MADISON, Wis. – The University of Iowa advanced seven wrestlers to the semifinals of the 2014 Big Ten Championships on Saturday at the Kohl Center. The Hawkeyes recorded four major decisions and three pins in the opening and quarterfinal rounds, and sit in third place with 68 points.
Minnesota leads the team race with 77 points, followed by Penn State (70) and Iowa. Nebraska (32) and Michigan (29) round out the top five.
The Hawkeyes, who were favored in eight quarterfinal matches, went 7-3 in the quarters after winning all three first round matches.
Cory Clark (125), Tony Ramos (133), Derek St. John (157), Nick Moore (165), Mike Evans (174), Ethen Lofthouse (184) and Nathan Burak (197) all advanced to Saturday night’s semifinals.
Burak recorded Iowa’s lone upset in the opening session, scoring takedowns in both the first and third periods to defeat Purdue’s fourth-seeded Braden Atwood, 5-4. Burak advanced to the quarters by pinning No. 12 Garret Goldman of Indiana in 3:46 in the opening round.
Ramos advanced to the semifinals with a first-period fall against Michigan’s eighth-seeded Rossi Bruno. Ramos led 4-1 before securing a cradle and earning his team-high 12th pin in 1:33. Clark, Moore, and Evans all earned majors, and St. John and Lofthouse advanced with decisions.
“Bonus points are always important,” said UI head coach Tom Brands. “It adds to the team and the individual. It adds to your wrestling; it adds a factor. When guys are wrestling and scoring fast, you have a good chance to pick up bonus points because you jump on things quick.”
Clark, who was making his Big Ten tournament debut, totaled four takedowns and 3:59 of riding time to win 10-2 against Nebraska’s sixth-seeded Tim Lambert.
Moore used seven takedowns and 2:54 of riding time to defeat No. 7 Ryan LeBlanc (Ind.), 16-5, and Evans scored two nearfall points as time expired to defeat No. 6 Mark Martin (OSU), 8-0.
St. John scored four points in the final period – escape, takedown, stalling – to defeat No. 5 Dylan Alton (PSU), 4-1, and Lofthouse used a first period takedown, a second-period escape, and 1:35 of riding time to top No. 6 Kenny Courts (OSU), 4-1.
Iowa fell short of the semifinals at 141, 149, and 285.
Bobby Telford (285) fell to the consolation bracket after losing to Minnesota’s fifth-ranked Tony Nelson, 2-0.
Josh Dziewa (141) scored a major decision in the opening round, but was bounced to the consolation bracket with a 7-0 loss in the quarters. Brody Grothus (149) advanced to the quarters with a pin in the opening round, but was stopped short of the semis, 4-1, by Michigan’s No. 5 Eric Grajales.
“We’ve got a lot of good things going on right now, and that’s what we’ve got to build on,” said Brands. “We’ve got to come back where we weren’t so strong. There are guys in good positions if they get themselves match-by-match back in it. It’s that simple. That’s how you have to think. You can’t think about the hole you are in or what could’ve been. You’ve got to come back strong, do things right and get ready to go.”
Session II begins at 5 p.m. (CT) with the first round of wrestle-backs, followed by the semifinals and second round of wrestle-backs, which will run concurrently.
