Iowa City, Iowa, March 5, 2005 - Defending Big Ten Champion Eric Bradley (24-3) stayed on track for his second Big Ten title, but the rest of the Penn State wrestling team had a tough opening to the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City, Iowa Saturday. Bradley, the No. 2 seed at 184, was the only Penn State wrestler to stay alive in the championship bracket as he downed No. 7 seed Mike Tamillow 3-1 in his opening match and will face No. 6 seed Roger Kish, a 9-8 upset winner over No. 3 seed Brady Reinke, in the semifinals Saturday night.
The Nittany Lions went 3-9 in the first session of the conference tournament as eight of nine wrestlers lost in the second round. All 10 Penn State wrestlers remain alive and will be in action Saturday night. Nine Nittany Lions face elimination bouts in the consolation bracket. Senior Adam Smith (20-11) started the day off good for Penn State as he downed Ohio State's Nathan Costello 8-6 in the first round at 125 pounds. However, Smith, the No. 6 seed, dropped a 7-4 decision to No. 3 seed Joe Dubuque in the second round and dropped into the consolation bracket where he will face Jim Shutich of Michigan. At 133, freshman Bryan Heller (20-14), the No. 7 seed, had a first round bye and then came out and got the opening takedown against No. 2 seed Mack Reiter. Reiter, however, proved to be to strong on the mat and posted an 18-4 win. Heller will face Daniel Quintela, a wrestler he beat 14-4 earlier this season, in consolation action. At 141, No. 7 seed DeWitt Driscoll (27-14) posted a first period fall over Tommy Owen in his first match but couldn't handle No. 2 seed Andy Simmons in the second round and fell 6-1. Driscoll will take on Ben Sprunger of Purdue in consolation action. At 149, freshman Jack Decker (19-22), the No. 8 seed, received a first round bye and then ran into No. 1 seed Eric Tannenbaum. Tannenbaum posted a 21-4, technical fall over the Nittany Lion. Decker will face No. 7 seed Stephen Wolery, who he lost an 8-4 decision to in the last dual meet of the season, in consolation action. At 157, No. 4 seed Nathan Galloway (27-12) took on No. 5 seed Brandon Becker in his first match. Galloway had beaten Becker twice on the season (9-4 and 2-1). The two wrestled through a scoreless first two periods. Trailing 1-0 in the third after a Becker escape, Galloway went for a throw off a front headlock, missed it and ended up on his own back where Becker pinned him at 6:18. Galloway dropped into the consolation bracket where he will face John Vogel. At 165, senior Jarrad Turner (9-21) drew a first round match-up with No. 2 seed Mark Perry (20-3) of Iowa. Perry pinned Turner in the first period earlier this season and duplicated that outcome this time sticking Turner at 2:42. Turner will face No. 8 seed Bryan Harney in the consolation bracket. At 174, No. 8 seed James Yonushonis (13-17) took on No. 1 seed Pete Friedl in his first match. The top ranked Illini wrestler posted a takedown in each of the first two periods and two more in the third before Yonushonis closed the margin with a late takedown of his own. Friedl prevailed 10-6 and Yonushonis dropped into consolation action where he will face Iowa's Luke Lofthouse. At 197, freshman Phil Davis (30-7), the No. 4 seed, suffered a tough loss to No. 5 seed Tyrone Byrd, a wrestler he had twice beaten on the year. The pair wrestled through a scoreless first period and Byrd took down in the second. Davis rode him for the entire period to rack up two minutes of riding time. Davis then took down in the third, but was unable to get out until Byrd got his riding time under a minute. Ahead 1-0, Davis then gave up a takedown in the closing seconds as Byrd prevailed 2-1. Davis will now face Michigan's Willie Breyer, a wrestler he lost to 5-2 earlier on the year, in the consolation bracket. At heavyweight, junior Joel Edwards (21-13), the No. 8 seed, ran into No. 1 seed Cole Konrad in his first match. Konrad made quick work of the lighter Edwards pinning him in 36 seconds. Edwards dropped into the consolation bracket where he received the fortunate benefit of falling into a bye. He will face the winner of a match between Jake O'Brien and No. 5 seed Matt Fields. The consolation bye means Edwards can do no worse than an eighth place finish in the tournament and at the very least will have a chance to wrestle for seventh place and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Penn State Big Ten Tournament Scores 125 - (6) Adam Smith 133 - (7) Bryan Heller 141 - (7) DeWitt Driscoll 149 - (8) Jack Decker 157 - (4) Nathan Galloway 165 - Jarrad Turner 174 - (8) James Yonushonis 184 - (2) Eric Bradley 197 - (4) Phil Davis Hwt. - (8) Joel Edwards
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