Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Big Ten Championships
Wildcats Earn Four Bids in Sunday's Seventh-Place Matches
3/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 6, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After a slow start in Saturday's afternoon session at the 2010 Big Ten Championships, Northwestern rebounded to gain momentum in the evening session on the mats inside Michigan's Crisler Arena. Consequently, a quartet of NU grapplers--Eric Metzler (133), Andrew Nadhir (149), Brian Roddy, Jr. and Aaron Jones (197)--will be competing in seventh-place matches during Session III Sunday.
Thanks to his victory on Saturday evening, Nadhir secured his first trip to the NCAA Championships in Omaha by finishing within the Big Ten's eight allocated automatic bids at 149 pounds. Meanwhile, Metzler, Roddy and Jones each assured themselves their first place-winnings at the Big Ten Championships.
Session III in Crisler Arena gets underway at 11 a.m. CT Sunday. Visit Michigan's official Big Ten Championships home page throughout the weekend for up-to-date tournament brackets and team standings. For live updates on NU's match-by-match results, follow the username @NU_SportsLIVE on Twitter.
Jones' victory came by pin against a seeded opponent, No. 8 Nicholas Corpe of Purdue. Midway through the second period, Corpe sloppily went in for a double-leg takedown and Jones quickly turned it into his advantage, tilting Corpe to his back and holding on for the fall. It was Jones' second pin of the season.
Below is a match-by-match recap of Saturday's evening events.
Consolation Quarterfinal Competitors
Eric Metzler -- 133 pounds
Metzler and Ortega were tied at three after one period, but an escape and penalty point against Metzler gave Ortega a 5-3 lead in the second. Another takedown for the Hoosier lifted him to a 7-3 lead, which is when Metzler began to turn the tables. Metzler worked hard to escape with just over a minute remaining to make it 7-5 and had his cause aided on a stalling warning against Ortega. For more than 40 seconds Metzler had his best attempts at a takedown resisted by Ortega until he final gained control for the final 20 seconds, giving him the 8-7 win.
Metzler moved on to the consolation quarterfinals against Purdue's eighth-seeded Akif Eren, who had clipped Metzler 5-4 when they last met way back in November. Things were equally as close on Saturday, with the score tied at one in the third period. Both wrestlers jockeyed for the winning takedown down the stretch and it was Eren who got in on two legs near the edge of the mat. Metzler was able to escape to make it 3-2 but could not get in for a two, sending him into the seventh-place match vs. Michigan's Zac Stevens.
Andrew Nadhir -- 149 pounds
The sixth-seeded Nadhir squared off with seventh-seeded Mario Mason of Minnesota and found himself in an early hole, down 2-1 to start the second period. Mason escaped to go up 3-1, which is where the score remained into the third. A Nadhir escape brought him to within 3-2, but he was denied a takedown down the stretch and surrendered one final takedown, losing the match 5-2. Nadhir is set to meet Purdue's eighth-seeded Nick Bertucci in the seventh-place match.
Brian Roddy, Jr. -- 174 pounds
Roddy's first match came against Wisconsin's Brendan Ard, and Roddy got off to a fast start with a first-period takedown and a two-point near-fall. Later in the match, Roddy began the third period in the down position and scored two points on a reversal to go ahead 7-3. He held on to win 7-4 for his second win over Ard in two weeks and a trip to the consolation quarterfinals.
In that match, Roddy met a tough foe in second-seeded Luke Manuel of Purdue, who was upset by Michigan State's Ian Hinton in the opening round of the tournament. Roddy kept the score close, pulling to within 3-2 with an escape in the third period. But in his efforts to score the winning offensive points, Roddy exposed himself to a final takedown by Manuel as the Boilermaker took a 6-3 decision. Roddy will face Ohio State's fourth-seeded Dave Rella on Sunday.
Aaron Jones -- 184 pounds
Jones' pin over Corpe put him into the consolation quarterfinals against fifth-seeded Travis Rutt of Wisconsin. Like his teammates, Jones kept the action tight but just could not dial up the offense necessary to get over the hump. A late takedown by Jones brought the score to 9-7 but it was too late to get any closer. Jones is now 10-17 entering his seventh-place match against Michigan's Hunter Montoya.
Consolation Pigtail Matches
Freshman Levi Mele saw his first trip to the Big Ten Championships end with a first-period fall against seventh-seeded Dan Osterman of Michigan State. His classmate Kevin Bialka gave a valiant effort in his match at 157 pounds, losing a hard-luck match to Wisconsin's eighth-seeded Greg Burke. Bialka was down 6-2 before a last minute takedown made it 6-5, but it was too late for Bialka to come all the way back as that was the last of the scoring.
Robert Kellogg completed his second stay at the Big Ten Championships with an 0-2 record after being pinned in the first period by Minnesota's Cody Yohn. At heavyweight, NU freshman Marcus Shrewsbury concluded his season with a 12-3 major decision loss to Ohio State's sixth-seeded Corey Morrison.
Sophomore John Schoen met eighth-seeded Matt Powless of Indiana in his pigtail match looking to avenge an 8-1 loss to Powless earlier this season. Schoen got off to a great start, scoring on a takedown to take a 2-1 lead in the second. Powless scored a one-point escape to tie the score and held firm down the stretch, notching the winning takedown with 20 seconds remaining to deny Schoen a chance at placing for the second straight year.
Session II Results
Wrestlebacks
125: #5 Cashe Quiroga (PU) dec. Robert Joyce (NU), 6-2
133: #5 Eric Metzler (NU) dec. Matt Ortega (IND), 8-7
141: #7 Dan Osterman (MSU) FALL Levi Mele (NU), 1:49
157: #8 Greg Burke (WIS) dec. Kevin Bialka (NU), 6-5
165: #7 Cody Yohn (MINN) FALL Robert Kellogg (NU), 1:46
174: #6 Brian Roddy, Jr. (NU) dec. Brendan Ard (WIS), 7-4
184: Aaron Jones (NU) FALL #8 Nicholas Corpe (PU), 4:48
197: #8 Matt Powless (IND) dec. John Schoen (NU), 4-2
285: #6 Corey Morrison (OSU) Maj. Dec. Marcus Shrewsbury (NU), 12-3
Wrestleback Quarterfinals
133: #8 Akif Eren (PU) dec. #5 Eric Metzler (NU), 5-2
149: #7 Mario Mason (MINN) dec. #6 Andrew Nadhir (NU), 6-2
174: #2 Luke Manuel (PU) dec. #6 Brian Roddy, Jr. (NU), 6-3
184: #5 Travis Rutt (WIS) dec. Aaron Jones (NU), 9-7
