Michigan State University
Big Ten Championships
Big Ten Wrestling Championships: Session Two Update
3/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Senior John Rizqallah punched his ticket to his third consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships by pinning Northwestern's Mitch Sliga in 3:55 in the 184-pound ninth-place semifinal Saturday night during session two of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships.
Rizqallah will face Purdue's Patrick Kissel in Sunday's ninth-place match; the top-10 finishers in the 184-pound bracket receive automatic berths to the NCAA Championships, which are set for March 19-21 in St. Louis.
Earlier during session two, Rizqallah was edged by seventh-seeded Nikko Reyes of Illinois, 4-2, in the consolation second round at 184 pounds.
Senior 197-pounder Nick McDiarmid and junior 149-pound Nick Trimble will also wrestle on Sunday with automatic bids to the NCAA Championships on the line.
McDiarmid, a No. 10 seed, was pinned by ninth-seeded Braden Atwood of Purdue at 197 pounds in 4:18 in the consolation second round, but advanced to Sunday's ninth-place match after Wisconsin's Timmy McCall had to withdraw from the ninth-place semifinal due to injury. The top-nine finishers in the 197-pound division receive automatic bids to nationals. McDiarmid will match up against Nebraska's Aaron Studebaker in the ninth-place match; McDiarmid pinned Studebaker in the third period in the dual against the Cornhuskers on Feb. 8.
McDiarmid won on two medical forfeits on Saturday, as he also advanced to the quarterfinals after Northwestern's Alex Polizzi was unable to wrestle in the first round. In the quarterfinals, McDiarmid lost to second-seeded and fourth-ranked Morgan McIntosh of Penn State by major decision, 13-3.
Trimble defeated Nebraska's seventh-seeded Justin Arthur, 5-2, in the consolation second round at 149 pounds to put himself in a position to reach the NCAA Championships. Although Trimble fell in his next match to Penn State's sixth-seeded Zack Beitz, 6-0, in the consolation third round, he will still wrestle in the seventh-place match on Sunday against Purdue's Brandon Nelsen. The top-seven place finishers in the 149-pound bracket earn automatic berths to the NCAA Championships.
Earlier in the day during session one, Trimble was shut out by Wisconsin's eighth-seeded Rylan Lubeck, 4-0, in the first round, but advanced in the consolation bracket after Minnesota's Jake Short had to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.
At 125 pounds, red-shirt freshman Mitch Rogaliner was eliminated in the consolation second round by Minnesota's seventh-seeded Ethan Lizak, 5-0. Rogaliner finished his first Big Ten Championships with a 1-2 record; he defeated Maryland's Josh Polacek by major decision in the first consolation round, 17-6.
Red-shirt freshman Javier Gasca dropped both of his matches in session two in the 141-pound bracket. Gasca lost in the consolation second round after getting pinned by Wisconsin's Jesse Thielke with nine seconds left in the first period, and fell 4-0 to fourth-seeded Steven Rodrigues of Illinois in the ninth-place semifinal.
Sophomore 157-pounder Travis Curley recorded his first career Big Ten Championships win with a 4-3 decision over Indiana's Luke Blanton in the first consolation round in session one, but he dropped a 9-1 major decision in session two to Michigan's Brian Murphy in the second consolation round. Curley also lost by major decision (8-0) to Iowa's seventh-seeded Michael Kelly in the ninth-place semifinal.
As a team, the Spartans are in 12th place with 12.5 points.
Session three of the Big Ten Championships begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, while the championship round (session four) begins at 3 p.m. live on BTN. Live brackets of all matches are available at trackwrestling.com and live streaming is available at BTN2Go.com.
Players Mentioned
