Northwestern University Athletics
Tsirtsis, Harger and McMullan Punch Tickets to B1G Semifinals
3/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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Big Ten Championships • Northwestern: 29.0 points, 8th/14 place St. John Arena • Columbus, Ohio Watch Session II on BTDN | Big Ten Championships Bracket  |
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2015 Big Ten Championships Brackets
2015 Big Ten Championships Website
Northwestern Big Ten Championships Notes
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Jason Tsirtis, Pierce Harger and Mike McMullan advanced to the semifinals of the 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, and in doing so, punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
The tournament's second seed and defending champion, Tsirtsis faced unseeded Kyle Langenderfer of Illinois in the first round at 149 lbs. and came away with a 4-2 win to advance to the quarterfinals. There he took on Nebraska's Justin Arthur, the seven seed, and earned a 6-0 shutout to move to tonight's semifinal round where he will meet Ohio State's No. 3 Hunter Stieber.
Tsirtsis beat Langenderfer and Arthur each for the second time this season.
The Big Ten receives seven automatic bids for the 149 lbs. weight class to the NCAA Championships, and Tsirtsis has already guaranteed himself one of those spots.
Pierce Harger cruised through the first two rounds at 165 lbs. The Northwestern senior and No. 4 seed started things off with an 11-4 decision over Michigan State's Roger Wildmo to secure a spot in the quarterfinals against No. 5 seed Jackson Morse of Illinois. Harger beat Morse earlier in the year and did so again on Saturday, picking up a 10-5 decision to earn the right to take on the No. 1 seed, Bo Jordan from host school Ohio State.
With his two wins in the first session Harger has guaranteed himself one of the eight automatic qualifying bids that the Big Ten receives at 165 lbs.
McMullan advanced to the semifinals in exciting fashion, bringing the Wildcat crowd to its feet with a 10-8 sudden victory win over Minnesota's Michael Kroells. McMullan got down 6-2 early after getting thrown onto his back, but he worked his way back to force extra time tied at eight. Kroells was close to a takedown, but McMullan was able to roll out-of-bounds to preserve the tie and give himself the opportunity for the winning takedown.
McMullan beat Purdue's Tyler Kral, 10-4, in the first round and will face Adam Coon of Michigan for the first time this season in the 285 lbs. semifinals.
Dominick Malone, Jameson Oster, and Mitch Sliga also won matches for the Wildcats in the first session. Oster won a first-round match at 141 lbs. over Michigan's George Fisher, 7-2 to set up a rematch with the No. 2 seed, Nick Dardanes of Minnesota. Oster dropped a 6-4 decision in the dual season to Dardanes in November and this time Dardanes was able to pin Oster in the second period, sending the Northwestern junior to the consolations, where he will face Kade Moss of Penn State tonight.
Malone bounced back after a first-round loss to Illinois' Zane Richards to beat Alonzo Shepherd of Indiana by a 10-0 major decision. Malone will wrestle Ohio State's Johnni DiJulius in Session II. Sliga also stayed alive with a 2-1 decision over Indiana's Matt Irick in the 184 consolations. He sets up a match with T.J. Dudley of Nebraska.
Garrison White and Alex Polizzi will also wrestle in tonight's consolation session.
Northwestern sits eighth in the team standings with 29 points after the first session. The Wildcats trail Nebraska for seventh by one point. Iowa leads with 65 points.
Session II gets underway from St. John Arena at 5 p.m. CT. There will be two rounds of consolation and the semifinal matches at each weight class.
First Round
125: No. 2 Jesse Delgado (ILL) maj. dec. Garrison White (NU), 12-1
133: No. 6 Zane Richards (ILL) maj. dec. No. 11 Dominick Malone (NU), 15-3
141: No. 7 Jameson Oster (NU) dec. No. 10 George Fishers (MICH), 7-2
149: No. 2 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. Kyle Langenderfer (ILL), 4-2
157: No. 4 Brian Murphy (MICH) Fall No. 13 Ben Sullivan (NU), 0:45
165: No. 4 Pierce Harger (NU) maj. dec. No. 13 Roger Wildmo (MSU), 11-4
184: No. 5 Kenny Courts (OSU) maj. dec. No. 12 Mitch Sliga (NU)
197: No. 10 Nick McDiarmid (MSU) injury default Alex Polizzi (NU)
285: No. 3 Mike McMullan (NU) dec. No. 14 Tyler Kral (PUR), 10-4
Quarterfinals
141: No. 2 Nick Dardanes (MINN) Fall No. 7 Jameson Oster (NU), 3:58
149: No. 2 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. No. 7 Justin Arthur (NEB), 6-0
165: No. 4 Pierce Harger dec. No. 5 Jackson Morse, 10-5
285: No. 3 Mike McMullan dec. No. 6 Michael Kroells (MINN), 10-8 (SV1)
Consolation
133: No. 11 Dominick Malone (NU) maj. dec. No. 14 Alonzo Shepherd (IND), 10-0
157: No. 12 T.J. Ruschell (WIS) tech fall No. 13 Ben Sullivan (NU), 23-6
184: No. 12 Mitch Sliga (NU) dec. No. 13 Matt Irick (IND), 2-1
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