March 17, 2012

ST. LOUIS, Mo.– Cam Tessari, a freshman from Monroeville, Ohio, finished fourth in the 149-pound wrestleback final of the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Saturday morning at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. In other medal-round action, Nick Heflin (174 pounds) and Hunter Stieber (141 pounds) were fifth and sixth-place finishers in their respective brackets.

Redshirt freshman Logan Stieber will wrestle for the national championship in the 133-pound division vs. No. 1 seed Jordon Oliver of Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Ohio State finished the fifth session of the championships in sixth place with 64.5 points in the team race. Penn State mathematically clinched the 2012 edition of the championships and currently has compiled 128.5 points. Minnesota is second (113.5), while Iowa is third (103.5).

The No. 10 seed, Tessari won his sixth-consecutive match of the championships, 9-5, over Justin Accordino from Hofstra. Tessari jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and Accordino could never catch up. Tessari’s 2:05 of riding time sealed the win for the final score. Tessari subsequently dropped the third-place bout, a 12-10 thriller against No. 4 seed Donald Vinson of Binghamton. Vinson held a 4-1 advantage and it appeared a left leg injury was going to keep Tessari from continuing the match. However, he fought through and after a series of takedowns and reversals, Tessari was able to cut Vinson’s lead to one (10-9) at the end of the second period. Vinson owned a 1:32 of riding time to start the third period and Tessari needed a takedown for the win. After giving up an escape to Vinson, Tessari managed to cut Vinson’s lead to one again courtesy of a stalling call, but that was as close as the Buckeye could get before the 12-10 final.

In his first match of the day, redshirt sophomore and No. 9 seed Heflin suffered his second defeat of the tournament, losing to No. 2 seed Chris Perry of Oklahoma State, 8-7. Heflin battled back from a 6-3 deficit to tie the score, 7-7, with 30 seconds left, but Perry’s 1:58 of riding time was enough for the Cowboy win. Heflin’s second match of the day would fare better than his first. The Massillon, Ohio, native finished fifth after defeating No. 4 seed Logan Storley of Minnesota by a 3-2 score. The redshirt sophomore scored a takedown 45 seconds into the first period and that was the only two-point score he needed to earn a Top 5 finish. Heflin’s only losses in the tournament came at the hands of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded wrestlers.

Freshman H. Stieber, the No. 5 seed, suffered a tough loss to No. 6 Borislav Novachkov of Cal Poly, 7-4. Stieber wrapped up the tournament in sixth place after losing to No. 4 Michael Mangrum of Oregon State via fall in 4:14. Stieber defeated Mangrum Friday, but the fifth-year senior was too much to handle in the medal round. Stieber is the third All-American representing Ohio State from Monroeville High School in this tournament.

Ohio State at 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship
Thursday, March 15-Saturday, March 17
Session Five Results
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, Mo.

Team Standings (Top 10)
1. Penn State 128.5
2. Minnesota 113.5
3. Iowa 103.5
4. Cornell 90.5
5. Oklahoma St. 66.0
6.Ohio Stat 64.5
7. Illinois 62.0
8. Lehigh 61.0
9. Northwestern 42.5
10. Oregon St. 40.5

Individual Ohio State Results
141 – Hunter Stieber: Sixth
No. 5 Hunter Stieber DEC Richard Durso (Franklin and Marshall College), 4-2
No. 5 Hunter Stieber DEC Tyler Small (Kent State), 7-4
No. 5 Hunter Stieber DEC No. 4 Michael Mangrum (Oregon State), 6-5
No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) DEC No. 5 Hunter Stieber, 5-2
No. 6 Borislav Novachkov (Cal Poly) DEC No. 5 Hunter Stieber, 7-4
No. 4 Michael Mangrum (Oregon State) PINNED No. 5 Hunter Stieber, 4:14

149 – Cam Tessari: Fourth
Corey Jantzen (Harvard) DEC No. 10 Cam Tessari 10-8
No. 10 Cam Tessari DEC Shane Welsh (Lehigh), 6-1
No. 10 Cam Tessari PINNED Kevin Tao (American), 5:51
No. 10 Cam Tessari DEC Augustus Saka (Virginia), 3-2
No. 10 Cam Tessari DEC No. 3 Cole Von Ohlen (Air Force) 5-4
No. 10 Cam Tessari DEC Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State), 4-1
No. 10 Cam Tessari DEC Justin Accordino (Hofstra), 9-5
No. 4 Donald Vinson (Binghamton) DEC No. 10 Cam Tessari, 12-10

174 – Nick Heflin: Fifth
No. 9 Nick Heflin DEC Nick Purdue (Ohio), 5-2
No. 9 Nick Heflin DEC Leroy Munster (Northwestern), 3-2 2ot
No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) DEC No. 9 Nick Heflin, 11-4
No. 9 Nick Heflin DEC Curran Jacobs (Michigan State), 3-1ot
No. 9 Nick Heflin DEC Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 3-2
No. 2 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) DEC No. 9 Nick Heflin, 8-7
No. 9 Nick Heflin DEC No. 4 Logan Storley (Minnesota), 3-2

Postmatch Quotes
Tom Ryan, head coach
On the two losses Saturday morning in the medal round
“The third day of the national tournament is when you need to shine. A couple of matches I don’t think we were ready. Cam (Tessari) fought his heart out and did a great job in his first match and in the second match he made a couple of mistakes.”

On Nick Heflin’s performance Saturday morning
“In his first match, he had a beautiful throw, put himself in position to win and went for the fall. He lost position a little bit and got rolled over. In the next match he did great to go out with a win. He beat a guy who beat him earlier in the year, so his fifth-place match was good. It is always good to end your season with a win.”

On Cam Tessari’s performance
“Cam is a fighter, we know what we have in Cam Tessari. The guy gives everything he has, every time. It’s a matter of giving everything you have and making the right decision.”

On the freshmen in this tournament
“In the history of Ohio State wrestling we have only had six freshman place in all the years and this year we had three. The future is bright, let’s get a title tonight and it will all be good.”