Indiana University
Big Ten Championships
Escobedo Advances to Finals, Four Others Have Punched NCAA Tickets
3/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 7, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Angel Escobedo has advanced to the 125-lbs. finals at the Big Ten Championships, defeating Iowa's Charlie Falck for the second consecutive season in the Big Ten semifinals. Four other Hoosiers have already punched their tickets to the NCAAs and Nate Everhart remains in the running for his second bid to nationals.
Escobedo's championship match vs. the No. 1 seed Brandon Precin (Northwestern) will be aired nationally on the Big Ten Network. The championship match coverage is set to begin at approximately 2 p.m. EST.
Kurt Kinser (157 lbs.), Paul Young (165 lbs.), Trevor Perry (174 lbs.) and Eric Cameron (184 lbs.) are each headed to the NCAA Championships in two weeks while still fighting for placing at the Big Tens. Kinser, Perry, Cameron and Everhart can all finish as high as third place while Young faces Michigan's Justin Zeerip for seventh place. Young defeated Zeerip earlier in the first round of the championship bracket, 3-0.
As a team the Hoosiers are in eighth place after Saturday's action with 59.5 points.
Updated Team Standings & Brackets Through Saturday 
Escobedo, the defending Big Ten champion, opened his tournament with a 16-3 major decision of Purdue's Matt Fields that included five takedowns and nearly three minutes of riding time. He then faced Falck for the third consecutive season in the Big Ten semifinals. Falck, the No. 2 seed each time, won the first showdown back in 2007, but Escobedo, seeded third each time, has won the two most recent bouts in 2008 and on Saturday. Top-seeded Brandon Precin of Northwestern awaits Escobedo in the finals. Escobedo was a 3-1 winner over Precin in the dual match earlier this season and has never been fallen to Precin in his career.
Kinser also made it to the semifinals with a 10-4 decision over Michigan's Aaron Hynes. He then came up just short of reaching the finals as he led Northwestern's Jason Welch, 3-1, with just nine seconds left in the match. Welch was able to get a takedown and record a near-fall, however, to defeat Kinser for the first time in three showdowns this season. Kinser will face Colton Salazar of Purdue next with the winner moving on to the third-place match.
Perry was three seconds away from knocking off the No. 3 seed, leading Quentin Wright (Penn State), 4-2, before letting up an escape and takedown in the final seconds. The Davision, Mich, native bounced back though to beat Minnesota's Matt Everson, 8-5, clinching his third trip to the NCAAs in as many seasons.
Cameron may be the story of the day. He entered the tournament with an 0-7 record this season against the rest of the field, but stepped it up on the big stage and won a pair of matches to seal his NCAA qualification fate. After victories over No. 8-seeded Eric Bugenhagen (Wisconsin) and Sonny Yohn (Minnesota), he is still in the running for third place at 184 pounds. His next opponent will be Ohio State's Mike Pucillo, the No. 2 seed and defending national champion.
Despite still being in the hunt for a third-place finish at heavyweight, Everhart has not yet clinched a trip to the nationals due to the fact that the Big Ten has just five automatic bids in the heavyweight division. Therefore, Everhart needs to win one of two bouts tomorrow to reach his second career NCAA Championships. His 5-2 decision over Purdue's Chris Kasten sets up a wrestleback semifinal showdown with the No. 2 seed Ben Berhow (Minnesota). Berhow topped Everhart in the dual earlier this season, but Everhart arose victorious over Berhow, 8-7, in last year's Big Ten Championships.
Young split four matches on the first day of competition, putting him in the seventh-place match versus Justin Zeerip of Michigan. With the Big Ten guaranteed eight NCAA qualifiers at 165 pounds Young has already booked his ticket to the nationals. He defeated Zeerip in the first round, 3-0.
Redshirt freshmen Matt Ortega and Matt Powless will also compete for seventh place in their respective weight classes in hopes of earning one of 52 at-large bids to the NCAAs, which will be awarded by the committee on Wednesday (Mar. 11). Only the top-6 133-pounders and top-4 197-pounders from the conference earn automatic bids this season.
Ortega avenged a regular season loss by eliminating Purdue's Carson Beebe (No. 8 seed), 11-4, with over two minutes of riding time.
COMPLETE RESULTS
FIRST ROUND MATCHES:
133 lbs.- No. 2 Franklin Gomez (MSU) pins Matt Ortega (IU), 1:43


165 lbs.- No. 7 Paul Young (IU) dec. Justin Zeerip (Mich), 3-0


184 lbs.- Eric Cameron (IU) dec. No. 8 Eric Bugenhagen (Wisc), 3-1
197 lbs.- No. 6 Matt Powless (IU) maj. dec. Clay Steadman (PSU), 10-2
SECOND ROUND MATCHES:


125 lbs.- No. 3 Angel Escobedo (IU) maj. dec. Matt Fields (PU), 16-3
141 lbs.- No. 1 Zach Tanelli (Wisc) pins No. 8 Andrae Hernandez (IU), 6:17

149 lbs.- No. 2 Bubba Jenkins (PSU) dec. No. 7 Nick Walpole (IU), 7-3

157 lbs.- No.3 Kurt Kinser (IU) dec. No. 6 Aaron Hynes (Mich), 10-4

165 lbs.- No. 2 Colt Sponseller (OSU) dec. No. 7 Paul Young (IU), 10-4

174 lbs.- No. 3 Quentin Wright (PSU) dec. No. 6 Trevor Perry (IU), 5-4

184 lbs.- No. 1 Jake Herbert (NW) pins Eric Cameron (IU), 1:18

197 lbs.- No. 3 Chad Beatty (Iowa) dec. No. 6 Matt Powless (IU), 11-5
285 lbs.- No. 4 John Wise (Ill) dec. No. 5 Nate Everhart (IU), 4-1
WRESTLEBACK FIRST ROUND MATCHES:


133 lbs.- Matt Ortega (IU) dec. No. 8 Carson Beebe (PU), 11-4


141 lbs.- Frank Molinaro (PSU) dec. No. 8 Andrae Hernandez (IU), 7-3
149 lbs.- David Cheza (MSU) dec. No. 7 Nick Walpole (IU), 3-2


165 lbs.- No. 7 Paul Young (IU) dec. Scott Glasser (MINN), 8-3

CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS:
125 lbs.- No. 3 Angel Escobedo (IU) dec. No. 2 Charlie Falck (IOWA), 4-0


157 lbs.- No. 2 Jason Welch (NW) dec. No. 3 Kurt Kinser (IU), 6-3

WRESTLEBACK SECOND ROUND MATCHES:


133 lbs.- No. 4 Jayson Ness (MINN) pins Matt Ortega (IU), 2:20
165 lbs.- No. 6 Dan Vallimont (PSU) dec. No. 7 Paul Young (IU), 8-1


174 lbs.- No. 6 Trevor Perry (IU) dec. Matthew Everson (MINN), 8-5

184 lbs.- Eric Cameron (IU) dec. Sonny Yohn (MINN), 8-3


197 lbs.- No. 7 Logan Brown (PU) maj. dec. No. 6 Matt Powless (IU), 12-2


285 lbs.- No. 5 Nathan Everhart (IU) dec. No. 8 Chris Kasten (PU); 5-2

Complete Play-by-Play of Session One Matches
Complete Play-by-Play of Session Two Matches
Players Mentioned
