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Welch in Semifinals, McMullan Still Competing at NCAA's
Welch assured All-America status, meets Iowa's Derek St. John in semifinal bout
ST.
LOUIS, Mo. -- Junior Jason Welch assured himself All-America status
Friday morning, winning his quarterfinal bout and will place in the top
eight at 157. Third-seeded Welch, a 2011 All-American, will wrestle No.
2 seed Derek St. John of Iowa in tonight's semifinals, which air live
on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. Redshirt freshman Mike McMullan also is
fighting for his first All-American honors as he continues in the
wrestleback round at heavyweight. The four other NU NCAA qualifiers saw
their seasons come to an end during Session III of the NCAA
championships. Northwestern is tied for 12th in the team standings with
25.5 points.
Welch wrestled his way into the semifinals at 157
lbs., and his second All-America honor, edging No. 11 James Green of
Nebraska. After a scoreless first period, Green chose down for the
second and Welch racked up riding time for the entire period, but Green
was awarded a point for a locked hands call against Northwestern.
Trailing 1-0, Welch chose down for the third, escaped and hung on with
1:45 of riding time to win, 2-1. Welch now faces a much-anticipated
rematch with St. John in the semifinals tonight. These two are quite
familiar with each other, having wrestled each other less than two
weeks ago in the 2012 Big Ten Championship finals and have faced each
other four times. Welch is looking for his first win over St. John and
Friday night's match will be his 100th career bout at Northwestern.
No.
10 Mike McMullan is still fighting for All-American status. He met No.
2 Tony Nelson of Minnesota in the quarterfinals and was bounced to the
consolation round as Nelson won by fall. The redshirt freshman now
faces No. 11 Tucker Lane of Nebraska and needs to win that match to
assure a top-eight finish and All-America honors.
Sophomore
Kaleb Friedley went 1-1 at 149 in Session III, ending his run at the
2012 NCAA Championships. He began with a comeback victory over Virginia
Tech's Nick Brascetta. Friedley trailed 2-1 at the end of the first and
4-2 in the second, but scored a reversal with two seconds left in the
period to knot things up at 4-4. After a neutral third-period start,
Friedley scored the winning takedown at 1:02 to win the bout, 6-4. He
then took on Oregon State's Scott Sakaguchi and dropped a 4-1 decision
to conclude his season. Friedley ended his sophomore campaign with a
22-13 record.
Three Wildcats bowed out in the second round of
wrestlebacks Friday morning. No. 9 Levi Mele's trip to the NCAA
championships concluded as he was edged 6-4 by Oregon State's Pat
Rollins. The junior trailed 2-1 after the first period and tied things
up at 2-2 with a second-period escape. Rollins added a takedown to lead
4-2 heading into the third. He then added an escape and Mele scored a
takedown with the match winding down, but it wasn't enough as Rollins
also had a riding time point in the 6-4 decision. Mele concludes the
2011-12 season with a 31-8 record, the best mark of his three-year NU
career.
A pair of redshirt freshman also fought in close matches
during Session III but came up short. At 174, No. 8 Lee Munster fell
2-1 to Navy's Peter Huntley. Munster had the 1-0 lead at the end of the
second off an escape, but Huntley scored the winning reversal in the
third and rode out the period to win, 2-1. Munster ends his redshirt
freshman season with a 24-12 record.
Pierce Harger met
Oklahoma's Patrick Graham at 165 and had a 2-2 tie in the first as
Graham scored the first takedown and Harger countered with a reversal.
That would be the final points of the bout for Harger though as Graham
scored off two more escapes and had 2:01 of RT for the 5-2 decision.
Harger's concluded his 2011-12 season with a 22-14 overall record.
Welch and McMullan will compete in Session IV tonight inside the Scottrade Center beginning at 6 p.m. CT
Session III - Quarterfinals
157: No. 3 Jason Welch dec No. 11 James Green (Nebraska), 2-1
Hwt: No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) pins No. 10 Mike McMullan, 4:50
Wrestlebacks
125: Pat Rollins (Oregon State) dec Levi Mele, 6-4
149: Kaleb Friedley dec Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech), 6-4
149: Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) dec Kaleb Friedley, 4-1
165: Patrick Graham (Oklahoma) dec Pierce Harger, 5-2
174: Peter Huntley (Navy) dec No. 8 Lee Munster, 2-1
Session IV Schedule
Semifinals
157: No. 3 Jason Welch vs. No. 2 Derek St. John
Previous meetings:
St. John dec Welch, 4-3 at Big Ten championship finals - 3/4/12
St. John dec Welch, 6-1 at 2011 NCAA Championships - 3/19/11
St. John dec Welch, 5-2 at 2011 Big Ten Championships - 3/5/11
St. John dec Welch, 4-2 at Iowa dual - 1/28/11
Wrestleback Round Three
Hwt: No. 10 Mike McMullan vs. No. 11 Tucker Lane (Nebraska)
Previous meeting: McMullan pins Lane, 6:58 at Big Ten championship semifinals
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