Moisey Upsets No. 2 Garrett at NCAAs
March 19, 2015 11:46 PM | General
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| Jake A. Smith earned a hard-fought tiebreaker win at 197 pounds to stay alive in the 2015 NCAA Championships. |
| Photo courtesy of Larry Slater |
ST. LOUIS - True freshman Zeke Moisey upset returning national finalist and No. 2 seed Nahshon Garrett of Cornell to advance to the 125 pound quarterfinals at the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Thursday evening.
After suffering an 18-9 major decision loss to Garrett at the Northeast Duals in November, Moisey came through when it mattered most in earning his second NCAA tournament victory. He is one win away from All-America status, and will take on No. 7 seed Eddie Klimara of Oklahoma State in Friday morning’s quarterfinals. The two have met twice this season, with Klimara winning a 5-3 decision on March 7 at the Big 12 Championship.
Jake A. Smith stayed alive with a 3-3 decision win over Virginia’s Zach Nye on riding time in tiebreaker three. He will take on Jeff Koepke of Illinois in the second round of Friday’s wrestlebacks. Michael Morales will also wrestle tomorrow, dropping to the consolation bracket after falling to No. 1 seed Logan Stieber in 2:10. He is set to face Jameson Oster of Northwestern. Bubba Scheffel was eliminated after a 7-1 decision loss to Princeton’s Brett Harner.
Session III featuring the quarterfinals and second-round wrestlebacks will start at 11 a.m. ET. The action will be broadcast on ESPNU as well as ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
Nearly a redshirt this season, Moisey instead becomes the first Mountaineer to make the quarterfinals since heavyweight Brandon Williamson did so in 2010.
“Zeke wrestled smart, stayed within the game plan and showed his maturity,” said first-year head coach Sammie Henson. “He needs to wrestle with the same mindset tomorrow and live in the moment. Great things happen you do that.”
Moisey controlled the majority of the match, scoring a takedown in the first minute of action and adding a pair of nearfall points for the 4-0 lead. He rode Garrett for the rest of the period, taking the advantage and 2:13 riding time into the second. Starting in the defensive position, Moisey was unable to escape, but Garrett couldn’t put points on the board as Moisey kept his 4-0 advantage. With Moisey on top to start the third, Garrett scored an early reversal to put two on the board. Moisey escaped with just under a minute to go, and neither wrestler scored the rest of the period as Moisey took the 5-2 decision.
No. 16 Michael Morales fell in the first period to No. 1 seed Logan Stieber at 141 pounds. Stieber, the three-time defending national champion, scored a takedown :30 in and added a pair of nearfall points soon after. He once again put Morales to the mat for a trio of back points before adding two more to take a 9-0 advantage. Stieber would get the fall over Morales in 2:10.
Scheffel suffered his second setback of the day in the first round of wrestlebacks. He trailed 2-0 early on after a Harner takedown, and couldn’t put a point on the board to close out the first period. Scheffel won choice but deferred in the second, starting on top. Harner escaped to take a 3-0 lead, which he kept throughout the second period. The two started in the neutral position in the third, with Harner recording a takedown midway through for a 5-0 advantage. Scheffel was hit with his second stalling call, making it a 6-0 before Harner was also called for stalling to put Scheffel on the board with a point. Harner rode Scheffel out before adding a point for riding time to take the 7-1 decision.
Smith battled to the end, and it paid off for the sophomore. Neither Smith nor Nye scored in the first, entering the second period with Nye in the defensive position. He escaped :30 in to take a 1-0 lead, which he carried through to the third period. Smith returned the favor eight seconds into the third period to know the score 1-1. The two were scoreless sin sudden victory, as well as the first overtime. Smith took a 2-1 lead on an escape, but Nye matched his feat as the period came to a close to knot the score at 2-2. Nye escaped in the third overtime to take a 3-2 lead, and nearly won the match before Smith was able to get out with two seconds remaining. He had previously accrued ten seconds of riding time, giving him the decision win.
125 pounds
Zeke Moisey (WVU) dec. No. 2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell), 5-2
141 pounds
No. 1 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) pinned No. 16 Michael Morales (WVU), 2:10
184 pounds
Brett Harner (Princeton) dec. Bubba Scheffel (WVU), 7-1
197 pounds
Jake A. Smith (WVU) dec. Zach Nye (UVa.), 3-3 TB-3 (RT)
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