St. Louis, MO (Betting Express) - In the final day of grappling at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, the Penn State Nittany Lions won their second National Championship in as many years. Penn State finished the NCAA Tournament with 143 points. Minnesota took second with 117.5 points and Iowa wound up third with 107.5 points. The three-day event was witnessed by a NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships total attendance record of 112,393 fans.
125 LBS: Iowa's Matt McDonough became a two-time NCAA champion with a hard- fought 4-1 victory over Penn State's true freshman Nico Megaludis. One takedown and a riding time point was the difference in the match for McDonough. The other All Americans at 125 pounds were:
Third: Zachary Sanders, Minnesota Fourth: Frank Perrelli, Cornell Fifth: Ryan Mango, Stanford Sixth: Nicholas Bedelyon, Kent State Seventh: Jesse Delgado, Illinois Eighth: Steve Bonanno, Hofstra
133 LBS: Ohio State Freshman Logan Stieber upset defending national champion Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State 4-3. Stieber fought off Oliver's last-second takedown attempt to secure the victory. The other All Americans at 133 pounds were:
Third: Tony Ramos, Iowa Fourth: Chris Dardanes, Minnesota Fifth: Devin Carter, Virginia Tech Sixth: B.J. Futrell, Illinois Seventh: Zachery Stevens, Michigan Eighth: Steven Keith, Harvard
141 LBS: Kellen Russell of Michigan successfully defended his NCAA title with a 5-3 overtime victory over Iowa's Montell Marion. Russell secured a takedown midway through the overtime period to gain his second NCAA title. The other All Americans at 141 pounds were:
Third: Boris Novachkov, Cal Poly Fourth: Kendric Maple, Oklahoma Fifth: Michael Mangrum, Oregon State Sixth: Hunter Stieber, Ohio State Seventh: Michael Nevinger, Cornell Eighth: Darius Little, NC State
149 LBS: Frank Molinaro of Penn State, last year's runner-up, won his first NCAA title with a 4-1 victory over Minnesota freshman Dylan Ness. A first- period takedown and a riding time point were the difference for the Nittany Lion senior. The other All Americans at 149 pounds were:
Third: Donald Vinson, Binghamton Fourth: Cam Tessari, Ohio State Fifth: Tyler Nauman, Pittsburgh Sixth: Justin Accordino, Hofstra Seventh: Scott Sakaguchi, Oregon State Eighth: Nick Lester, Oklahoma
157 LBS: Cornell junior Kyle Dake made it three NCAA championships in a row with a hard-fought 4-1 victory over Derek St. John of Iowa. Dake became the first individual to win three NCAA championships at three different weight classes. The other All Americans at 157 pounds were:
Third: Dylan Alton, Penn State Fourth: Jason Welch, Northwestern Fifth: James Fleming, Clarion Sixth: Ganbayar Sanjaa, American University Seventh: James Green, Nebraska Eighth: Walter Peppelman, Harvard
165 LBS: Penn State's David Taylor was absolutely relentless in a 22-7 technical fall victory over Brandon Hatchett of Lehigh. The technical fall occurred at 5:50 of the match. Taylor had four pins and a tech fall in the five matches that he wrestled. The other All Americans at 165 pounds were:
Third: Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, Clarion Fourth: Kyle Blevins, Appalachian State Fifth: Peter Yates, Virginia Tech Sixth: Josh Asper, Maryland Seventh: Benjamin Jordan, Wisconsin Eighth: Conrad Polz, Illinois
174 LBS: Penn State's dominance continued at 174 pounds, as Ed Ruth avenged his only NCAA Tournament loss when he pounded his way to a 13-2 major decision over previously-undefeated Stanford senior Nick Amuchastegui. The other All Americans at 174 pounds were:
Third: Chris Perry, Oklahoma State Fourth: Jordan Blanton, Illinois Fifth: Nick Heflin, Ohio State Sixth: Logan Storley, Minnesota Seventh: Ethen Lofthouse, Iowa Eighth: Ryan DesRoches, Cal Poly
184 LBS: Steve Bosak of Cornell defeated defending national champion Quentin Wright, 4-2 in overtime. Bosak became the second champion of the night for the Big Red. The other All Americans at 184 pounds were:
Third: Austin Trotman, Appalachian State Fourth: Robert Hamlin, Lehigh Fifth: Kevin Steinhaus, Minnesota Sixth: Ben Bennett, Central Michigan Seventh: Joe LeBlanc, Wyoming Eighth: Josh Ihnen, Nebraska
197 LBS: Cornell's Cam Simaz held on for a 7-5 victory over Edinboro's Chris Honeycutt to make it two champions in a row for the Big Red and their third of the night. The other All Americans at 197 pounds were:
Third: Cayle Byers, Oklahoma State Fourth: Matthew Wilps, Pittsburgh Fifth: Sonny Yohn, Minnesota Sixth: Alfonso Hernandez, Wyoming Seventh: Micah Burak, Penn Eighth: Joseph Kennedy, Lehigh
HWT: Anthony Nelson of Minnesota defeated defending NCAA champion Zach Rey to win the sophomore's first national title. Nelson secured a takedown in the final seconds of the match to go ahead 3-1. He added a riding time point to win, 4-1. The other All Americans at Heavyweight were:
Third: Michael McMullan, Northwestern Fourth: Clayton Jack, Oregon State Fifth: Bobby Telford, Iowa Sixth: Ryan Flores, American University Seventh: Jeremy Johnson, Ohio University Eighth: Nick Gwiazdowski, Binghamton