Northern Iowa heavyweight Blaize Cabell sidelined by illness

NEW YORK — University of Northern Iowa heavyweight Blaize Cabell will not compete in his third national wrestling tournament.

UNI announced Wednesday the 14th-seeded senior is sidelined by illness and has withdrawn from the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden. Action begins Thursday at 11 a.m. (Iowa time). Drexel's Joseph Goodhart will advance with a medical forfeit.

UNI confirmed in an email to The Gazette that Cabell was not hospitalized and he is expected to recover.

'It's painful,' UNI Coach Doug Schwab said in a news release. 'If you deal with it and have a fighting chance at nationals, it makes you feel a little better. You work your whole life for this opportunity.'

Cabell, a fifth-year senior, qualified after winning his first Mid-American Championships title. He was 22-6. He had some notable wins, knocking off Rutgers' eighth-ranked Billy Smith. The small athletic heavyweight scored more than 10 takedowns in victories against Missouri (12) and Ohio (11). He produced bonus points in four of his six MAC dual victories and hadn't lost a conference dual match since Feb. 9, 2014.

'I want people to remember how he competed and what he did for this program,' Schwab said. 'He made it fun at heavyweight. I am so proud of him and how he has grown, not just as a wrestler, but as a man. We want to keep him competing and around the program.'

Cabell had a favorable draw, which included an unseeded wrestler to start and a possible match against Virginia Tech's third-seeded Ty Walz, who he beat at last year's national tournament and has a winning record between the two.

Cabell told The Gazette before the illness that he plans to wrestle freestyle with the Panther Wrestling Club for at least a year.

'There will be more opportunities for him, but those are hard to see right now,' said Schwab. 'There's nothing you can do, and you don't have control.'

Cabell was the Panthers' lone senior. UNI's ninth-seeded Dylan Peters (125), No. 15 seed Josh Alber (133), true freshman Bryce Steiert (157) and 165-pounder Cooper Moore are in the field.

'As much as I hurt for Blaize, I need to be here for the other guys too,' Schwab said. 'It's time for them to get their reward for the hard work they put in this year.'

MSG HOSTS NCAAS

For the first time, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held at Madison Square Garden.

College wrestling's biggest competition will take the floor that serves as the home as the world-famous New York Knicks and New York Rangers, and has hosted such affairs as the 1971 title fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, the NCAA Men's basketball championship, NBA All-Star Game and visits from Pope Francis in 2015 and Pope John Paul II in 1979.

The 'World's Most Famous Arena" has hosted college wrestling events before, specifically the Grapple at the Garden dual event in December.

North Carolina State heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski is from Delanson, N.Y., having wrestled for Duanesburg High School. He is attempting to win his third straight NCAA title.

'It's an honor to wrestle here,' Gwiazdowski said. 'To come back to my home state for my last tournament, it's a special place and I have a lot of people coming down for it. I'm really looking forward to it.'

Oklahoma State's 165-pounder Alex Dieringer is also going for a third straight national crown. He recognized the history that is associated with the arena, even if it isn't related to wrestling. He would like to add his name to the list of champions here.

'it's my senior year, so it's going to be cool going out like this,' Dieringer said. 'Obviously, it's the most historic arena in the world. It's pretty cool. I'm going for my third title and I'm just going to try to go out with a big bang.'

Ohio State Coach and former University of Iowa NCAA finalist Tom Ryan is also a native New Yorker. He said he lived about 35 minutes away from MSG, riding the subway with his brother to train with at the New York Athletic Club.

Ryan offered his fond memories of the Garden.

'As a young person I got to see the (Harlem) Globetrotters compete here and I've gotten to see Neil Diamond here,' said Ryan, who drew a wide-eyed reaction from Iowa Coach Tom Brands seated next to him and laughs from media. 'It was spectacular. It won't be as good as the wrestling this weekend.'

SECOND GENERATION BOUT

The opening round of the 157-pound bracket will pit two familiar names in college wrestling against each other.

Oklahoma State's sixth-seeded Joe Smith (31-3) and Ohio State's Jake Ryan (17-5). Smith is the son of Cowboys head coach John Smith, while Ryan is the son of Coach Tom Ryan, who led the Buckeyes to the 2015 NCAA team title.

'The brackets came out and (former Ohio State four-time NCAA champion) Logan Stieber said to me, 'wow, your son and Smith's son are going to wrestle. You realize there are six world titles and two Olympic gold medals between the families.' ' Ryan said of Stieber's joke since the titles all belong to John Smith. 'Obviously, their name is synonymous with wrestling. We know the Smiths, their passion for the sport. We're excited that Jake has the opportunity to compete with Joe. Looking forward to it.'

Tom Ryan, who lost by a point to John Smith's brother, Pat, in the 1991 158-pound final at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, said he wasn't sure if he will be in the corner for this match. The older Smith also said it will depend on the timing and circumstances.

'It's kind of like how I feel in the morning or how he feels,' John Smith said. 'Tough match and Joseph knows it's a tough match, so we'll take it from there.'

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