Previewing Pennsylvania's Five NCAA National Semifinalists

Five Pennsylvania wrestlers will be competing in the NCAA semifinals on Friday night.

Here’s a look at their matchups:

 

125 lbs.

No. 4 Darrian Cruz, Lehigh (31-2) vs. No. 1 Thomas Gilman, Iowa (32-0)

How they got here:

Cruz – EIWA champion

• Pin (:52) over Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa
• 1-0 over No. 13 Shakur Laney of Ohio
• 5-2 over No. 12 Sean Fausz of North Carolina State

Gilman – Big Ten champion

• 19-6 over Brent Fleetwood of Central Michigan
• 22-8 over No. 16 Nathan Kraisser of Campbell
• Pin (6:04) over No. 8 Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State

Previous 2016-17 meeting: None

 

No. 6 Ethan Lizak, Minnesota (29-6) vs. No. 10 Jack Mueller, Virginia (27-4)

How they got here:

Lizak – Big Ten third place

• 10-8 over Christian Moody of Oklahoma
• 15-6 over No. 11 Josh Terao of American
• 15-0 (6:54) over No 14 Freddie Rodriguez of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

Mueller – ACC third place

• 16-1 (6:54) over Travis Piotrowski of Illinois
• 4-2 over No. 7 Sean Russell of Edinboro
• 4-2 (SV-1) over No. 2 Joey Dance of Virginiat Tech

Previous 2016-17 meeting: Lizak won 10-2 on Jan. 1

 

149 lbs.

No. 1 Zain Retherford, Penn State (26-0) vs. No. 5 Brandon Sorensen, Iowa (29-4)

How they got here:

Retherford – Big Ten chanpion

• 19-2 (4:55) over Josh Maruca of Arizona State
• 16-0 (5:43) over No. 16 Jordan Laster of Princeton
• 19-2 (5:14) over Alex Kocer of South Dakota State

Sorensen – Big Ten third place

• Pin (2:11) over Matthew Zovistoski of Appalachian State
• 6-2 over Andrew Crone of Wisconsin
• 3-0 over No. 4 Micah Jordan

Previous 2016-17 meeting: Retherford won 9-8 in TB-2 on Jan. 20

 

157 lbs.

No. 1 Jason Nolf, Penn State (25-0) vs. No. 4 Tyler Berger, Nebraska (35-4)

How they got here:

Nolf – Big Ten champion

• 22-7 (7:00) over Thomas Bullard of North Carolina State
• 24-9 (7:00) over No. 16 Victor Lopez of Bucknell
• Pin (4:07) over B.J. Clagon of Rider

Berger – Big Ten third place

• 9-2 over Ryan Mosley of Gardner-Webb
• 11-7 over Kyle Langenderfer of Illinois
• 3-1 (SV) over No. 5 Joseph Smith of Oklahoma State

Previous 2016-17 meeting: Nolf won 15-7 on Jan. 8

 

165 lbs.

No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State (20-4) vs. No. 2 Logan Massa, Michigan (20-2)

How they got here:

Joseph – Big Ten third place

• 5-1 over Keaton Subjeck of Stanford
• 12-4 over No. 14 Branson Ashworth of Wyoming
• 6-5 over No. 6 Daniel Lewis of Missouri

Massa – Big Ten runner-up

• 19-3 (4:15) over Seldon Wright of Old Dominion
• 25-10 (4:47) over No. 15 Drew Hughes of Michigan State
• 9-0 over No. 7 Anthony Valencia of Arizona State

Previous 2016-17 meeting: None