Brent Metcalf suffers loss in crazy 143-pound bracket

IOWA CITY — Brent Metcalf was left searching for answers.

He wasn't sure why his performance wasn't reflective of the dominance that put him on three straight U.S. World Championships team and what the future holds in his freestyle career.

The former University of Iowa two-time NCAA champion was likely surprised by how the 143-pound weight class unfolded just like many of the spectators.

Each of the top four seeds failed to make the semifinals, including the top-seeded Metcalf losing both of his matches, thwarting his quest to make the U.S. Olympic Team. Instead, Frank Molinaro won the USA Wrestling Olympic Team Trials Saturday night at Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Molinaro won the final two matches in a best-of-3 final series against teenage phenom Aaron Pico.

'Obviously, a lot of things went haywire in that weight class,' Metcalf said. 'It just goes to show that anything can happen and that's why you have to win match number one, match number two and put yourself in position for contention, because you don't know what's going to happen on the other side of the bracket, you don't know what young guys are going to finally peak, I guess is the right word, or show up. So, it's frustrating for me, but, (Saturday) I was not the best guy.'

For the second straight quad, Metcalf was denied a chance to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games at home and by criteria. Metcalf dropped his quarterfinal match to Molinaro, 3-3, losing on criteria of biggest scoring move. Metcalf led 3-2 when a late pushout gave Molinaro the advantage. He fell to Jayson Ness, 9-7, in consolation competition.

'Deflated for sure, the toughest thing for me is probably letting down our crowd, family supporters, really the country,' said Metcalf, who was visibly emotional at times while talking to media. 'I do believe I am the best guy, not (Saturday), but I do believe I am and we'll see what shakes out with the finals here'

Hlas: Metcalf and Olympics are strangers, again

Molinaro had stepped away from competition. In 2013, he was walking his dog with his wife in New Jersey. The conversation turned to his desire to return and prove himself.

'I hadn't reached my full potential or full destiny,' Molinaro said. 'I just wanted a bigger legacy than just being an NCAA champion.'

Molinaro won the decisive third bout on criteria, which was a constant. He also beat Logan Stieber on criteria in the semifinal.

Pico won the first match, 4-2, countering a shot with a lift for two exposure points in the final minute. Molinaro rebounded with a 4-3 win, getting a takedown and two exposure to force a rubber match.

'At first I was frustrated because I made some errors,' Molinaro said about the loss. 'It's usually my go-to. When the match is on the line I get the winning takedown. I've always capitalized there.'

Molinaro scored a four-point move for his only points in the third bout, which provided the winning criteria, despite Pico's comeback that tied it, 4-4, with 32 seconds left.

'I knew that was going to be a dogfight,' Molinaro said. 'It really hasn't sunk in yet.'

In addition to the No. 9 seed Molinaro and 19-year-old Pico in the finals, Zain Retherford placed third after winning the 149-pound NCAA title last month as a sophomore at Penn State. The field had eight NCAA Division I champions and 13 of the 14 wrestlers were NCAA D-I All-Americans. Molinaro was not one of the favorites.

'I was just focused on doing exactly what I've done the last six months to prepare for this,' Molinaro said. 'I just stayed with the same routine.'

The 275-pound class wasn't much of a surprise with top-seeded Tervel Dlagnev sweeping No. 2 Zach Rey in the final. Dlagnev won the opener 3-1 and then scored two takedowns in the final minute of the second bout to win, 5-3, and secure his second straight Olympics berth.

Dlagnev, who was third at the 2014 World Championships and fifth at the 2012 Olympics, has persevered a back injury that made him rethink his status when he received a 'weird' and 'scary' pain during light movement in a sauna on Thursday.

'I don't want to go through that again,' Dlagnev said. 'At that point, I wasn't even thinking about performance. I was thinking about my future and playing with my boys and being a dad and husband.'

All he has gone through added to the accomplishment. It was a little sweeter to make his eighth straight national team, even though he said he would have the same perspective regardless of the outcome.

'You always want to walk away with a cool story,' Dlagnev said. 'Where it's like, 'Yeah, it was hard and I leaned on the Lord and I won,' but like I said my interview was going to be the same if I lost. I'm glad I have an opportunity, but my perspective still hasn't changed. It's going to be hard. It's going to be a grind.

'It's my life. I love this.'

Former Ellsworth Community College wrestler RaVaughn Perkins won the 145 1/2-pound spot on the Greco-Roman team. He won the final two bouts, winning the last bout, 9-2, after a victory on criteria. He was joined on the Greco-Roman team by Jesse Thielke (130), Ben Provisor (187) and Joe Rau (216). Provisor swept Jake Clark to make his second straight Olympic Team.

Kelsey Campbell (128) and Elena Pirozhkova (138 3/4) swept their way to a second straight Olympic team. They were joined by Tamyra Mensah, who won the 152-pound spot on the women's freestyle team.

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