NCAA Wrestling Day 3 Preview/Open Thread

With the second day of the NCAA D1 Wrestling Championships in the books Iowa State has is sitting in decent position with three wrestlers having attained All American status.  Two, Mike Moreno and Kyven Gadson, are still alive for a chance at 3rd place.

Team Scores After Day 2

1. Penn St. (91)

2. Minnesota (90.5)

3. Oklahoma St  (87.5)

4. Iowa (67)

5. Ohio St. (52)

6. Edinboro  (48.5

7. Cornell (46.5)

8. Virginia Tech (45.5)

9. Oklahoma (45)

10t. Illinois (37)

11t. Iowa St. (35.5)

11t. Missouri (35.5)

11t. Northwestern (35.5)

11t. UNI  (35.5)

15. Wisconsin (35.0)

A look at Iowa State's first round of placewinner matches:

125 Pounds

Hall will get unseeded Darian Cruz of Lehigh (30-9).  Cruz has run all the way from the first round of consolations.  His wins included a 4-3 win over Martinez of Air Force, who Hall beat 8-1.  Other than that they do not have many common opponents.  With the way Hall has been wrestling so far he has to be considered the favorite.

165 Pounds

Mike Moreno will get #3 Nick Sulzer of Virginia (38-2).  Silver beat Moreno 5-2 in the finals  in Vegas in early December.  Moreno is the underdog here.  With a win he'd push himself into the 3rd place match, with a loss he'd be back into the same 5th place match that he ended his season with last year.

197 Pounds

Kyven Gadson will get #14 seed Chris Penny of Virginia Tech (28-11).  Gadson and Penny have not met but looking at common opponents Gadson is the clear favorite.  With a win he'll likely get a rematch with Scott Schill of Minnesota in the 3rd place match.

3rd/5th Place matches

Check back after the Consolation semifinals for updates on these matchups!

165:

Mike Moreno will get #11 seed Turtogtohk Luvsandorj of the Citadel in the 5th place match.  Luvsandorj beat Moreno 1-3 in overtime at the Southern Scuffle.  That was Moreno's worst loss of the season so he'll be out for revenge.  Moreno looked very flat in his match against Sulzer so hopefully he finds some Red Bull before taking the mat against the Mongolian.

197:

Gadson will get #4 seed Scott Schiller of Minnesota.  Schiller beat Gadson yesterday morning to send him down to the consolation bracket and is 3-1 against Gadson this season.  Schiller is also the only wrestler all year to beat Kyven.  Yesterday Gadson came out with a horrible strategy and spent so much time managing the match that he forgot to wrestle it.  He's been on a tear since with two pins in three matches.  As long as he comes out against Schiller like he did against Penny he stands a great chance at the upset.

Gadson and Schiller also met in the medal rounds last season, with Schiller beating Gadson in a tight one for 5th place.