Indiana University
Big Ten Championships (March 5-6)
Three Hoosiers Clinch Trips to NCAA Championships
3/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 6, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Hoosiers won seven of eight bouts on day two of the 2011 Big Ten Championships, including third-place finishes for Kurt Kinser and Matt Powless to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships. Paul Young also earned an automatic bid to the national tournament by taking fourth place in the 157-pound weight class.
Ricky Alcala (285 lbs.) and Mitchell Richey (141 lbs.) were victorious on Sunday as wells, both taking the seventh-place in their respective weight classes. The top-6 spots were allocated for automatic berths to the NCAA Championships. With 48 wild card selections to be made midweek, Alcala is still all but guaranteed a shot at the All-American stand in Philadelphia. His resume is stuffed with a No. 9 national ranking and overall record of 28-9.
Kinser, Young and Powless began the second day of competition in the wrestleback semifinals, all earning the `W' and making their way into the third-place bout.
Overtime was the name of the game for Kinser; first defeating Illinois' Eric Terrazas, 2-1 in the first tiebreaker period. The Bloomington, Ind., native then out-lasted seventh-ranked Andrew Nadhir of Northwestern, taking down the Wildcat, 6-4, in sudden victory.
Young opened with a three-takedown performance against Sean McMurray (Michigan), topping the Wolverine by a final tally of 10-3. He came up just short in the third-place contest though, falling 4-3 to ninth-ranked Jason Welch of Northwestern.
Powless, meanwhile, continued his impressive junior season by improving to 36-5. A second-period takedown of Minnesota's Sonny Yohn proved to be the difference in his 3-2 besting of the seventh-ranked 197-pounder in the country. Powless concluded his weekend with a bit of revenge. Tyler Dickenson (Michigan State) upset Powless in the opening round but couldn't handle him the second time around as Powless notched a 6-2 decision.
Richey also had a rematch in his last bout of the tournament. Richey pinned Purdue's Jake Fleckenstein in the opening round. The second scuffle was a bit tighter, however, with Richey narrowly pulling it off in sudden victory.
Alcala's triumph came over Ben Kuhar of Northwestern. Alcala posted a pair of takedowns en route to a 5-2 decision.
Next up for the Cream and Crimson is the 2011 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 17-19 inside the Wachovia Center.
DAY ONE RECAP
Three Hoosiers stamped their NCAA Championship tickets on Saturday as the IU Wrestling team began postseason competition at the 2011 Big Ten Championships in Evanston, Ill. Kurt Kinser, Paul Young and Matt Powless each earned automatic bids to the nationals and remain in contention for third place finishes at the conference tournament.
At 157 pounds, Paul Young advanced to the semifinals of the main draw before running into the No. 1-seeded David Taylor of Penn State. Young, seeded fifth, upset Purdue's fourth-seeded Colton Salazar to reach the semis. Not only did Young revenge a regular season loss to Salazar, he did so in a big way with a 13-5 major decision over the Boilermaker. The Bloomington, Ind., native is now two wins away from a third-place finish, facing off with No. 7-seed Sean McMurray (Michigan State) to start his Sunday.
Kinser and Powless took a different route, coming up on the wrong end of early upsets before battling back through the wrestlebacks to secure their spot in the NCAAs.
Kinser disposed of a Boiler as well, pinning Sam Patacsil at the 4:32 mark of his first wrestleback match. The now four-time NCAA Qualifier followed up the fall by topping Michigan State's Dan Osterman (ranked 20th nationally), 4-2.
Powless had his hand raised twice as well. His first `W' came over #11 Anthony Biondo, his third time defeating the Wolverine this season. Powless also blanked Joe Barczak of Illinois, 3-0, before calling it a night. His first bout on Sunday pits him against Minnesota's Sonny Yohn.
Mitchell Richey also tallied a win on Saturday and will battle it out for seventh place. Indiana's dominance of Purdue occurred at 141 pounds as well when Richey stuck Jake Fleckenstein (4:56).
Forty-eight NCAA wild-card berths remain and will be announced following the completion of conference championships. Indiana heavyweight Ricky Alcala is likely to receive one of those wild cards, ranked ninth nationally entering the weekend. Both defeats at the Big Ten Championships came in overtime.
Wrestling is set to begin at 2 pm EST on Sunday. The finals will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network at 4 pm.
Players Mentioned
