By Chris Weeden
Collegian Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS — Finally, the brackets have been completed.
No, not those brackets.
Penn State wrestling sent six athletes to the NCAA Championships, with two returning to Happy Valley as first-time All Americans. The Nittany Lions placed 24th in a field of 72 teams and ninth among Big Ten teams.
Junior Eric Bradley lived up to his No. 4 seed at 184 pounds, and unseeded freshman Phil Davis turned heads in his seventh-place showing at 197 pounds.
Bradley — who was taken down just twice all season, both times by now-three-time national champion Greg Jones of West Virginia — stumbled in a quarterfinals match against No. 5 Ryan Glynn of Illinois. Glynn, who lost to Bradley in the Big Ten Championship final and in a regular season meet, prevailed in a 6-0 decision that came on two takedowns, an escape and riding time.
Dropping into the consolation, Bradley needed a win against Ryan Halsey of Cal Poly to become an All-American. A loss would have booted Bradley from the double-elimination tournament.
After a scoreless first frame, Bradley opted to start in the down position. Though Bradley was nearly ridden out for the full two minutes, the referee penalized Halsey for stalling with one second on the clock.
To start the third, Bradley allowed Halsey the escape, tying the match at 1-1, but Halsey had the riding point secured with a 1:59 advantage. Bradley needed a takedown. And he got it at the mat’s fringes with time running down.
He then kept Halsey from escaping for a final score of 3-2.
Continuing his momentum off that takedown, Bradley opened up his offense against Matt Pell of Missouri in an 8-4 rout to guarantee himself at least sixth place.
Bradley, a first-time All-American, has overcome a career-threatening back injury.
“I’m the first All-American from New Hamsphire, so I’m pretty proud of that, “Bradley said. “My high school wrestling coach came to watch and one of my real close friends from high school is here. It feels good to have them supporting me. My parents are here.”
Davis fell in the quarters, losing 9-4 to No. 2 seed Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State. Returning to form, Davis dominated No. 3 seed Chris Skretkowicz of Hofsta, 12-6.
“He has my style, except I’m better at it, “Davis said after securing his All-America status. “[He’s] long, lanky, has a lot of leverage. He gets in on those shots on most people and bring them in and scramble.”
Davis, a redshirt freshman, wrestled and won later Friday night against No. 12 seed Wynn Michalak of Central Michigan 6-5, setting a date for a seventh-place match Saturday morning.
Bradley’s loss to Glynn and Davis’ to Rosholt started a series of five consecutive losses for the Lions. The stretch eliminated senior Adam Smith at 125-pounds, sophomore Nate Galloway at 157, and junior Joel Edwards at heavyweight.
Smith, a three-time NCAA qualifier, graduates in a month a half with no All-America medals, failing to reach his collegiate goal. He lost Thursday night to No. 1 seed Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma, and in the consolation round Friday morning to No. 8 Bobby Lowe of Minnesota.
Galloway, while defeating No. 7 Matt Lebe, Paul Bjorlo and No. 4 Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov, lost to No. 10 Brian Smith and unseeded Brandon Becker.
Believing the referee was counting for him rather than against him, Edwards lost in the second period of the opening round on a defensive pin and found himself prematurely in the consolation rounds. He couldn’t work his way back.
Saturday saw more success than Friday. Bradley defeated No. 3 Travis Pascoe 14-10 in sudden victory overtime.
“He [wrestled] a very gutsy performance against somebody who’s been ranked ahead of him his whole wrestling career, “Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. “To go out and win it after being down two takedowns right away says a lot about him sucking it up and overcoming adversity.”
In his seventh-place match minutes later, Davis rode Ryan Flaherty of Wisconsin to a 5-0 victory.
Just a week ago, Flaherty pinned Davis at the Big Ten Championships.
“He made a lot of good adjustments from the last match he had with Flaherty and listened all the things we told him when we said he had to be ready to go and how he had to wrestle the match, “Sunderland said. “He did a great job making adjustments and doing what you need to do to take the opponent out of the match.”
The key, Davis said, was avoiding one of Flaherty’s key moves.
“He got frustrated because he thought he was going to pin me again, “Davis said. “[That] headlock is something you can get caught in once, you can get caught in twice, but if you’re smart enough, you won’t get caught a third time.”
On being seventh, Davis was pleased but not thrilled.
“Seventh, it’s not first, it’s not even third, “Davis said. “But it’s better than eighth.”
Bradley got a second chance at Glynn. Combining a sluggish performance with a knee injury, which he sustained in the quarterfinal match, Bradley struggled and lost 9-3.
He was also forced on his back, giving up the near fall, the first time that happened all year.
“Glynn had his number this weekend, “Sunderland said. “That’s the way it worked out. He had a better weekend.”
Sunderland planned on reinforcing the strength of Bradley’s season whenever he got to speak to him.
“I want to let him know that he has nothing to be ashamed of and that he left it all out on the mat, “Sunderland said.
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