Wrestling DIVISION I 2014 Highlights Penn State completes final-session comeback to earn fourth title in a row — Before the finals, Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson felt pretty good about having the weight of a team title on the backs of his two senior stars. They both delivered. North Carolina State’s Nick Gwiazdowski and Oklahoma State’s Alex Dieringer certainly helped the cause as well. In order to win the team championship, Minnesota needed Tony Nelson and Dylan Ness to win their finals bouts. However, Gwiazdowski completed a pair of third-period takedowns to beat Nelson in the 285-pound final and Ness could not get by Dieringer in the 157-pound title bout. The first of two Penn State seniors, Ed Ruth, beat Maryland’s Jimmy Sheptock in the 184-pound final. It put the Nittany Lions in front by 1.5 points. The finals started at 174 pounds and finished with 165 pounds. When Ruth’s teammate, fellow senior David Taylor, took the mat, it was academic - Penn State had its fourth consecutive NCAA championship in the books. Taylor fashioned the final tally, beating Oklahoma State’s Tyler Caldwell, 6-0, in the night’s final match at 165 pounds. “People don’t understand how difficult it is when you walk off this stage when you lose and how much better it feels when you win,” Taylor said. Taylor gave credit to senior teammate James English, a 149-pounder who finished his career as an All-American, one of seven for Penn State, who finished with 109.5 points. Ruth finished his career with a methodical 7-2 win against Maryland senior Jimmy Sheptock (32-1) in the 184-pound final. There was very little drama as he scored a pair of first-period takedowns and registered 3:26 of riding time to become a three- time national champion. The senior finishes 34-1 in 2013-14 and 136-3 during four years. “I love David,” said Ruth following his win. “I mean, like he’s a respected wrestler. I’d like to say the same for myself. It’s like people who can say they can wrestle during the time of Brent Metcalf and Jordan Burroughs and I could say I wrestled in the time of David Taylor, Andrew Howe, Chris Perry, Kyle Dake. “Just a big honor.” Taylor finished a perfect 34-0 campaign and a 134-3 career with a workman-like victory. Taylor’s final collegiate match in- cluded a pair of slick ankle picks and riding time; it was Taylor’s second title and fourth trip to the NCAA finals. Taylor and Ruth finished their careers a combined 270-6. “We have an amazing staff,” Sanderson said. “I just try and stay out of their way.” When asked about losing Taylor and Ruth, Sanderson said, “We knew this day would come and it’s something we have to celebrate.” Moving the 165-pound final to the end of the docket meant the evening opened with a battle between rival schools Okla- homa State and Oklahoma and a rematch of a wild Big 12 Conference final. Oklahoma State senior Chris Perry (30-1) proved he was better than Oklahoma’s Andrew Howe on this night, scoring a sec- ond-period takedown and adding 1:01 of riding time in a 4-0 victory. It was Perry’s second win against the 2010 champion in two weeks and his second consecutive national title. Gwiazdowski put a major damper on Minnesota’s championship hopes when he scored two third-period takedowns to beat Nelson, who was wrestling for his third title. The win by Gwiazdowski, a Wolfpack sophomore, kept Penn State in the lead by 1.5 points and brought the Nittany Lions fans to their feet. 2 WRESTLING Championship RESUlts ThroUGH 2014 Ness’ high-flying style did not translate against Dieringer, who finishes his sophomore season at 32-1. He is now 67-7 for his career. Ohio State junior Logan Stieber dominated Virginia Tech’s Devin Carter, 10-1, in the 141-pound final. Stieber, now a three- time champion, finishes 30-1 and takes a 90-3 record into his fourth season where he will try and become the fourth four- time NCAA champion. Stieber was sharp from the outset and never challenged by Carter (18-1), who was supposed to be out for the season due to injury, but was given the clearance only a week before the conference qualifiers. Illinois junior Jesse Delgado (30-1) won his second title, showing some impressive defensive skills in beating Cornell sopho- more Nahshon Garrett (34-2), 4-2, in the 125-pound final. Twice Delgado held off cat-quick Garrett double-leg shots -- both went to video review and both were overturned. A third review due to similar twister-like scrambles in the first period pro- vided similar results. The decisive points came late in the second period when he secured a takedown immediately after an escape. Both of Garrett’s losses in 2013-14 came to Delgado. Iowa senior Tony Ramos won another tough match in the finals, beating Wisconsin senior Tyler Graff in an overtime tiebreak- er at 133 pounds. A pre-match stare-down lasted 30 seconds and Ramos (32-2), after getting ridden out in a first 30-second tiebreaker, secured two back points to win 3-1. Two freshmen -- J’Den Cox and Jason Tsirtsis -- won titles. Missouri’s Cox (38-2) grabbed, pushed and kept Ohio State senior Nick Heflin on the defensive for seven minutes and won the 197-pound weight class, 2-1, on a pair of stalling calls. Heflin (28-2) locked up a bear-hug in the final 10 seconds and tried to toss the Tiger freshman from Columbia, Missouri, but was unable to finish. Tsirtsis (32-3), a first-year starter for Northwestern who was seeded fifth, scored a takedown in overtime to beat Oklahoma State’s Josh Kindig in the 149-pound final. 2014 TEAM STANDINGS North Carolina .................................................. 15½ Northern Ill. ...............................................................3 1. Penn St. ..............................................................109½ 28. Oregon St. ........................................................... 14½ Wyoming ....................................................................3 2. Minnesota .............................................................104 29. Duke ...................................................................... 13½ 56. American ................................................................2½ 3. Oklahoma St. ..................................................... 96½ Kent St. ................................................................. 13½ Lock Haven ............................................................2½ 4. Iowa ....................................................................... 78½ 31. Citadel ......................................................................13 58. Air Force ......................................................................2 5. Edinboro ..................................................................62 32. Michigan St. ....................................................... 12½ Arizona St. ..................................................................2 6. Ohio St. .....................................................................57 33. Central Mich. ..........................................................12 Harvard .......................................................................2 7. Cornell ......................................................................53 34. Rutgers ................................................................. 11½ 61. Gardner-Webb .....................................................1½ 8. Virginia Tech ...........................................................49 35. Ohio ....................................................................... 10½ West Virginia .........................................................1½ 9. Northwestern ........................................................46 36. Penn ..........................................................................10 63. Cal Poly ........................................................................1 10. Oklahoma ...............................................................45 37. Rider .........................................................................9½ 64. Princeton .................................................................. ½ 11. Nebraska ............................................................. 43½ 38. Bloomsburg ..............................................................8 Utah Valley ............................................................... ½ 12. Iowa St. .....................................................................42 39. Purdue .....................................................................7½ 13. Illinois ........................................................................41 40. Clarion .........................................................................7 14. Missouri ............................................................... 40½ Hofstra .........................................................................7 15. UNI .............................................................................40 Navy..............................................................................7 16. Wisconsin ................................................................36 Stanford ......................................................................7 17. Michigan..................................................................35 44. Frank. & Marsh. ....................................................6½ 18. Lehigh ................................................................... 29½ 45. Boston U. ....................................................................6 19. North Carolina St. ................................................24 46. Brown ......................................................................5½