By Andy Elder
ST. LOUIS — One was supposed to be there. The other, well, it’s a surprise to everyone else but him.
Penn State junior 184-pounder Eric Bradley and freshman 197-pounder Phil Davis moved into the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Thursday at the Savvis Center in St. Louis.
Through press time, Penn State had two of its six-man contingent still alive. Adam Smith (125) and Nate Galloway (157) were still alive in the consolations. Joel Edwards (285) was alive in the wrestlebacks with another match to wrestle. Bryan Heller (133) lost his first two matches and was bounced from further competition.
Bradley had to survive two nailbiters. In the first round, a stall point was the difference in his 2-1 win over T.J. Morrison of Rider. Then, in a rematch from last year’s championships, Bradley avenged a 2004 NCAA loss to Purdue’s Ben Wissel, 3-2 in double overtime tiebreaker.
“It’s déjà vu, “a smiling Bradley said. “In the first overtime, I thought I would score. Then I felt him tire and I still felt like I had something left. In the second tiebreaker, I felt like I’d ride him. I was pretty confident.”
Bradley did.
Regulation ended with the match tied 1-1. Neither wrestler scored in the sudden victory period and both escaped in the 30-second tiebreaker periods. Neither scored in the second sudden victory. But in the first of the second tiebreakers, Bradley rode Wissel. Then Bradley escaped in the second of the second tiebreakers for the 3-2 win.
“I saw that matchup and it took me right back to last year, “Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. “About the only thing that changed was the final outcome.”
Now, he faces another rematch, against Illinois No. 5 seed Brian Glynn, who Bradley defeated in the Big Ten 184-pound title bout.
“It’s a repeat of Big Tens, “Bradley said. “I’ll have to go at him and get him to open up some. He’s hard to score on so I’ll just have to keep my cool.”
Davis toppled two seeded opponents on his way to the quarterfinals. He started his day with a 7-1 win over Cornell No. 10 seed Jerry Rinaldi. Davis had defeated Rinaldi at the National Duals in January. Then, in the Round of 16, Davis downed No. 7 seed Ryan Bader of Arizona State 3-1.
“I feel pretty good, “Davis said with a smirk. “I get excited, but it takes a lot.”
Davis faces a showdown with Oklahoma State No. 2 seed Jake Rosholt this morning. Even that didn’t seem to faze him.
“It’s not good to keep looking ahead. They have to make it to me, “he said. “I don’t want to have my match close. It has to be a good shot and I’ll only do it when I need it or when I have to. I figure he’s like everybody else; he wants to win. We’ll see if he trained for it.”
“He’s having a great tournament, “Sunderland said. “I felt he was certainly capable of making it into the quarterfinals against Rosholt.”
Smith split his two matches on the day and is still in contention in the wrestlebacks. He started his day with a hard-fought 6-2 decision over West Virginia’s Shawn Cordell. Then, in the Round of 16, Smith ran into No. 1 seed Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma. With the Sooner leading 1-0 in the second period, Hazewinkel lateral dropped Smith to his back for a takedown and two back points. Smith couldn’t dig himself out of that hole and lost 8-2.
Smith will face Chattanooga’s Matt Pitts in this morning’s second round of consolations.
Galloway was a pleasant surprise for the Nittany Lions, going 2-1 on the day. He’s still alive in the wrestlebacks. He slipped by Virginia’s Paul Bjorlo 5-3 and then upset No. 7 seed Matt Lebe of West Virginia 7-4 in the first round. Lebe and Galloway have split four matches this year.
But in the Round of 16, Galloway couldn’t find enough offense in a 4-2 loss to Arizona State No. 10 seed Brian Stith.
Edwards looked like he’d get a win to start the day as he led Eastern Illinois’ Peter Ziminski 6-3 midway through the second period. But, riding on top with legs, Edwards got his hips low and Ziminski leaned back into him for a defensive pin in 3:52.
The Nittany Lion junior rebounded with a 7-1 win over Drexel’s Chris Cowen in a consolation pigtail bout. He was to face American’s Adam LoPiccolo in a first-round consolation bout.
Heller felt acutely the sting of the NCAA tournament, going two-and-through. In his first match, the Bout No. 2 of the tournament, he led Bloomsburg’s Tony Curto almost the whole match. But, in the third, Curto escaped and took down Heller in the final seconds. Only Heller’s riding-time point forced overtime. But just nine seconds into overtime, Curto scored a takedown for a 10-8 win.
Then, in a consolation pigtail bout, Heller met nemesis T.J. Enright of Ohio State. Like the previous two meetings, both one-point Enright wins, the Buckeye freshman stayed a step ahead in winning 6-5.
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