OKLAHOMA CITY – For the second consecutive season, three Iowa State wrestlers earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Michael Moreno (165) and Kyven Gadson (197) will be on the podium for the second straight year. Sophomore Earl Hall (125) will join them.
The Cyclones went 5-2 in matches in Session IV and sit tied for 11th in the team race with UNI, Northwestern and Missouri.
Hall, one of six unseeded wrestlers to earn All-America honors at Chesapeake Energy Arena Friday night, punched his first reservation on the podium with an 8-5 win over No. 15 seed Anthony Zanetta of Pittsburgh.
The Homestead, Fla., native was defeated by the No. 4 seed Cory Clark of Iowa 10-4 in the consolation quarterfinals after his win in the round of 12. He will wrestle for seventh-place in Session V tomorrow vs. Lehigh’s Darian Cruz. They have no previous meetings.
Gadson bounced back from a tough quarterfinal loss with a first period fall over No. 9 seed Christian Boley of Maryland in 2:40 in the round of 12. He then downed No. 3 seed Morgan McIntosh of Penn State 5-3 in the consolation quarterfinals.
The Waterloo, Iowa, native will face No. 14 seed Chris Penny of Virgina Tech in the consolation semifinals with a bid to the third-place match on the line. Gadson and Penny have no previous meetings.
Gadson and his late father, Willie, became the first father-on duo in program history to each earn All-America honors twice.
Moreno won a wild match with No. 14 seed Dylan Palacio of Cornell in the round of 12, 9-6. He then took down No. 15 seed Danny Zilverberg of Minnesota in the consolation quarterfinals.
The Urbandale, Iowa, native faces No. 3 seed Nick Sulzer of Virginia in the consolation semifinals tomorrow. Moreno beat Sulzer 4-2 last season at the NCAA Championships, but fell 5-2 to the Cavalier All-American in the finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite on Dec. 7.
Moreno and Gadson joined an elite fraternity, becoming the 38th and 39th two-time All-Americans in ISU wrestling history.
No. 12 seed Tanner Weatherman fell one match shy of All-America honors for the second straight season at 174 pounds, losing 3-2 to No. 7 seed Matt Wilps of Pittsburgh in the round of 12. The Huxley, Iowa, native finished the season 25-16.
Head coach Kevin Jackson has now coached 10 All-Americans at Iowa State in his five seasons at the helm.
Session V of the 2014 NCAA Championships begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. ESPNU will be airing select matches live, while WatchESPN will be providing exclusive coverage of all three mats.
