Northwestern
NCAA Championships
McMullan, Tsirtsis Finish Third at NCAA Championships
3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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NCAA Championships • Northwestern: 34.5 points, 15th place Scottrade Center • St. Louis, Mo. 2015 NCAA Championships Bracket  |
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2015 NCAA Championships Final Brackets
Northwestern Championship Notes
2015 NCAA Championships Home
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Mike McMullan and Jason Tsirtsis will bring home bronze medals after their third-place finishes at the 2015 NCAA Championships Saturday in St. Louis.
McMullan becomes the third wrestler in program history to be honored as an All-American four times. He is only the one to do so at the same weight class. Tsirtsis earned All-American honors for the second time in as many years.
McMullan took down Wisconsin's Connor Medbery late in the third period to clinch his fourth top-three finish at the NCAA Championships. The heavyweights had traded escapes into the third period, and with the match tied at one, McMullan got in on Medbery and drove him to the ground for the winning takedown.
"Medbery is a good wrestler," McMullan said. "I knew I could get my opportunity. I just had to calibrate the right moment to attack."
The four-time All-American wraps up one of the most remarkable careers in Northwestern wrestling history. McMullan had NCAA finishes of third (2012), second (2013), third (2014) and third (2015) and won the 2015 Big Ten Championship. His final career record stands at 103-23.
"I had a fantastic opportunity to go to an elite school and compete in a great conference," McMullan said. "I never envisioned myself having the kind of career that I did. It is indescribable."
People dream of having this kind of success, and I am just really fortunate to have been blessed."
McMullan earned himself a chance at third with a 10-1 major decision over James Lawson of Penn State. The Northwestern senior got out to a big 6-0 lead in the first period with a takedown and four nearfall points. He added another takedown and an escape to go with over three minutes of riding time.
Tsirtsis met Iowa's Brandon Sorensen for the third time this season, and just like in the finals of the Big Ten Championships, the Northwestern sophomore came away with a close win. Second-seeded Tsirtsis bested No. 4 seed Sorensen 3-1 in sudden victory with a takedown as time wound down.
Tsirtsis kicked things off with an escape to start the second period, but Sorensen matched it in the third. The match went into sudden victory tied at one, and Tsirtsis spent much of the one-minute period in deep on a shot before finally getting the winning takedown called.
"Ultimately, I'm still extremely upset," Tsirtsis said after the match. "My goal was to win a national title and to fall short of that stings quite a bit. I had to power through and get the best place I could."
I wanted to make a statement to myself that I could wrestle back and get third."
The two-time All-American ends his sophomore campaign with 39 wins, tied for seventh-most in Northwestern wrestling history for a single season. Steve DePetro holds the record with 44 in 1986. Tsirtsis is already looking forward to next season and has a busy offseason to prepare.
"I want to get to the U.S. Open, University Nationals and the Senior World Trials. Those are the dates already marked on my calendar," Tsirtsis said.
He advanced to the third-place match with a 2-1 win over Rider's Bryant Clagon earlier Saturday morning. It was Tsirtsis' second win over Clagon in the 2015 NCAA Championships with both by the same margin.
Northwestern finishes the 2015 NCAA Championships in 15th place overall with 34.5 points, marking the ninth time in the past 11 years that the Wildcats have secured a top-15 national finish.
3rd Place Matches
149: #2 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. #4 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa), 3-1 (SV1)
285: #2 Mike McMullan (NU) dec. #5 Connor Medbery (WIS), 3-2
Wrestlebacks
149: #2 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. #15 Bryant Clagon (Rider), 2-1
285: #2 Mike McMullan (NU) maj. dec. #8 James Lawson (PSU), 10-1
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