St. LOUIS — Welcome to the nightcap of day two here at the NCAA Wrestling Championships from Scottrade Center. Only two Penn wrestlers remain, sophomore No. 9 Rollie Peterkin (125 pounds) and junior Zack Shanaman (165). Both need a win in their first bout to earn All-American status. Peterkin faces No. 10 James Nicholson of Old Dominion and Shanaman No. 5 Stephen Dwyer.

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Peterkin starts off the fourth session for Penn, looking to earn his first All-American honor. The majority of the first period is even, but with just :07 left, Peterkin earns a takedown. Nicholson earns an escape in the second, but gets injured doing so. However, after roughly 1:30 of his 2:00 of injury time, he bounces back up. In the third, Peterkin, starting from the bottom position, escapes just eight seconds in, pushing his lead to 3-1. However, with just :25 showing Nicholson earns a takedown to tie it up. And Sudden Victory it is. After thirty seconds of close, but scoreless wrestling, Nicholson breaks through, earning a takedown with :28 to go. And just like that Peterkin’s season is over. Immediately after the call, Penn coach Zeke Jones gets furious, jumping out of his chair with his arms raised in anger. Peterkin also is visibly upset, as he throws down his headgear in disgust. [NB I saw Jones a few minutes after the loss, and he had calmed down.]

Right as Peterkin lost, another 125-pounder captivated the attention of the crowd. Arizona State sophomore Anthony Robles was born with one leg, yet he was a state champion in high school, and has made a splash in the NCAA’s. Just like Peterkin, he came into tonight’s session needing one win to claim All-American status. But just like Peterkin, he lost a 5-3 sudden victory decision. Right as he lost on mat six, people around mat six started clapping as a sign of respect, and as news of his exit — so close to All-American status — spread, the entire stadium started clapping, rising to give him a standing ovation.

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The last match of the day, Shanaman vs Stephen Dwyer of Nebraska, was a back and forth affair. But in the end, Shanaman didn’t get enough. Dwyer paced the first with a takedown at 2:05 and an escape at :41, until Shanaman finally broke through with a takedown around :10. In the second, Shanaman continued his success with an escape at 1:00 to tie it up. In the third period both wrestlers scored. But it was Dwyer, with a takedown around 1:00, and not Shanaman with an escape towards the end of the period, that determined the match. Final score: 5-4 Dwyer.

With the loss, all Penn wrestlers have been eliminated. However, Coach Jones did say the team would stay tomorrow and watch the finals “so they can get the whole experience.”

This year marks the first time since 1996 that Penn left the national tournament without an All-American.

As for myself, I’ll continue blogging tomorrow, even without any Penn wrestlers in action. I’ll probably provide some statistical analysis, such as Penn’s record vs teams for various conferences, as well as updates on how Cornell is doing. (eighth place last time they updated it).

ST. LOUIS —With the graduation of Matt Valenti and Matt Herrington, Penn had no returning All-Americans in wrestling this year. But with a win tonight in the third round of the NCAA tournament, both sophomore Rollie Peterkin ad junior Zack Shanaman will become All-Americans. However, if either of them lose tonight here at the Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis, they will be eliminated from the tournament, despite coming so close to entering the history books. No pressure, right? “I just need to focus on this next match and ignore all of the implications,” the 125-pounder Peterkin said. “Every match is going to be tough. It was tough losing [yesterday] but I’ve got momentum.” Both Shanaman — who wrestles at 165 — and Peterkin lost their second round bout yesterday after winning in the first round, so they’re in the wrestleback portion of the bracket. Even though, losing yesterday wasn’t ideal, Shanaman is still fine with his current status. Being a win away from All-American “is good,” he said. “It’s where I want to be. Hopefully I can win one more. Actually hopefully I win a lot more.” A win clinches All-American status, but after that there are still three more matches to determine the third through eighth place winners. While Shanaman did qualify last year for Nationals, this is the first national tournament for Peterkin. “It’s a different mindset,” Peterkin said of the NCAA’s. “It’s a whole new experience, the big crowds. There’s lots of pressure every match since it’s a new level of competition.” And with an All-American spot up for grabs tonight, that competition will be even higher.

And welcome back to the Scottrade in St. Louis, where the NCAA wrestling championships have reached day 2. I’m Zach Klitzman and I’ll be providing updates throughout the day.

Here are the standings heading into today’s action. Penn is currently in 27th place with 8.5 points (Iowa paces the field with 29.5, and Cornell is tied for ninth with 17.5). The Quakers have had four of their wrestlers eliminated, and the remaining four (Sophomore No. 9 Rollie Peterkin at 125, Junior Cesar Grajales at 149, Junior Zack Shanaman at 165, and Senior Lior Zamir at 184) are in the consolation bracket after going 1-1 yesterday. A loss for any of these four will eliminate them.

And after a rousing rendition of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck (the Wisconsin SID just turned to me and said, nothing like a little AC/DC to start a wrestling match), we’re ready for some grappling.

First up is Peterkin, facing unseeded Nikko Triggas of Ohio State. The match is actually pretty boring, as Rollie gets an Early takedown in the first, and then a reversal half way through the second. He also dominates riding time, on way to a 5-0 win. He will face Eric Hoffman of North Dakota State later this session, so stayed tuned for that match.

Previewing the later matches, we have Grajales vs. Brandon Carter of Central Michigan, Shanaman vs. Roger Smith-Bergsrud of Illinois, and finally Zamir vs No. 11 Rocco Caponi of Virginia.

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In the second match of the day, another wrestler got shutout. But this time it was Penn’s. Carter got a takedown on Grajales with just :07 left in first, and he then doubled his lead in the second with a reverse Down 4-0 going into the third, Grajales needed a strong comeback, as he was also down in riding time. But with zero points either way in third, that’s it for Grajales. After the final whistle sounded, Penn Coach Zeke Jones hung his head, probably not in shame, but he certainly wasn’t happy.

The third Penn match of the day, Shanaman v Smith-Bergsrud, was intriguing. The first period was a dead heat with zero riding time seconds at any point. The second was the exact opposite. With Shanaman starting in the top position, he literally rode for the entire period, yet he earned ero points. However, in the third he earned an escape just ten seconds in, as he got away from the down position. Bolstering his lead with a takedown at :50, despite a Smith-Bergsrud escape around :30, Shanaman advacned, finishing with enough riding time to get a 4-1 win. He will face Ethan Headlee of Pittsburgh later this session.

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Zamir vs Rocco Caponi: In the last Penn match of the second round of the wrestleback portion, Zamir took on the 11 seed Caponi.  Zamir actually took an early lead (something Coach Jones said the team had to do), getting a takedown. However, at the 1:50 makr Caponi tied it up with a reversal. The two then continued to roll around on the matt, until Caponi suddenly pinned Zamir in a time of 2:11. However, there was some debate as to how long Caponi actually held down Zamir.  Regardless, the result stood, and Zamir ended his career on a sour note.

However, while Penn went 2-2 in the thrid consolation round, the Quakers went 2-0 in the fourth. In the first match, Peterkin faced  Eric Hoffman of NDSU, and he earned a takedown around 1:30 left in the first. The second was scoreless, but by the end of period, despite being only up 2, he had 3:33 of riding time. The third was also scorelesss, but with 1:33 total riding time, Peterkin earned a 3-0 victory and is now one away from being an All-American.

The second consolation fourth round matchup was even more exciting. Shanaman and Ethan Headlee of Pittsburgh wrestled even, as it was 0-0 after the first, with zero accumulated riding time. In the second Shanaman broke out the scoring with an escape. In the third Headlee earned an escape, tying the bout as it went down to its last minute. However, with just 22 seconds left in the meet, Shanaman earned a takedown, and with the 3-1 win he also is a win away from reaching All-American status.

Coming live from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, this is the NCAA Wrestling Championships. I’m Zach Klitzman and I’ll be providing updates as through Saturday, as eight Penn wrestlers look to advance in the national tournament. 330 wrestlers are competing from now until the Finals Saturday evening, representing 74 schools.

Interestingly, the Penn squad has switched uniforms. Instead of going with the solid blue singlets they’ve used throughout the season, they’ve switched up to solid red ones. I’ve yet to had a chance to interview any players or coach Zeke Jones about it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re special NCAA-only singlets.

(Before I get in much farther, let me say that the internet is spotty at best here in the St. Louis Blues’ home stadium, so apologies there).

It’s roughly 1:30 Central time, and three Penn wrestlers have already competed in the opening round. Ninth-seeded sophomore Rollie Peterkin (125 pounds) dominated his first round opponent, unseeded Jonathan Bittinger of Duquesne, winning with a technical fall 17-1.

However, the second Penn match of the day was less favorable for the Quakers. Junior Rick Rappo (141) faced #3-seed, Kellen Russell of Michigan. The bout went scoreless through two periods, although Rappo forced some injury time in the first when Russell went down with a head injury. But the 25-5 freshman bounced back from the injury, and scored a quick takedown 10 seconds into the third. Russell held on, scoring another takedown and escape, advancing with the 5-0 decision. However, despite the close score, and the zero-zero tie throughout the first two periods, Russell pretty much dominated the match, as Rappo was on bottom throughout most of the bout.
The third bout went similar to Rappo’s. Junior captain Cesar Grajales (149) faced a high seed, Jordan Burroughs, the fourth-seed from Nebraska. And just like Rappo’s it was scoreless after the first period. However Burroughs drew first blood, earning an escape point with :45 seconds to go in the second. However, just six seconds into the third, Grajales tied it up with an escape of his own. But there’s a reason why Burroughs is seeded and Grajales is not. With just under 25 seconds, Grajales had the Cornhusker in a hold, but Burroughs escaped, and then got the reversal, earning three points. With so little time left, Grajales couldn’t earn any points, losing the bout 4-1.

I’ll stop for now, as there are no Penn wrestlers at 157 pounds. The next Penn wrestler is 165-pounder Zack Shanaman.

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First, I should add that at one point the jumbotron revealed team scores. At that point Penn was in 22nd with 3.5, but that was before Shanaman’s upset. (last year the Quakers came in 25 with 28 points).

After the break for the 157 weightclass, I’m back. The second half started with two bouts against ranked Oklahoma State wrestlers. First was junior Shanaman going up against the seventh-seed, Jake Dieffenbach. Dieffenbach had a lead of 4-2 right before the second period was to end, but Shanaman tied it up at the buzzer with a takedown. Finally, with an escape point just fifteen seconds in, Shanaman took the lead. He then played steady defense, holding on for the 5-4 upset win.

While the Shanaman win was the highlight for the team so far, the second Penn-OSU matchup was not as favorable to the Quakers. Redshirt Freshman Scott Giffin (174) faced ninth seed, Brendan Mason of OSU, but the match was more similar to Rappo’s then Shanamans. Mason earned a quick takedown n in 1st, and with an escape and another takedown again, he earned a 5-0 win to even the heads up records of Penn and Oklahoma state wrestlers.

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The next bout, though not against a Cowboy wrestler, was against a Big 12, seeded wrestler. Senior captain Lior Zamir (184) (who was incorrectly called a junior over the PA system) faced top-seed Jake Varner of Iowa State. Varner was 25-0 on the season and was runner-up at the 2007 NCAA Championships. during which he defeated Zamir, 5-0, in the first round of the NCAA Championships. And this year it wasn’t any different.

With :47 left in the first, Varner earned a takedown. and while the scoreless second kept the match close heading into the third, Varner got both a escape around 1:20 and a takedown at 1:01. In the end it was yet another 5-0 shutout loss for Penn.

The next match saw Thomas Shovlin (197) face off against Patrick Bond of Illinois, the 9 seed. It was scoreless in first and second, but just 12 seconds into the third Bond got an escape. However, an escape from Shovlin tied it up. And with both wrestlers not willing to give up any points, we got our first Sudden Victory match for Penn. But Bond got a takedown with just eight seconds left, even though he was dangerously close to being out of the circle. So Bond advanced with a 3-1 win.

Finally in heavyweight there was Trey Mclean against Jared Rosholt, the number five seed from Oklahoma State. And Rosholt just dominated. He got a quick takedown in first minute, and followed that up with a near fall three. And with just one second left in first, he earned the fall against the junior from Penn. With the win OSU is now 2-1 against the Quakers.

Also, they announced the attendance for session one as 15, 513 which is higher than the average attendance from last year’s meet.

That’s it for the first sesssion. The second round will commence at 6:30, so look for more updates then. I’m off to enjoy the comp dinner, as well as watch some sweet NCAA tournament basketball games.