

    The 10 AA’s is nice (and is much better than the 5/18 from last year), the combined record of just the AA’s out of the Empire at Nationals was 27-22 (far from dominant).

    I’ll take the IIAC for confernce of the year.

    Team National Champ
    4 individual champs
    4 teams in the top 10

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