University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
NCAA Championships Session IV
Lizak Becomes Two-Time All-American
3/16/2018 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Ethan Lizak will once again stand on the podium at the NCAA Championships, the second straight year Minnesota's 125-pounder has finished his season as an All-American. That's where the similarities end between his last two NCAA tournament appearances.
After going undefeated for the first two days last year and reaching the national title bout, Lizak suffered a heart-breaking, 4-2 overtime defeat in the second round of this year's tournament. That defeat put him on a path that would demand he win three matches in the span of about nine hours on Friday if he wanted to once again be an All-American. He did exactly that, capping his long journey back to the podium with a convincing 16-0 tech fall over No. 6 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) that ended in the second period.
"There's always really tough guys to wrestle (at the NCAA tournament), so it's a big accomplishment to become an All-American," said Lizak. "The wrestlebacks are tough because everyone is fighting to become an All-American. Every match is rough. Everyone is giving it their all. It's just a great honor to be an All-American."
Lizak's win over Piccininni was the crescendo of a three-match run that began with a decision in one of the very first matches of the day and continued with a 17-6 major decision over Drew Mattin (Michigan). With a podium finish secured, eighth-seeded Lizak provided a fitting encore to his win tech fall victory, pinning No. 13 Zeke Moisey in the first period to advance deeper into the bracket. Lizak is now guaranteed at least a sixth-place finish and will see a familiar face in his attempt to move further when he wrestles top-seed and defending national champ, Darian Cruz (Lehigh) on Saturday morning. Cruz knocked off Lizak, 6-3, in last year's final.
Lizak continued an impressive streak for Gopher Wrestling, giving the program at least one All-American for the 33rd consecutive season. Lizak became Minnesota's 53rd multiple-time All-American is the process.
"You can tell he's in a good spot. He's always got a smile on his face, but he's also been very focused. He's wrestling really well," said Head Coach Brandon Eggum. "He's a big 125-pounder. As the day goes on, you see he's tough to wrestle. Picking up a pin there at the end for the team was great. He's been doing a lot for the team and you want to continue moving forward with him and keep that momentum going."
Two other Gophers reached what is affectionately known as the "blood round" in wrestling, the round of consolation matches where the winners are All-Americans and the losers have their tournaments end one match short of that honor. This is the round in which Lizak defeated Piccininni earlier in the evening.
After falling to the top seed at 133 pounds on Thursday evening, No. 16 Mitch McKee rallied to pick up a pair of wins, including a lopsided 12-2 major decision over Zach Sherman (North Carolina), before losing a tight match to sixth-seeded Scott Parker (Lehigh), 3-1. McKee and Parker scrambled through the match's final seconds, and McKee appeared to potentially have a takedown as time expired. No takedown was called on the mat and, after video review, that call was upheld. McKee, a true sophomore, finished one match shy of All-America status for the second straight year.
The same fate awaited senior Nick Wanzek who, like McKee, also fell in the blood round at last year's NCAA tournament. Wanzek, the No. 12 seed at 165 pounds, fell to the fifth seed last night but rebounded on Friday for two victories. The second of those came down to the riding time point, which Wanzek earned after riding out No. 13 Te'shan Campbell (Ohio State) in the second period of their match, a contest Wanzek won, 4-3. Wanzek was pinned in his blood round match, ending his tournament.
Fellow senior Jake Short, at 157 pounds, picked up a 3-1 win over No. 14 Andrew Crone on Friday before falling to Paul Fox (Stanford) in the third round of consolation matches. Steve Bleise also wrestled for Minnesota on Friday, falling 9-7 in overtime of his opening match.
"Today was tough for those guys," Eggum said of seniors Short and Wanzek. "They've done a lot for our program - not just as wrestlers, but as great people and great leaders. My heart goes out for them. You see your seniors go out, your leaders, and you want them to feel that excitement. But this is an extremely tough tournament. It's a meat-grinder. There's nothing to hang their heads about. They wrestled with a lot of effort and fight. That's something they should always be proud of.
"Those are two great people. They've done a lot for our program. I can't say enough good things about them. I'm so proud of them," added Eggum.
A full listing of match-by-match results for the Gophers is below.
The Gophers have on more set of matches this season, Session V here in Cleveland, which begins at 10 a.m. Central on Saturday morning. Minnesota enters that session in 18th place, with 24 team points.
Be sure to follow Gopher Wrestling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay updated on the latest news around the program, including the latest results from the NCAA Championships.
NCAA Championships - Day Two Results
125 - No. 8 Ethan Lizak
Cons Rnd 2: No. 8 Ethan Lizak dec Brock Hudkins (Northern Illinois), 7-2
Cons Rnd 3: No. 8 Ethan Lizak maj dec Drew Mattin (Michigan), 17-6
Round of 12: No. 8 Ethan Lizak tech fall No. 6 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma St.), 16-0
Cons Rnd of 4: No. 8 Ethan Lizak fall (1:43) No. 13 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia)
133 - No. 16 Mitch McKee
Cons Rnd 2: No. 16 Mitch McKee maj dec Zachary Sherman (North Carolina), 12-2
Cons Rnd 3: No. 16 Mitch McKee dec Sean Nickell (CSU Bakersfield), 12-5
Round of 12: No. 6 Scott Parker (Lehigh) dec No. 16 Mitch McKee, 3-1
149 - Steve Bleise
Cons Rnd 2: Jarrett Degen (Iowa St.) dec (SV-1) Steve Bleise, 9-7
157 - Jake Short
Cons Rnd 2: Jake Short dec No. 14 Andrew Crone (Wisconsin), 3-1
Cons Rnd 3: Paul Fox (Stanford) dec Jake Short, 10-7
165 - No. 12 Nick Wanzek
Cons Rnd 2: No. 12 Nick Wanzek dec Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley), 6-4
Cons Rnd 3: No. 12 Nick Wanzek dec No. 13 Te`shan Campbell (Ohio St.), 4-3
Round of 12: No. 10 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) fall (3:17) No. 12 Nick Wanzek
Players Mentioned
