University of Illinois
NCAA Championships Session 2
Prater, Poeta, Wise Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals
March 19, 2009 | Wrestling
Team Scores Through Session 2 
NCAA Brackets Through Session 2
Unseeded Ryan Prater pinned top-seeded and No. 1 Kellen Russell in 4:00 at 141 pounds to advance to the quarterfinals, while No. 1 and second-seeded Mike Poeta (157) scored his second major decision of the day and No. 8 and ninth-seeded John Wise upset eighth-seeded Kyle Massey of Wisconsin to move on to the quarterfinals. In addition, B.J. Futrell (125), No. 3 and third-seeded Jimmy Kennedy (133), No. 16 Roger Smith-Bergsrud, No. 19 John Dergo and Patrick Bond remain alive in the wrestleback bracket as Illinois still has eight wrestlers in the tournament. The Illini stand in seventh place with 20.5 points after two sessions, while Iowa and Iowa State are tied for the team lead with 33 points.
"It's one of the biggest wins of my career," Prater said. "It's still almost unbelievable. I'll definitely take this one over any of the other five matches we've had. It just shows that this weight class is anyone's game again. It just comes down to who's scrambling the best and being the toughest."
In one of the biggest upsets of the day, unseeded Ryan Prater pinned top-seeded and top-ranked Kellen Russell (Michigan) in 4:00 to advance to Friday morning's quarterfinals. Prater got a takedown in the first period, but was penalized a point for locked hands and Russell escaped to tie the bout at 2 after three minutes. Russell started down in the second and escaped, but Prater induced a scramble and got Russell on his back with one minute left in the period for his first career win against the Wolverine. He was 0-5 against Russell prior to Thursday. Prater will take on Old Dominion's third-ranked and eighth-seeded Ryan Williams in the quarterfinals.
At heavyweight, Wise gave up an early takedown to Massey but escaped quickly. Massey started down in the second and was given a point for a technical violation by Wise then he escaped to go up 4-1. But Wise got a takedown with seven seconds left to cut his lead to 4-3 after five minutes. The pair started neutral in the third and Wise scored the takedown with 27 seconds left, locking up the riding-time point, which was key when Massey escaped with nine seconds. He couldn't land any late offense, though, and Wise won, 6-5. Wise was previously 0-5 against the Badger in his career. He'll face top-seeded and top-ranked David Zabriskie (Iowa State) in Friday's quarterfinals.
"Every time I've ever wrestled Massey, something has happened to take me out of my match," Wise said. "I got called for roughness early in the match tonight and decided that this is the national championships - if I get thrown out, I get thrown out, but I've got to go hard for seven minutes and it ended up coming out in my favor in the end."
Third-seeded and third-ranked Jimmy Kennedy stayed alive in the tournament with an 11-6 win over Oklahoma State's Chris Notte in their wrestleback pigtail bout. Notte scored the first two takedowns but Kennedy got a late takedown in the first, then started the second down and got a reversal before adding another takedown in the period to take an 8-5 lead after five minutes. Kennedy added another takedown and a riding-time point for the 11-6 win.
Kennedy later scored an 8-3 decision over North Carolina State's Darius Little, scoring a takedown in each period, escaping in the second and adding a riding-time point. He'll face seventh-seeded and seventh-ranked Nick Fanthorpe (Iowa State) in the consolation second round on Friday morning.
B.J. Futrell started hot against top-seeded and top-ranked Paul Donahoe of Edinboro, scoring two takedowns in the first 90 seconds. But Donahoe scored six straight points in the second period and got two more takedowns in the third for the 13-7 win. Futrell will get the winner of Penn State's Brad Pataky and Clarion's Jay Ivanco in the consolation second round on Friday morning.
Poeta continued to roll through the 157-pound bracket with a 16-8 major decision over Chattanooga's Joseph Knox. Poeta got a takedown with 1:28 left in the first and rolled Knox for seven back points before time ran out, taking a 9-1 lead. He extended his lead to 11-3 after the second period and got two more takedowns in the third to seal the major decision. He'll take on Minnesota's unseeded and 19th-ranked Tyler Safratowich, who upset the 10th-seeded and seventh-seeded wrestlers on Thursday, in Friday's quarterfinals.
No. 19 John Dergo gave second-ranked and second-seeded Mike Cannon of American all he could handle before Cannon sealed a 6-3 win with a late takedown. Cannon got the takedown in the first but Dergo escaped. Dergo started down in the second and got a quick reversal, but Cannon escaped to tie the bout at 3 after two periods. Cannon started down and escaped in the third, then locked up the win with a takedown with 24 seconds left. Dergo will face Bucknell's Shane Riccio in the consolation second round.
In the consolation bracket, No. 16 Roger Smith-Bergsrud took on Ryan Smith from Oklahoma. The pair wrestled to a scoreless first period and Smith started down in the second. The Illini senior rode him out the entire period and Smith-Bergsrud chose neutral in the third. Smith-Bergsrud was awarded a point for Smith's stalling and added the riding-time point for a 2-0 win. He'll take on Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui in the consolation second round on Friday morning.
At 184, No. 12 Jordan Blanton was eliminated after losing a 13-1 major decision to Virginia's Rocco Caponi. Caponi scored a first-period takedown, then chose neutral in the second and got another takedown. He then scored a pair of two-point near-falls to go up 8-0 after five minutes. Blanton chose down in the third and gave up two more near-fall points before escaping. Caponi added another takedown when Blanton missed on a late cradle and added the riding-time point.
At 197, Patrick Bond and Boston University's John Hall battled to a scoreless first period and Bond started down in the second. Bond was awarded a penalty point with 12 seconds left and then got a reversal at the horn. Hall started down in the third and escaped in nine seconds to make it 3-1 in the Illini's favor. Bond held off Hall's late attacks and won, 3-2, after Hall's riding-time point was added. He'll face eighth-seeded and eighth-ranked Clayton Foster of Oklahoma State in the consolation second round.
TEAM STANDINGS 1. Iowa State 33.0 Iowa 33.0 3. Ohio State 30.0 4. Nebraska 24.0 5. Edinboro 22.5 6. Boise State 22.0 7. Illinois 20.5 8. Hofstra 20.0 9. Cornell 18.5 10. Missouri 18.0 Penn State 18.0
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT RESULTS
125: B.J. Futrell (Fr., 25-13)
1st round: Dec. William Chamberlain (DUQ), 1-0
2nd round: Dec. by No. 1 seed, #1 Paul Donahoe (Edinboro), 13-7
Consolation round 2: #14 Brad Pataky (PSU)
133: No. 3 seed, #3 Jimmy Kennedy (Jr., 31-5)
Pigtail: Dec. by David Marble (BUCK), 7-5 (SV1)
Consolation Pigtail: Dec. Chris Notte (OKST), 11-6
Consolation round 1: Dec. Darius Little (NCST), 8-3
Consolation round 2: No. 7 seed, #7 Nick Fanthorpe (ISU)
141: Ryan Prater (So., 13-15)
1st round: Dec. Tim Harner (LIB), 7-3
2nd round: Pinned No. 1 seed, #1 Kellen Russell (MICH), 4:00
Quarterfinals: No. 8 seed, #3 Ryan Williams (ODU)
157: No. 2 seed, #1 Mike Poeta (Sr., 15-0)
1st round: Maj. dec. Ryan Goodman (WVU), 14-5
2nd round: Maj. dec Joseph Knox (CHAT), 16-8
Quarterfinals: #16 Tyler Safratowich (MINN)
165: #16 Roger Smith-Bergsrud (Sr., 20-11)
1st round: Dec. by Rick Schmelyun (BLOOM), 6-3
Consolation round 1: Dec. Ryan Smith (OKLA), 2-0
Consolation round 2: Nick Amuchastegui (STAN)
174: #19 John Dergo (Jr., 15-9)
1st round: Dec. Alex Caruso (LEH), 3-1
2nd round: Dec. by No. 2 seed, #2 Mike Cannon (AMER), 6-3
Consolation round 2: Shane Riccio (BUCK)
184: #12 Jordan Blanton (Fr., 27-11)
1st round: Dec. by Joe LeBlanc (WYO), 12-7
Consolation round 1: Maj. dec. by Rocco Caponi (VIR), 13-1
Blanton eliminated
197: Patrick Bond (Jr., 17-14)
1st round: Dec. by No. 3 seed, #6 Brent Chriswell (BSU), 9-2
Consolation round 1: Dec. John Hall (BU), 3-2
Consolation round 2: No. 8 seed, #8 Clayton Foster (OKST)
HWT: No. 9 seed, #8 John Wise (Sr., 23-7)
1st round: Dec. Ricardo Alcala (UCD), 9-5
2nd round: No. 8 seed, #19 Kyle Massey (WIS), 6-5
Quaterfinals: No. 1 seed, #1 David Zabriskie (ISU)
