CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

125- Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 3-2
133- Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) 3-1 OT

141- Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) 10-1

149- Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) dec. Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State) 3-1 OT 
157- Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) dec. Dylan Ness (Minnesota) 13-4

165- David Taylor (Penn State)  dec. Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) 6-0

174- Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) dec. Andrew Howe (Oklahoma) 4-0

184- Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland)  7-2       

197- J'Den Cox (Missouri) dec. Nick Hefflin (Ohio State) 2-1

285- Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) dec. Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 4-2

OSW Award: David Taylor (Penn State) - 165 pounds

Team Scores:

  1. Penn State (109.5 points)

  2. Minnesota (104)

  3. Oklahoma State (96.5)
  4. Iowa (78.5)

  5. Edinboro (62)

  6. Ohio State (57)

  7. Cornell (53)

  8. Virginia Tech (49)

  9. Northwestern (46)

10. Oklahoma (45)

 PENN STATE WINS  

FOURTH STRAIGHT

NCAA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

                                             2014 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

                                                                      By Jim & Tony Nordland

 
      Penn State captured their fourth consecutive NCAA team title at the 84th annual NCAA Wrestling Championships before 16,221 fans at the Chesapeake Energy Center in Oklahoma City, OK. The Nittany Lions tallied 109.5 points and edged Minnesota (104) and Oklahoma State (96.5) in a tight team race that wasn’t decided until the second to last bout in the finals. Penn State was paced by their first ever three-time champion Ed Ruth  (34-1, 136-3 career) whose aggressive leg attacks upended previously unbeaten Jimmy Sheptock (32-1) of Maryland, 7-2, in the 184-pound final and two-time titlist David Taylor (34-0) who posted a solid 6-0 win over Tyler Caldwell (Okla State) at 165. Four-time finalist Taylor (2-1-2-1) finished his illustrious career with a 134-3 mark and a record 53 falls.

      In the 125-pound final, Cornell’s Nahshon Garrett (32-2) struck quickly with a blast double and appeared to have the takedown. The call was reversed and scramble specialist Jesse Delgado (30-2) of Illinois converted a scramble takedown into points and eked out a 3-2 win en route to his second NCAA crown. Ohio State’s Logan Stieber (30-1) dominated his opponent with a 10-1 major decision at 141 and became the first Buckeye to claim three NCAA titles.

     Oklahoma State had a pair of NCAA winners; two-time champion Chris Perry (30-1)and tough Alex Dieringer (32-1) at 157. Perry scored with a high-crotch takedown to defeat former NCAA king Andrew Howe (Wisconsin), 4-0, at 174 pounds. New York native Nick Gwiazdowski (43-2) of NC State scored with a pair of single leg takedowns to upset Minnesota’s two-time champion Tony Nelson, 4-2, in the 285-pound class.

     Also winning NCAA crowns were Iowa’s Tony Ramos (32-2, 120-14) who scored with a tilt in overtime for a 3-1 win at 133 and Jason Tsirtsis (32-3) of Northwestern at 149, along with true freshman J’Den Cox (38-2) of Missouri at 197 pounds.

Mat Notes:
     New York State finished with three All-Americans, the aforementiond Gwiazdowski, Stephen Dutton III (13-6) of Michigan who earned 7th at 141 and Cornell’s Brian Realbuto (36-8) who injured his knee in his semifinal bout and defaulted to 6th place at 157 pounds. Penn State now has won five championships, their first NCAA team crown was in 1953. The legacy of the tandem of Taylor and four-time placer Ruth (3-1-1-1) had a combined 270 wins and 6 losses, along with four national team titles, over their stellar careers. Taylor was voted the OSW Award and was the only wrestler to remain unbeaten on the season. Both Penn State and Minnesota finished with seven All-Americans, Okla State had five and the Big Red of Cornell had three AAs. Oklahoma State is the NCAA leader with 34 NCAA team titles and the Cowboys have the most NCAA champions with 138 individual winners. There were 66 teams entered in the NCAA meet and Hofstra finished 40th with 7 points, followed by Binghamton (49th with 4.5), Army (50th with 4) and Columbia (51st with 3.5). The combined record of the ten Division I champions was 335 victories and 15 losses. The total attendance for all six sessions was 93,334 true wrestling fans. The 2015 NCAA Championships will be held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri on March 19th through the 21st.