Cowboys lasso 32nd NCAA Team Title as upsets fill semifinal round

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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
03/19/2004


St. Louis, Mo. - Hawkeye magic is back. That is the only way to describe the stunning run to the NCAA finals by 197-pound Ryan Fulsaas after he defeated Sean Stender of Northern Iowa in the semifinals with a late takedown.    Stealing Fulsaas' thunder somewhat was the fact that Oklahoma State sealed its 32nd NCAA team title, and second in-a-row.    The Cowboys tallied 105.5 team points through the semifinal session, which included the defeat of four defending NCAA champions. Iowa is a distant second with 70 team points, followed by Nebraska (66.5), Lehigh (65.5) and Ohio State (65) in the top five.    Fulsaas, who had never even qualified for the NCAA Tournament before this season, trailed Stender 5-1 early in the match, but battled back. A Fulsaas takedown with just over one minute left in the match tied the score at 6-6. Fulsaas let Stender go, and did not score again until he finished a single-leg with two seconds left in the match.    Fulsaas will face defending champion Damion Hahn of Minnesota, who defeated Ryan Bader of Arizona State 2-1.    The win was the second in the semifinals for Iowa, as 141-pound Cliff Moore also advanced to the finals.    Moore dominated previously undefeated Scott Moore of Virginia, 14-2. Cliff Moore took control of the match in the second period, scoring a takedown and six nearfall points to take a commanding 10-2 lead.    In the finals, Moore will face Matt Murray of Nebraska, who defeated defending champion Teyon Ware of Oklahoma 5-4 in the semifinals. It was the second win for Murray over Ware in two weeks.    Placing the most wrestlers in the finals was Oklahoma State, which saw Zack Esposito (149 lbs.), Tyrone Lewis (165) and Chris Pendleton (174) earn their first trips to the championship match.    Esposito defeated Dustin Manotti of Cornell, 5-2. He will face two-time All-American Jesse Jantzen of Harvard in the most anticipated matchup of this year's finals.    Jantzen dominated Ryan Churella of Michigan, 11-4. Jantzen took control early in the match with a reversal and a series of tilts and turns that gave him a comfortable advantage.    Lewis scored on a low double-leg four seconds into overtime to defeat two-time All-American Jacob Volkmann of Minnesota, 3-1. A fired up Lewis then circled the arena, waving to the three full sections of Oklahoma State fans cheering him on.    In the finals, Lewis will face Troy Letters of Lehigh. Lettters defeated Lewis in the semifinals last year, and Lewis came back to beat Letters in a dual meet this season.    Letters used one point of riding time to secure a 4-2 win over Matt King of Edinboro in the semifinals.    Pendleton wasted no time in earning his first trip to the NCAA finals. Pendleton cradled Ryan Lange of Purdue late in the first period to record a fall, and all but seal the NCAA team crown for the Cowboys.    Pendleton will face freshman Ben Askren of Missouri in the championship match. Pendleton defeated Askren three times this season, but Askren pulled out a 9-7 win in their last meeting in the Big XII finals.    A matchup of two undefeated wrestlers will highlight the 157-pound title bout, where Jake Percival of Ohio (38-0) will face Matt Gentry of Stanford (40-0).    Percival dominated another previously undefeated wrestler, Alex Tirapelle of Illinois, in the semifinals. Percival used a first-period takedown, and over four minutes of riding time in downing the top seed 3-2.    Gentry, the first NCAA finalist in Stanford history, defeated Ryan Bertin of Michigan, the defending NCAA champion, 6-4 in overtime. The two wrestlers traded takedowns in the first period, and went into overtime tied at 4-4 when Gentry got deep on a single-leg and finished for the win.    In an unofficial bout at the All-Star Dual, Gentry defeated Percival, 13-10.    Travis Lee of Cornell was the first of the four defending NCAA champions to lose in the semifinals, dropping a 6-3 decision to Zach Roberson of Iowa State at 133 lbs.    Roberson scored two takedowns in the first period to take a 4-1 lead, and never looked back. He will meet up with Josh Moore of Penn State in the finals.    Moore defeated freshman Darrell Vasquez of Cal Poly 5-4.    Roberson defeated Moore in the Midlands finals this year by fall. Last year, Moore dominated Roberson 13-3 in the third-place match at the NCAA Tournament.    Two former champions that did make it to this year's finals are 2002 champions Greg Jones of West Virginia (184) and Tommy Rowlands of Ohio State (285).    Jones pulled away from Iowa's Paul Bradley late in the match to secure a 8-3 win. He moves on to the finals where he will face Ben Heizer of Northern Illinois.    Heizer defeated defending champion Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State, 4-1. Heizer scored a first-period takedown, one a escape and one more point for riding time advantage in the win.    Jones defeated Heizer twice this year. Once in the Midlands finals, 2-1, and the other time in the All-Star Dual, 10-6.    Rowlands looked fresh in his semifinal match against 2001 All-American Leonce Crump of Oklahoma, winning the match 5-2.    The top-seeded Rowlands will now face Pat Cummins of Penn State in the finals. Cummins scored a takedown over Matt Feast of Pennsylvania late in the third period for a 3-1 win.    Rowlands and Cummins have met three times this year, with Rowlands winning the last two meetings, including a 5-4 win in the Big Ten finals.    At 125 lbs., two-time All-American Jason Powell of Nebraska will meet Kyle Ott of Illinois in the championship match.    Powell defeated freshman Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma 6-3 in the semifinals. Ott downed Vic Moreno of Cal Poly 3-2.    The final consolation round and placing matches will begin at 10:00 a.m. (CST). The finals will begin at 5:30 p.m. (CST).    Notes: Rob Rebmann became the first Drexel All-American in 28 years… Virginia's Scott Moore, now 49-1, will look for his 50th win in the consolation semifinals against Nate Gallick of Iowa State… Nebraska and Tennessee-Chattanooga were each penalized one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct… Five wrestlers entered this year's NCAA Tournament undefeated. Three have advanced to the championship match: 157-pound Matt Gentry of Stanford (40-0), 184-pound Greg Jones of West Virginia (25-0) and 157-pound Jake Percival of Ohio (38-0)…     2004 NCAA Championships  at St. Louis, Mo., March 18-20  Championship Matchups  125 - Jason Powell (Nebraska) vs. Kyle Ott (Illinois)  133 - Zach Roberson (Iowa State) vs. Josh Moore (Penn State)  141 - Cliff Moore (Iowa) vs. Matt Murray (Nebraska)  149 - Jesse Jantzen (Harvard) vs. Zack Esposito (Oklahoma State)  157 - Jake Percival (Ohio) vs. Mattt Gentry (Stanford)  165 - Tyrone Lewis (Oklahoma State) vs. Troy Letters (Lehigh)  174 - Chris Pendleton (Oklahoma State) vs. Ben Askren (Missouri)  184 - Greg Jones (West Virginia) vs. Ben Heizer (Northern Illinois)  197 - Damion Hahn (Minnesota) vs. Ryan Fulsaas (Iowa)  285 - Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) vs. Pat Cummins (Penn State)