A pin by Jake Varner at 197 pounds and a decision by heavyweight David Zabriskie boosted ISU to a 19-15 quarterfinal win over upset-minded Boise State on Saturday afternoon at the UNI-Dome.
Nebraska dug out of a 16-0 hole in rallying past Penn State 20-16 in the quarters. The Huskers lost the first four matches before winning the last six. Nebraska also had to rally from a big early deficit in a first-round 19-18 win over Northwestern.
It was nearly a disastrous morning for the Huskers, who placed second behind Iowa in this event last year. Nebraska's bus wouldn't start on a cold Winter morning in the Midwest. The Huskers had to scramble to make it over to the UNI-Dome in time to make it for Saturday morning's weigh-ins.
"The battery was dead in our bus, and we were kind of limbo for a while there," NU coach Mark Manning said. "We had a parent from another team who carted some of our guys over here. Nebraska-Omaha, our sister school in Nebraska, came through and brought some of our guys over here. It was kind of a crazy morning, but it all worked out."
Top-ranked Iowa, meanwhile, rolled to a pair of lopsided wins while No. 3 Cornell pulled out a 17-16 victory over No. 6 Ohio State in the quarterfinals.
That sets up one semifinal matchup between Iowa and Nebraska with Iowa State and Cornell squaring off in the other semifinal. Those duals are set for 11 a.m. Sunday with the finals at 3 p.m.
Iowa rolled to a 24-6 win over Nebraska in the finals of this event last year.
"It's obviously going to be a tough match, but that's why we're here," Manning said. "Iowa has a great team, that's why they're ranked No. 1. We're looking forward to wrestling them. It will be a real good challenge for us."
In Iowa's 27-7 quarterfinal win over Minnesota, second-ranked Daniel Dennis of Iowa scored a 6-4 win over No. 6 Jayson Ness at 133 pounds. Ness was an NCAA runner-up last year at 125 and is a two-time All-American.
"There were a lot more opportunities I could've had in that match, and maybe the right mindset wasn't there," Dennis said. "I got the win, which was important, but that's not the only thing. I have a lot more that I need to develop."
Dennis, fresh off winning the Midlands, continues to put together a superb season. Joey Slaton started ahead of Dennis at 133 last year. Slaton placed second in the country while Dennis missed most of the season with a broken jaw.
Dennis has been the starter nearly the entire season as Slaton has had trouble making it down to 133.
"I took pretty good advantage of the time off I had last year," Dennis said. "I competed a lot in freestyle and that's helped me."
Iowa won 17 of 20 matches on Saturday. Iowa coach Tom Brands was asked about a possible rematch with Iowa State in the finals. Iowa beat ISU in a December dual in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes also edged the Cyclones for the team title at the Midlands.
"We don't look ahead," Brands said. "But (Iowa State) should want another shot at us. This is a national championship and you should want a shot at a title."
Both of Nebraska's duals came down to the heavyweight bout and redshirt freshman Tucker Lane handled the pressure by earning a pair of victories to spark NU.
"I'm looking forward to some tournaments because these dual meets are giving me a heart attack when we're falling behind so much early," Manning said. "We put ourselves in a huge hole. We battled back. Our veterans really stepped up and did a good job. Northwestern outwrestled us, but we were able to pull it out. We came back and wrestled a lot better against Penn State.
"Tucker Lane, he's the man. He really came through and won some big matches."
In Iowa State's 35-0 first-round win over Indiana, No. 7 Tyler Clark of ISU continued to look strong in knocking off returning national champion and top-ranked Angel Escobedo of Indiana by a 3-1 score at 125.
"Tyler's done a great job," ISU coach Cael Sanderson said. "He started us out with the right attitude and wrestled hard. We're real happy with the progress he's made."
Varner's first-period pin over Boise State's Brent Chriswell keyed the Cyclones in holding off a strong young team from Idaho. Zabriskie followed with a 6-2 win over Sam Zylstra in the final bout to clinch the win.
"We needed a big performance and Jake really stepped up for us," Sanderson said. "He's a gamer and he's at his best in the big matches. Jake's working hard and he keeps getting better. It's nice to have two closers like Jake Varner and Dave Zabriskie in an event like this. We train hard and prepare for moments like this."
In Cornell's win over Ohio State, the dual was deadlocked 13-13 coming down to the final two weight classes. Cornell's Cameron Simaz came through by scoring a 12-4 major decision over Cody Gardner at 197. That put Cornell up 17-13. OSU's Corey Morrison won by decision at heavyweight as the Buckeyes fell short by one point in the dual.
Cornell's Troy Nickerson, who has placed third and second in the NCAA meet, also is back in the lineup. Nickerson missed last season with an injury and has been in and out of the lineup this year. Nickerson went 2-0 on Saturday at 125.
In one of the best matches of the dual, returning national champion Mike Pucillo of Ohio State outlasted Justin Kerber 8-7 at 184.
Iowa All-American Charlie Falck (125) will not compete this weekend. He suffered an ankle injury in the Midlands Championships. Falck did not weigh-in on Saturday. Falck's backup, J.J. Krutsinger, dropped both of his matches on Saturday.
"Even though Krutsinger is 0-2, he's been very scrappy," Brands said. "He just needs to win some positions that he is not winning. He has to believe that he belongs here."
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