KANSAS CITY, Mo. — North Dakota State University 184-pound Hayden Zillmer was runner-up, while 125 Josh Rodriguez and 149 Clay Ream both placed third at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships that concluded Sunday, March 6, at the Sprint Center
Zillmer, Rodriguez and Ream all earned automatic berths into the NCAA Wrestling Championships in New York City at Madison Square Garden on March 17-19. Zillmer makes his third trip to the NCAA tournament, while both Rodriguez and Ream are going for the second straight year.
Oklahoma State won the tournament with 161 points, while NDSU finished seventh in the team standings with 62.5 points.
Top-seeded Zillmer, a native of Crosby, Minn., fell 8-7 in the 184-pound championship match to second-seeded Nolan Boyd of Oklahoma State. Boyd took the lead early and never let go. He built a 5-3 lead and 2:46 of riding time early in the third.
Zillmer took a brief lead at 7-6 on the second of two takedowns in the third period. He let Boyd go for the escape that tied things at 7-all. Zillmer appeared to secure another takedown with under 5-seconds left, but the coach’s challenge and review went with the call on the mat. Zillmer is now 30-4 on the season.
No need for coffee for Rodriguez, a redshirt junior from Guadalupe, Calif., who allowed only seven points in his two wins. Rodriguez broke free for a 9-3 decision over Iowa State’s Kyle Larson. The match was tied at 2-2 after two periods. Rodriguez gained a penalty point and escape in the first 30-seconds of the third. Two takedowns followed for Rodriguez, who picked up a point for 1:49 of riding time.
Rodriguez then faced Wyoming’s 16th-ranked Drew Templeman for the third time this season and second time in Kansas City. He won for the second time, this time earning a 12-4 major decision over Templeman. Rodriguez shot for three first-period takedowns in building a 6-2 lead and 1:17 of riding time. His escape at 1:24 of the second was the only scoring and the advantage grew to 7-2.
It was payback time for Ream, a redshirt sophomore from Wentzville, Mo., who made up for a pair of losses during the regular season. His first, was a 15-5 major decision over Timmy Box of Northern Colorado. Box won earlier this season 9-6 in Greeley.
Ream fell behind early against Wyoming’s Cole Mendenhall, but stormed back for an 8-6 win. Trailing 6-5 in the third period, Ream used a reversal to take the lead and keep Mendenhall under wraps for the remainder of the period. Mendenhall pinned Ream in Fargo in 1:20. Ream improved to 21-15 overall.
Tynan, a junior from Kennewick, Wash., came back from a pin to 8th-ranked Ross Larson of Oklahoma to produce a fall of his own. Tynan exploded into Iowa State’s Joe Scanlan at the 5:00 mark. It was his fifth pin of the season and helped him improve to 20-11 overall.
Bengtson, a redshirt sophomore from St. Cloud, Minn., dropped a pair of one-point decisions. Oklahoma’s Trae Blackwell gained an escape early in the third and a point on riding time to pick up a 4-3 win.
A penalty point tied the match at 2-2 at the end of the third period between Bengtson and West Virginia’s Tony DeAngelo. The wrestlers went into the third overtime period with DeAngelo recording a 3-2 decision in tie-break 2 overtime. Bengtson finishes the season 16-12.
Brackets/Results on flowrestling.org
North Dakota State at the Big 12 Championships
March 5-6, 2016 / Sprint Center / Kansas City, Mo.
#17 125 Josh Rodriguez, RJr., Guadalupe, Calif. (Righetti H.S.)
Overall: 33-8 / Big 12 Championships: 3-1
W dec #16 Drew Templeman (Wyoming), 9-2
L dec #8 Ryan Millhof (Oklahoma), 10-5
W dec Kyle Larson (Iowa State), 9-3
W major dec #16 Drew Templeman (Wyoming), MD 12-4
133 Nico Colunga, Fr., Oakdale, Calif. (Oakdale H.S.)
Overall: 14-18 / Big 12 Championships: 0-2
L fall Rico Montoya (Northern Colorado), 2:01
L fall Keegan Moore (West Virginia), 3:53
141 Mitch Bengtson, RSo., St. Cloud, Minn. (Apollo H.S.)
Overall: 16-12 / Big 12 Championships: 1-3
W major dec Jarod Maynes (Utah Valley), MD 10-2
L dec #1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), 4-1
L dec Trae Blackwell (Oklahoma), 4-3
L tie-breaker 2 Tony DeAngelo (West Virginia), TB-2 3-2
149 Clay Ream, RSo., Wentzville, Mo. (Holt H.S.)
Overall 21-15 / Big 12 Championships: 3-1
L dec Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma), 7-3
W dec John Meeks (Iowa State), 4-0
W major dec Timmy Box (Northern Colorado), MD 15-5
W dec Cole Mendenhall (Wyoming), 8-6
157 Kyle Gliva, RSo., Inver Grove Heights, Minn. (Simley H.S.)
Overall 19-13 / Big 12 Championships: 2-2
W tie-breaker2 Raider Lofthouse (Utah Valley), TB-2 7-4
L tech fall #6 Cody Pack (South Dakota State), TF 16-0, 4:25
W dec Brock Wingbermuehle (Oklahoma), 5-2
L major dec Logan Breitenbach (Iowa State), MD 13-2
165 Grant Nehring, RSo., Kimball, Minn. (St. Cloud Apollo H.S.)
Overall: 7-11 / Big 12 Championships: 2-2
W fall Michael Billingsley (Air Force), 1:45
L fall #1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State), 2:00
W dec Brayden Humpherys (Utah Valley), 10-6
L dec Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State), 8-5
174 Blake Thompson, RFr., Clovis, Calif. (Clovis H.S./Utah Valley)
Overall: 7-15 / Big 12 Championships: 2-2
W dec Jace Jensen (Wyoming), 4-3
L major dec Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State), MD 20-7
W major dec Tanner Davis (Northern Colorado), MD 10-2
L dec Ross Taylor (Utah Valley), 9-2
#4 184 Hayden Zillmer, Sr., Crosby, Minn. (Crosby-Ironton H.S.)
Overall: 30-4 / Big 12 Championships: 2-1
W fall Benjamin Stroh (Wyoming), 2:06
W dec Dane Pestano (Iowa State), 11-7
L dec #9 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State), 8-7
197 Logan Paxton, Jr., Elk Grove, Calif. (Pleasant Grove H.S./Sacramento CC)
Overall: 6-19 / Big 12 Championships: 0-2
L dec Brandon Tribble (Wyoming), 3-2
L dec #8 Jake Smith (West Virginia), 4-1
285 Ben Tynan, Jr., Kennewick, Wash. (Hanford H.S./Highline College)
Overall: 20-12 / Big 12 Championships: 2-2
L dec Dustin Dennison (Utah Valley), 6-4
W dec A.J. Vizcarrondo (West Virginia), 7-1
L fall #16 Ross Larson (Oklahoma), 1:48
W fall Joe Scanlan (Iowa State), 5:00