IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa wrestling team will send nine wrestlers to Des Moines, Iowa, next week for the 2013 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The event will be held March 21-23 at Wells Fargo Arena. The official tournament brackets were released today by the NCAA.
Matt McDonough (125), Tony Ramos (133), Mark Ballweg (141), Derek St. John (157), Nick Moore (165), Mike Evans (174), Ethen Lofthouse (184), Nathan Burak (197) and Bobby Telford (285) earned automatic bids to the national tournament following their performance at the Big Ten Championships.
Eight of Iowa’s nine qualifiers earned seeds for the national tournament. Tony Ramos (133) and Derek St. John (157) each earned No. 2 seeds, while Mike Evans (174) and two-time NCAA champion Matt McDonough (125) earned No. 3 seeds.
Bobby Telford (No. 6, 285), Mark Ballweg (No. 7, 141) and Nick Moore (No. 10) were all seeded in the top 10. Ethen Lofthouse (184) earned the No. 12 seed.
Nathan Burak was the only Hawkeye unseeded. He drew top-ranked Dustin Kilgore in the 197-pound bracket.
Iowa has sent at least eight athletes to the NCAA Championships in each of head coach Tom Brands’ seven seasons.
The NCAA Championships begin at 11 a.m. (CT) March 21 inside Wells Fargo Arena. Hawkeye fans can follow the action online at Hawkeye All-Access, ESPN3, and ESPNU. The finals will air live on ESPN.
IOWA’S FIRST ROUND NCAA MATCHUPS (# indicates tournament seed).
125 – #3 Matt McDonough (Iowa) vs. Jade Rauser (Utah Valley)
133 – #2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. Nick Wilcox (Bloomsberg)
141 – #7 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) vs. Daniel Neff (Lock Haven)
157 – #2 Derek St. John (Iowa) vs. Matthew Frisch (The Citadel)
165 – #10 Nick Moore (Iowa) vs. Paul Hancock (Army)
174 – #3 Mike Evans (Iowa) vs. Craig Kelliher (Central Michigan)
184 – #12 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) vs. Stephen Doty (Virginia)/Boaz Beard (Iowa State)
197 – Nathan Burak (Iowa) vs. #1 Dustin Kilgore (Kent State)
285 – #6 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. Joe Stolfi (Bucknell)
