ST. LOUIS Nebraska continued its torrid pace into Session II of the NCAA Championships with six Huskers going 2-0 on the day and advancing to the quarterfinals. NU finished the day with a 14-2 record to put the Huskers in second place in the team race.
The highlight of the session for Nebraska came at 184 pounds as unseeded Vince Jones upset third-seeded Tyrel Todd of Michigan with a 7-5 decision. Todd took the early lead with two takedowns in the first period, but Jones, a junior, rallied with a reversal with five seconds left in the period. The two traded escapes, but Jones scored the winning takedown with 1:35 left in the third and rode Todd the rest of the way to claim the victory.
Junior Paul Donahoe recorded his second bonus-point victory of the day with a 21-6 technical fall over Cal State-Bakersfield's Brandon Zoeteway. Donahoe scored just four points in the first period with a takedown and nearfall, but the defending NCAA champion dominated the rest of the way with eight takedowns in the final two periods.
Sophomore Jordan Burroughs recovered from a slow first match to collect a 21-5 technical fall over Gardner-Webb's Edward McCray. Burroughs, not known for his pinning skills, collected three nearfalls, including two in the first period, and six takedowns in the match.
Sophomores Stephen Dwyer and Craig Brester and junior Brandon Browne earned decisions in the second round to advance. Dwyer did not muster any offense until a takedown with 19 seconds left in the second, but collected a quick reversal in the third period to take a 4-2 victory over Edinboro's Jarrod King. Browne gave up a takedown early to Iowa State's Aron Scott, but earned an 8-5 decision behind a takedown in each period. Brester parlayed a three-point nearfall in the first period into a 7-2 win over Illinois' Patrick Bond.
Sophomore Kenny Jordan lost a 9-5 decision to Iowa's Joey Slaton to drop into the consolation bracket.
Top-ranked Iowa sent seven wrestlers to the quarterfinals on Thursday night, taking a big step toward its first NCAA title since 2000.
The Hawkeyes lost only one quarterfinal match and were 15-3 overall on the opening day of the three-day meet. Iowa led second-place Nebraska by three points. "You know what, this sets us up," coach Tom Brands said. "We've got some firepower in the quarterfinals and we've got to be ready to go.
"It all starts again."
Iowa State was third with 25 points, followed by Central Michigan and defending champion Minnesota tied for fourth at 24, Missouri and Oklahoma State tied for sixth at 23, Ohio State at 22 and Cornell and Penn State tied for ninth at 17 1/2.
No school has more than one top-ranked wrestler and Iowa, the Big Ten champion, got impressive results from its higher seeded competitors. No. 1 Brent Metcalf won a pair of matches handily at 149 pounds and Mark Perry, the No. 2 seed and defending champion at 165, had a pin and a 12-2 victory.
Also advancing were three No. 4 seeds Joey Slaton (133), Jay Borschel (174) and Matt Fields (heavyweight) No. 5 Charlie Falck (125), No. 7 Phillip Keddy (184) and unranked David Bertolino (197). Fields advanced with a takedown in the final half-minute after feeding off Iowa's rabid fan base all night.
"When I'm back here warming up it gives me confidence," Fields said. "When I'm out there and you hear all that cheering it throws you off a little bit.
"But I'm happy for everyone and hopefully we can keep doing good. All the stuff we've done this year is minor compared to this."
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