Posted on 03/22/2014 9:07:17 AM PDT by FlJoePa
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Minnesota has the numbers to dethrone three-time defending national wrestling titlist Penn State. Oklahoma State is in the mix in the NCAA championships, too.
Penn State holds the slimmest of leads heading into the final day of action. The Nittany Lions have 91 points after Friday's matches, followed by Minnesota with 90.5 and Oklahoma State with 87.5.
Penn State and Minnesota have two finalists and seven total wrestlers remaining.
Penn State's David Taylor advanced to the finals for the fourth time. He defeated North Dakota State's Steven Monk 12-5 in the 165-pound semifinals. He will face Oklahoma State's Tyler Caldwell in the final, one of just two finals that match wrestlers on the top three teams.
Minnesota's Dylan Ness will face Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer in the 157-pound final.
Caldwell is 0-3 in his career against Taylor, but he feels he has improved each time.
"I've felt like I've really closed the gap," Caldwell said. "And since the last time wrestling in February, I think I've even made even bigger strides and look forward to wrestling (Saturday) night."
Penn State's Ed Ruth also advanced to the finals. The two-time national champion defeated Cornell's Gabriel Dean 5-3 in the 184-pound semifinals to avenge his only loss of the season.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Disappointing, but it's good that other teams step up to knock off dynasties in any sport. It makes the sport stronger.
The main event (finals) begin tonight at 8PM. Not sure of the starting order, but I've heard that they'll start at 184.
| Team Standings | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Points | Maximum Potential Points |
# F | # Cons Semi |
# 3rd-4th | # 5th-6th | # 7th-8th |
| Minnesota | 97.5 | 130.5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Penn State | 95.5 | 116.5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Oklahoma State | 87.5 | 114.5 | 4 | 1 | |||
| Iowa | 71.5 | 89.5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Edinboro | 60 | 69 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Cornell | 52 | 61 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Ohio State | 52 | 64 | 2 | ||||
| Virginia Tech | 49 | 55 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Oklahoma | 45 | 57 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Nebraska | 41.5 | 47.5 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Iowa State | 41 | 47 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Northwestern | 41 | 53 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Northern Iowa | 39 | 45 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Illinois | 37 | 43 | 1 | ||||
| Missouri | 34.5 | 43.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Michigan | 33 | 39 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Wisconsin | 33 | 42 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Lehigh | 29.5 | 35.5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Maryland | 21 | 27 | 1 | ||||
Taylor was simply awesome.
Oklahoma seems to have fallen a bit in the wrestling world; once upon a time they were unstoppable.
Thanks guys!
I’d have to guess that Taylor, ay least, is thinking Internationals and Olympics, so he may not be gone for quite a while.
But, yes, I read you - gone from the NCAA.
How about James English - from 3rd string a few weeks ago to All American. He may have just won PSU the team with that win over Maple. Loved his interview after the match as well.
All the semifinalists were impressive, and I’m very much looking forward to the finals tonight, but Taylor completely blew me away such that I hardly noticed his team-mates.
They call him the Magic Man for a reason.
Bonus points could be a factor as well. Both PSU and MN went 5-0 today in consolations, which is phenomenal. I have to favor PSU at this point just because of who's wrestling. Going to be a nail biter for sure. ESPN 8PM
| Team Standings | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Points | Maximum Potential Points |
# F | # 1st | # 2nd | # 3rd | # 4th | # 5th | # 6th | # 7th | # 8th |
| Minnesota | 104 | 116 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Penn State | 101.5 | 113.5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Oklahoma State | 87.5 | 111.5 | 4 | 1 | |||||||
| Iowa | 74.5 | 80.5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Edinboro | 62 | 62 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Cornell | 53 | 59 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Ohio State | 52 | 64 | 2 | ||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 49 | 55 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Oklahoma | 45 | 51 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Nebraska | 43.5 | 43.5 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Iowa State | 42 | 42 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Northwestern | 42 | 48 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Northern Iowa | 40 | 40 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Illinois | 37 | 43 | 1 | ||||||||
| Missouri | 35.5 | 41.5 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Michigan | 35 | 35 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Wisconsin | 34 | 40 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Lehigh | 29.5 | 29.5 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
Match order has been established and it will start at 174 and end at 165 with the David Taylor match. Love the drama! PSU needs Ruth to come through though, or it’s all for naught.
He seemed almost to cruise through his finals match, while racking up heavy points.
They deliberately saved the best for last to keep marginal viewers tuned in.
Crass commercialism?
Usually it’s lowest weight to highest weight, with no detours.
Oh, well, great night.
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