Huskers firmly in title chase at wrestling championships

 No comments  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

BY KARL VOGEL / Lincoln Journal Star

ST. LOUIS — Will the real Vince Jones please stand up?

After finishing dead-last at the conference meet nearly two weeks ago, the Husker junior 184-pounder needed the Big 12 coaches to vote him a wild-card entry just to qualify for the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

On Thursday, he more than proved he belonged on college wrestling’s biggest stage, pulling off what ranks as the biggest upset of the day and helping Nebraska vault into second place in the team title chase.

[+]Enlarge

Nebraska's Vince Jones walks off the mat after defeating Michigan's Tyrel Todd 7-5 in their 184-pound second-round match Thursday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. (Post-Dispatch)

Nebraska's Vince Jones walks off the mat after defeating Michigan's Tyrel Todd 7-5 in their 184-pound second-round match Thursday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. (Post-Dispatch)

Iowa leads with 29½ points, only three better than Nebraska. Iowa State is third with 25 and Central Michigan fourth at 24.

In a second-round match against third-seeded Tyrel Todd of Michigan, Jones fell behind 4-1 after being taken down with 16 seconds left in the first period. But 12 seconds later, he scored a reversal that beat the buzzer and tightened the match at a crucial time.

An escape and a takedown in a 10-second stretch of the final period gave Jones the lead for the first time and he rode out Todd the rest of the match to earn a 7-5 victory and a surprising spot in this morning’s quarterfinals.

Jones said the disappointment of his Big 12 performance served as a catalyst for his preparations for nationals.

“I was very disappointed, but you can’t keep going on and on about stuff that didn’t happen. All you can do is keep moving forward,” he said. “The coaches, they got on me big-time, but I know one thing — the coaches believe in me and that’s what I love about this team.”

NU coach Mark Manning said that victory was “huge” for Nebraska’s title hopes and for Jones, too.

“It’s all about stepping up and doing it, believing in yourself. When you believe in yourself good things happen,” Manning said. “He (Todd) was an All-American and Michigan’s going to be in the team hunt. That can only help us in the team race.”

Jones is one of six Huskers who have qualified for the quarterfinals, joining defending national champion Paul Donahoe (125 pounds), Jordan Burroughs (149), Stephen Dwyer (165), Brandon Browne (174) and Craig Brester (197).

The third-seeded Donahoe began his quest for a repeat title with a pair of dominant victories — a 9-0 major decision against Ohio State’s Nikko Triggas and a 21-6 technical fall over Brandon Zoetewey of Cal State-Bakersfield.

At 149 pounds, Burroughs struggled until late in the third period before earning an opening-round 4-1 win against Cesar Grajales of Pennsylvania. But in the second round, Burroughs flashed the form that made him the No. 4 seed, needing only five minutes to score six takedowns and two near-falls in a 21-5 technical decision over Edward McCray of Gardner-Webb.

Dwyer, the fifth seed at 165 pounds, beat a pair of opponents he’d defeated earlier this season, notching a 13-4 major decision against Ryan Patrovich of Hofstra before taking down 12th-seeded Jarrod King of Edinboro 4-2.

Browne easily won his opening match at 174, but the No. 3 seed fell behind Iowa State’s Aron Scott in the second round before rallying to an 8-5 win.

Eighth-seeded Brester had the most dominant performance of any Husker in the first round, beating Army’s Richard Starks by technical fall (17-0 in 4 minutes, 7 seconds) at 197, then controlled ninth-seeded Phillip Bond of Illinois in a 6-2 decision that puts him in a quarterfinal against defending national champion Josh Glenn of American.

Jones said Donahoe’s performances raised the confidence level of the rest of the Huskers.

“That pumped me up great. That’s what our leaders are supposed to do, and Donahoe is our leader,” Jones said. “Once he gets things going, it gets us all going. And we got it going today.”

Helping the Huskers’ team chances is the fact that only two NU wrestlers have fallen into the consolation bracket.

Kenny Jordan beat Lehigh’s Seth Ciasulli 11-5 at 133 pounds, but then was soundly controlled by Iowa’s No. 4 seed Joey Slaton in the second round, losing 9-5.

Heavyweight Jon May, the only senior on NU’s roster, battled Navy’s third-seeded Ed Prendergast closely through two periods of their opener, but Prendergast scored a takedown and rolled May into a cradle for a pin just 19 seconds into the third period.

In the consolation bracket late Thursday, May earned a 12-2 major decision against Old Dominion’s Andrew Totusek.

Reach Karl Vogel at 473-7432 or kvogel@journalstar.com.